For Tucson artist Audrey De La Cruz, art isn’t just about creating something beautiful — it's also a way to express her lived experiences and connect to an essential part of human culture.
“My art isn't just my paintings or drawings, it’s the inner world I create. It’s consuming the raw material of the world, the art that exists in it, and reworking it to document my own vision of reality.”
Using ink, watercolors, acrylic paints and digital art programs, De La Cruz creates vibrant illustrative designs of desert landscapes, florals and Arizona wildlife, with a bright, surreal twist.
Product assortment from Audrey De La Cruz.
“I would describe my artwork as whimsical, bold, colorful, and inspired by everything I love and experience,” De La Cruz said. “I like to create work that tells the story of my life as an artist. Each piece is a part of the puzzle. I create a lot of art centered on the desert because that’s what I see every day when I look out my window.”
Her pieces often feature repeating patterns, detailed linework and high-contrast colors. The inspirations for her style, De La Cruz said, come from artists like Vincent van Gogh and pop-culture comic book art.
“I like to use fun patterns in my work because I love patterned things,” she said. “I love the juxtaposition of bold outlines and painterly brush strokes.”
Even as a child, De La Cruz said she had a love for art, but she never thought about pursuing art as a full-time job.
“I didn’t go to art school. In college, I studied Anthropology,” she said. “Right after school, I entered the workforce and got an admin job that didn’t allow me to pursue the creative life I'd always wanted.”
It wasn’t until she moved to Tucson in 2016 with her husband Larry Andrade that De La Cruz made the decision to follow her passion, and the two started Annotated Audrey Art to sell her work.
“Larry and I quit our jobs and moved from Los Angeles to Tucson to pursue a more creative life,” De La Cruz said. “By the end of that same year, we took another leap and started our art business, created our first products and began doing local events.”
Their first product was a coloring book, followed by hand-painted items and buttons.
“Once we got our first printer, we started making our own cards and art prints. Shortly after that, we started creating stickers from my paintings,” De La Cruz said.
Original mini painting by Audrey De La Cruz.
Ten years later, their inventory has grown to include painted wooden decorations, occasional small paintings and Tucson-inspired ornaments.
“I love trying new things and learning new skills, so I add new products to my online shop every once in a while,” De La Cruz said. “I’ve done earrings, necklaces, bookmarks, and more.”
Part of the joy of running the business, she said, comes from making things with her own hands.
“To this day, Larry still prints our art prints, and I hand-assemble the cards,” she said. “I don’t ever want the business to grow so big that I don’t have time to make art anymore or be a part of the creation process in some way. I love having a hand in creating the final product.”
Tucson artist Audrey De La Cruz, works on an art piece on her iPad.
Her personal approach to artistic creation, De La Cruz said, is to fill her life with art and surround herself with media and subjects that interest her.
“I live in a pretty rural area near the Saguaro National Park, so the desert is a huge inspiration for me. I am drawn to the many ways the desert and its inhabitants can be used to symbolize different aspects of the human experience. For example, a saguaro can symbolize growing slowly, standing strong amid harsh conditions, or even being a home for others,” she said. “I am also often inspired by space and the stars. Tucson is a great place to stargaze and dream about distant worlds. In general, I tend to favor natural elements and iconography in my artwork, but I am also drawn to more abstract concepts, like philosophy and mental health.”
A finished art piece on Audrey De La Cruz's iPad.
The process for creating her pieces, De La Cruz said, starts with writing down all her ideas, finding reference photos and drafting sketches. She then creates more refined drawings on her iPad before Andrade turns the designs into print-ready files.
“Typically, when I’m creating, I get in the zone and often lose track of time. I think I create my best art when I'm in a flow state, so I try to set aside plenty of time to create,” De La Cruz said. “When I’m working on my mini paintings or ornaments, I set up my materials, put on music, a TV show, or an audiobook, and get lost in it.”
Tucson artist Audrey De La Cruz.
When she is not creating new works, De La Cruz said she is often still thinking or journaling about art.
“Art is one of my favorite topics,” she said. “As someone who studied Anthropology, I tend to have a very human-centered view on art. I view art as a sacred and essential aspect of humanity and culture. I think art is an expression of the human spirit and that everyone benefits from consuming and making art because authentic expression brings people closer together. One of my core beliefs is that everyone can be creative, and I try to use my platform to inspire others to express themselves in their own way.”
In recent years, De La Cruz said she has found the value in slowing down and letting her creativity flow naturally, as she has had to take a step back from creating to focus on being a caregiver for her parents.
“I tried churning out art at a prolific pace early on in my career, and it really burned me out,” she said. “I see slowing down as a necessary part of the process. In order to create meaningful art, I think you need to pursue a meaningful life, and that’s what I’m trying to do right now. Thankfully, since I’ve been doing this for a while, I have a pretty large body of older work I can rely on. These days, I typically release one or two new art collections a year inspired by the ideas that interest me or keep me passionate about life.”
During the holiday sales season, she typically releases hundreds of the ornaments and mini paintings she’s created throughout the year to provide something special for holiday gifting.
Painted ornaments by Audrey De La Cruz.
De La Cruz is content creating at her own pace, and she said her main goal is to live a creative life and share her story with others. She does, however, hope to get her work into more local shops around Tucson.
“I really appreciate having our products in physical stores so customers can shop in person,” she said.
Her products are currently sold in a few local stores, including Pop Cycle, Art House Centro and Bookmans. She is also fairly active on TikTok @annotatedaudrey, where she shares creative tools, projects or journaling and art ideas.
“I’d also love to branch out into journaling-related products and other things that inspire people to get creative and express themselves,” De La Cruz said. “It’s something I’m very passionate about. In fact, most of the new art I’ve been creating is in my journals and sketchbooks, which I share online on TikTok. Eventually, I hope to scan all my notebooks and share them with the world. But that is a project for the future.”
