Wild Burro Trail (to Picacho Peak)

Dorothy Barbara Thomas Haddaway

Barbara Haddaway’s keen graphic arts sense is on display in her color pencil drawing “Wild Burro Trail (to Picacho Peak),” a small format image which tells an entire geological story in glowing, saturated tones. The small silhouettes of wild burros are presented midway between a river oasis and the prominent outline of Arizona’s famed Picacho Peak. A dry, golden desert stretches between the two destinations, its flat plain interrupted by jutting red mesas rich with iron deposits. She has placed blue only in the water, sky, and the peak, which was used as a landmark for travelers of ancient times and is still seen as a marker for hikers.

Haddaway often used desert landscapes and their unique flora and fauna as a source of inspiration throughout her career.