DESERT SONG: Portraits of the Sonoran Desert
Through the serendipitous encouragement of a stranger and the kind invitation of a friend, author and photographer Claire Vimala Anderson made her first trek to Tucson, Arizona in the spring of 2008. She landed in the middle of a childhood dream, surrounded by stark beauty of the southwestern wilderness – the Sonoran Desert by name – the ‘Wild West’ by reputation. She was there long enough to sense the beauty in this intense, even hostile environment.
There were delicate blooms among the prickles and spines; a magical chorus of birdsong rising from a stark landscape; the calming stillness of rugged mountains and shade-less cactus forests; vibrant, colorful sunsets following fierce monsoon rains. It was a land that matched her soul, a place of survival, great inspiration and beauty. A place she continues to return to again and again. This book is the artist’s heartfelt attempt to share some of her experience of the Sonoran Desert with others.
"Here in encapsulated form are highlights of the beauty that is the Sonoran Desert. I have been blessed to visit and then to live among the saguaros and prickly pear since April of 2008. I have taken the desert and her mountains into my soul and watched them heal me. Not in quiet rest, but as a thorn removing thorns. It gets worse before it gets better. An acquaintance once told me that Tucson chooses who will come to her. And another told me that Tucson is where strong women come to heal. I would say that this is so. I am not who I was.
"I have photographed the desert in an attempt to keep it with me and to remember what she gave me. And I am sharing it here in the hope that some of her medicine will go to your soul and bring you forward on the journey."
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