Nudes in the Desert, piece three of five of this series, was by far my most challenging work. It was during a warm late spring when I realized the vision for this piece was not going as planned. Not only was I experiencing some sort of creative block, but I was also in the prickly thick of cutting all things out of my life that caused any sort of chaos.

I constructed the background first as I always do, and I was pleased with my progress. The sun shone, full of radiance and warmth onto the sandy desert ground, while the cacti emerged and ascended towards the boldly painted blue sky, complimented by soft strokes of clouds. I was feeling confident, not only in the development of my work but also in my ability to sever whatever wasn't serving me at this point in my life. When it became time for the birth of the nudes, when that began it was as if that confidence just crumbled. I attempted multiple versions of each figure, but none matched my vision. I flipped through what felt like hundreds of Vogue magazines in an effort to find just the right skin tones. With each attempt, the figures seemed to blandly blend in with the dry desert sand. Yet, as I persisted and fully released the chaos mentioned above, that's when everything started to fall into place both in my work as well as in my life. 

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Through trial and error, I had pulled it all together. As mentioned previously, the figurative nudes represent my own physical and emotional healing, as well as the healing of humanity. After their tumultuous creation, I felt these figures deserved some 24k gold, which is precisely what they got. One example is the figure on the right proudly displaying gold Fendi earrings. The final element constructed in this piece are the red cactus flowers; which symbolize never giving up. They serve as a reminder that everything works out, even when it may seem otherwise.