Jo Andersen

Desert Rain

For over a year I took cell phone images with a clip on macro lens of rain drops in the Sonoran Desert.

The tiny drops suspended from glochids and resting on bur-sage leaves captured the momentary beauty

of our rare and nourishing rains. This Artists’ Book is about these sacred desert rains.

TEND: A collaborative Book Maria Lee and Jo Andersen

This collaboration began during covid when we each started spending more time gardening.

We visited many local gardens drawing painting and writing about what we experienced. Then

we developed a plan and carved recycled woodblocks of text and images. We printed the

woodblocks then intuitively began overlapping and juxtaposing screen printed words an images.

Plant based dyed papers were a final detail to complete the binding. This book TEND is a

reminder that when we care for our garden we are nourished, tending the earth as it tends us back.

 

White Drought

This is a symbol for me of the drought we have been experiencing in Arizona. I photographed a house boat on the side of the road in Northern Arizona. The bleak landscape spoke of little rain and the sidelined houseboat headed for Lake Powell represents an experience that may be a thing of our past as water levels continue to drop. In this image clouds build up to form the tension of potential monsoon rains, we ultimately know water in the desert is finite and a dwindling resource.