Taproots
"I don't see the desert as barren at all. I see it as full and ripe. It doesn't need to be flattered with rain. It certainly needs rain, but it does with what it has, and creates amazing beauty."
- Joy Harjo
But first, a desert nature walk...
Maybe it's imprinting with early memories. Perhaps it's that I love and need heat, warmth. Maybe a more profound archetypal language is speaking to me.
The inspiration for this small series began with recognizing the above and a desire to look further. My creative process often starts with reflection and research. How has the desert archetype shaped me? Why am I drawn to the desert? The harshness of the desert poses a sort of stripping down, of adversity. I find immense beauty, diversity, and lessons of adaptation and resilience in the desert. The juxtaposition of stunning blooms and prickly, sharp "leaves" interests me. I get a sense of the differences in lifestyle, survival, and ways of life every time I travel back.
And it occurred to me that we experience similar adversity in this northern climate I have called home for some time. Winter will have its own time in my art studio!
Creating art comes down to the question: what makes me feel alive? How can I translate that?
New Technique
As the idea of creating pieces with desert botanicals grew, I needed to figure out how. I learned how to do image transfers using a laser-printed image and soft gel a few months ago, and this was the perfect opportunity to try it. The first transfer was done with a doodled botanical on deli paper (any transparent paper would work) and printed a few more times in different sizes. I trimmed them and 'glued' them with the gel where I wanted them on the canvas, then let them dry for a day. The next day I gently scrubbed away the paper to reveal the image. I kept layering until it became the fanned botanical in the top left of "Arid Beauty." I am thrilled with it and have since successfully used it for a bleeding heart botanical commission.
The Desert Botanical Garden
My research of desert botanical species led me to the Arizona Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. Set in the Sonoran desert, it offers nature trails to explore, ways to learn about the desert, and opportunities to get involved. Their website states, "The Earth's deserts are home to over 1 billion people. The delicate balance between humans and the unique biota that thrive in these habitats depends largely on maintaining a healthy and stable desert environment...Biological and cultural diversity influence each other."
Interconnectedness. Resilience. Interdependence.
I sense there are some themes and visions here to explore further.
The Desert Botanical series was featured at Atomic Coffee in Downtown Fargo July 2022.
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