So the symbol of the butterfly and yellow are very powerful to me. They represent beauty & love, healing, and resistance—and the power to bring about change.

I wanted to touch the sky. I knew I would find myself there. Somewhere in the ether. Where voices ride the wind. And daydreams are wrapped in sunlight.

I painted the first few ephemerals while still in Arizona. My cycle tour started right from my driveway. We rode south along the mountains towards the Mexican border. We intentionally stayed as close to the border as public roads allowed us, all the way from our place in Arizona until we crossed the border in California into Tecate, Mexico.

That moment brought with it some force of eternal optimism, that thing inside that gives me the power to move beyond the moment and reclaim it as my own.

It has been nearly six years since we came to this place. It is difficult to trace the steps that brought me here. How far back in time do I go to answer how I got here? … A forest of ocotillos swayed in the wind, greeting us with their bright red blossoms. A western diamondback rattlesnake squiggled across the road. A pair of hawks circled overhead. … It has been quite the journey coming to know this place, and coming to know myself in this place.