I first experienced the desert during a road trip I took in January, 1995. I was living in Manhattan at the time, and driving through Arizona was an act long in planning, that had yet to materialize. Finally though, I was able to escape the New York City winter for a month so that my dream of seeing the Southwest could come true. Little did I know that the images, the colors, and a sense of the eternal was what my drive through Arizona would leave me with.

When back in New York, I found that even though I had left the desert, the desert had not yet left me. My mind was inundated with images and expansive visions that I had captured during my journey. Everything from the desert color palette of brown earth tones to the odd mixture of life in a place where death seems so prevalent, gave rise to me wanting to materialize further, the racing pictures in my mind. I moved to Tucson to experience and capture life in a place that my New England bred eyes were completely and wholly, foreign to. I wanted to extend what my short trip had awakened in me.

With this body of work, I have attempted to show that throughout the desert, man-made objects which would normally be considered old, seem quite new. I also wanted to show that even though the desert is laden with sand and adobe colored tones, splashes of vibrant and exotic colors do abound. There is life in this sometimes barren and desolate landscape; folded into the reality, plain to the eye. I find that sometimes strangers to the desert, such as myself, see again what natives have long since taken for granted. These images here help recall how special the Southwest can be.

Each black and white print is hand-painted with photo oils. The prints are available in limited editions, but due to the process of individually hand-painting the images, no two prints are exactly identical. Each print is signed, dated and numbered. I use only archival quality materials to ensure the longevity of the print.