Tierra de mi Sangre y Perdida

One often hears that art could or should tell a story… and it always does, even if the “story” is simply the spirit in which an artist creates a painting, a photograph, a musical score, a three-dimensional piece, anything.

This particular photo came from a tangible search to express a deeply personal experience… something that I set out to create in my mind’s eye for a few years’ time. I knew that I wanted to photograph the stark beauty and harsh environment of a regal Joshua Tree at Joshua Tree National Park. I longed to pay homage to a devastating miscarriage that I endured at Joshua Tree in 2016 while I was on a rough road of fertility treatments, which itself was woven with hope-beyond-hope and seemingly never-ending tears.

What I wish for this piece is that people see its beauty as two-fold… that a Joshua Tree exemplifies stark beauty as well as tenacious survival in the very harshest of elements... something that we might all aspire to - at least metaphorically - when we’re pushed to our limits.

I recently framed a print of Tierra and hung it in our home where I am sure to see it multiple times a day. I appreciate feeling all of the rich layers that it conveys, and am reminded that beauty lurks, even in the most trying of moments.