Sara Frances approached me almost 2 years ago about a project she was starting. As we sat in my studio one sunny spring day, she passionately explained the book project with with photos, pages layouts and papers spread out over the work table. Her vision of creating the story as told by the characters that live in the Southwest is what pulled me into the project.
As she explained, there are an endless number of facets into creating a book, the most time consuming of which is the design and layout. Then there was working with the publisher and checking endless color proofs. That means 102 stories with photos had to be proof and then proofed again. I would imagine her faith was tested as the project slowly plodded forward, but printed books did arrive and the wait was well rewarded.
There are two essays about my woodblocks in the book. The first essay is about the process I use and the inspiration I find in the Southwest. The second essay is about my adventures in the Southwest and the artwork that has evolved from those adventures.