William M. Tillery, Pictorialist

Arizona is a state of unsurpassed charm and grandeur-its beauties and marvels of never ending variety. The popular conception of Arizona is of a barren desert country, yet the flora ranges from the subtropical to the subalpine. Strange and unusual plant types are found from mountain peak to desert floor. As the altitude varies, so does the vegetation, and seasonal conditions determine largely the abundance of flowers and the length of the blooming season. Spring in our land is a mighty serenade of color, and good rains in November, December and January bring a gorgeous spring blooming, spreading colors with a lavish hand on mountain, mesa and desert. Miles of golden poppies and countless mariposas of varying color carpet the foothills and mesas; in the mountains the air is filled with the scent of pine and the fragrance of flowering shrubs and the desert is spread with a tapestry of innumerable blossoms.

Harold Bell Wright, who built a fine desert home in Arizona, said that nowhere else in America is there such generous assortment of Easter and spring flowers as on the "barren" desert soil.

"At times it is impossible for me to put my foot down," he said, "without crushing desert flowers. They literally carpet the earth. For miles and miles the flats and hillslopes will be painted golden by the poppies, touched here and there by the blossoms of other hues."

Arizona leads in the number and diversity of cactus plants, and while most of them grow on the desert, some are found high on the mountains, surviving low temperatures. Cactus plants are rugged individualists-their tortuous spines protecting their fantastic bodies. The lovely vari-colored blossoms in pastel shades are in striking contrast in delicacy and beauty.

The rare charm of desert flowers and plants, caught by the photographic art of William M. Tillery is shown on the following pages. Tillery has been making pictures for thirty years and he is distinguished in the field of pictorial photography. Many of his fine pictures have been exhibited throughout the United States, Canada and abroad, and have received favorable comment by critics wherever they have been shown. His pictorials grasp the beauties of Arizona and in his studies of cactus blossoms he has brought out the glory of these blooms. Tillery is a charter member of the Arizona Pictorialists, an organization of camera artists organized in 1932 and has been active in this group since that time. The pictorials on the following eight pages are, Beaver Tail cactus blossoms; the Beaver Tail plant. The third shows the dainty Star or Rain lily. The Spineless Prickly Pear cactus and the Thistle Poppy are fourth and fifth. The sixth pictorial is of a storm breaking through the giant Saguaro cacti on the desert. The familiar Sunflower reflects a new glory in the seventh study while the concluding pictorial shows the gorgeous orchidlike bloom of the Saguaro cactus. It is Arizona's state flower.