I was visiting Red Rock Country, Sedona, Arizona.  This scene is a view from the Verde Valley School Road just south of Sedona.  From this vantage point, I was looking toward the south and east.  The sun was low in the sky, about 1 hour on top of sunset.  The day was exceedingly hot and arid.  The temperature peaked above 110 degrees.   The sky was clear and bright with little moisture. 

I was impressed with how the evening sunlight spotlighted the prickly pears in the landscape.  The illuminated cactus stuck out like lights on a Christmas tree.  This seemed especially miraculous since the cactus lay so close to the ground.  My goal for the painting was to capture this effect on the canvas.