For more than 40 years, I have been enchanted by desert environments. My first introduction to a desert was when I was 18 years old and left home in the Northeastern US to attend the University of Arizona fine art program in Tucson. The Sonoran desert seemed a magical kingdom to me – cactus and otherworldly plants, astonishing geology, mystical light, the spaces between things, the clarity of arid air, and vistas of endless horizons. I've lived in many different places since then, including Paris, Budapest, Hawaii, and now the high desert plateau of northern New Mexico. Never have I felt more at home than in the desert. My experiences exploring the deserts and canyons of the American Southwest, as well as several journeys to the Atacama Desert in Chile, have intensified this bond. A camping trip to the middle of the Sahara to observe a total eclipse of the sun was transcendent. All of it has affected my devotion to abstract painting. A lifetime of lessons and personal growth has led me to the realization that the desert holds the mystery of Being for me, and that an intuitive mark or brushstroke can convey the most powerful emotions about place and existence.