The Art of Nature:

I am in love with the wildlands of Southern Nevada. Austere, enchanting, secretive … a land of mysteries, a keeper of secrets, a land of great contradictions and contrasts … a land of much beauty and little rain … a place as magic as dream and as mysterious as heartbeat.

This is a land that closely guards its secrets. The desert reveals itself to the patient, persistent seeker with rewards of hidden canyons, colorful cliffs, secluded oases, steaming hot springs, ancient lava flows, forested slopes and alpine summits.

It is a place of stark contrasts. Elevations range from 500 feet near the Colorado River to nearly 12,000 feet at the snow-capped summit of the Spring Mountains. Temperatures range from well below freezing during winter at high elevations to over 120 F in the lowlands during the desert’s burning summers.

These dramatic contrasts in climates and topography result in an amazing array of life that not only survives, but also thrives here. Over 1500 animals and plants are found in the Mojave Desert of southern Nevada making it one of the most biologically diverse regions in United States.

It is my hope that, by looking at these images, the viewer will come away changed; no longer seeing the desert as a barren and lifeless land that is baked by the glaring sun and beaten by relentless winds, but rather as a miracle of life’s inventiveness and tenacity against great odds. It was once said that the Mojave is pure bone. It is just that. A land stripped of non-essentials, a land that is not so much harsh but rather unrelentingly real.

I invite you to pause, take time, and see the stunning wildlands of southern Nevada again for the first time. I encourage you to respect and celebrate these places of overpowering beauty, strength, and abundance.

Listen to the wildlands: they are a wise teacher.