The Enchanting Desert is a kaleidoscope book celebrating our recent relocation to the Sonoran Desert in Tucson, Arizona. After 30 years of marriage, spent living in majestic locations ranging from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Northwest, suddenly, surprisingly we find ourselves transplanted, totally entranced by the beauty of this enchanting, miraculous desert.

Click here to watch a video of this book in action.

This creative structure opens into a circle, attaches with magnets and then rotates like a kinetic kaleidoscope. Three panoramic desert vista photographs showcase the Santa Catalina mountains of Tucson, Arizona. Iconic Saguaro cactus stand proud, surrounded by prickly pears and teddy bear chollas. Another panorama reflects the prehistoric palms of the local treasure, Agua Caliente park, a desert oasis. The images are paired with an original poem—a love story to both a man and a desert.

Kaleidoscope binding. Archival pigment prints. French Speckletone, Mohawk Superfine papers. 24 pages/sections. 2.75 x 2.75 x 2 inches closed. Extends out to 30 inches. Displays in a circle shape at 8.5 inches diameter. Presented with a belly band in a phase box. Signed and numbered. 2022. Limited Edition Artist Book. Edition of 25. 

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The Enchanting Desert
Limited Edition Artist Book
$475

To purchase this book contact Laura.

Or, contact Erin at 23 Sandy to arrange purchase.

The poem reads:

Truly blessed…
So many lovely places
we’ve called home.
30 years of bliss,
no grand plan,
just off to the
next adventure.

Great Lakes,
Rocky Mountains,
Pacific Northwest.
Now suddenly,
surprisingly, the
Sonoran Desert.

Luminous light,
lush green hills,
moving mountains,
rapturous sunsets.
Curiously celestial.

Desert cactus
flowering today,
storing tomorrow.
Surviving on so little.
Prickly, stately,
sentinels, sentient.

Palms sway,
lizards skitter,
snakes slither,
wheels turn.
Our love
and/of cycling
refreshed, renewed.

Beauty abounds
in this enchanting
slice of heaven.
Equal parts prehistoric,
and wild, wild west.

Some bleached days
I feel euphoric, enchanted.
Truly blessed…

All poetry, text and images © Laura Russell.