This series was inspired by a trip to New Mexico and Arizona when I was a child with my family, which included my grandmother who was a professional quilter. I remember how dry the air was and how you could see for miles across the plains, the layers of the painted desert, and the blips of rain clouds. The colors and textures used in these pieces were based on those remnants of memories, experiencing a new climate for the first time, and considering the impact of texture in artwork (as I’m sure my grandmother did with every piece).

Over the past five years I have yearned to reconnect with that powerhouse of a woman through my own art making — She passed in 2011 before I thought to ask her what it was like to live as an artist.