Love Song (2003) is about the desert. Wind, water, gravity, light and time are powerful forces that have shaped the desert, and serve as potent symbols for me. Wind (breath) and water are physical needs humans cannot live without, while gravity and time (experience and maturity) are the emotional and psychological components that shape individual lives. Light bridges the physical, emotional and spiritual in its life-sustaining energy and power. Sensations inspired by the desert are complex and difficult to describe, so it was with delight that I read Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire while traveling through the Utah desert in 2003. His poetic descriptions are poignant, eloquent, and as beautiful as the places he paints with words. Love Song is a journey to re-claim light, beauty and love out of the dark, weathered places we sometimes finding ourselves without knowing how we got there. I am forever indebted to Abbey for the courage to speak his heart, and to Kim Erndt for her voice and ideas.

Text from by Edward Abbey “Desert Solitaire” (1968) by Permission from Clarke Abbey