As this year comes to an end, I want to share a personal project I have been working on for the past six months. As I think about it, it begun so many years ago when I was a kid, here in Los Angeles, and spent many Sundays in my Grandfather’s cactus green house.

It’s funny how things these pieces of your childhood, ones that you forget about, actually color your choices, desires and sensibilities as an adult in such a big way.

My memories of these times with my Grandfather, Sam, were of me walking through his vast collections of succulents and cacti, and the most magical spot was his orchid green house. I was allowed to work with him  on occasion, potting up plants and tinkering around in his garden. I don’t our conversations, just these afternoons with magical, crazy looking plants.

 The desert pieces are an exploration of my lifetime here in Southern California, through the colors in the sunrise, sunset, the flora that one finds here. These are collages I have made from imagery shot all here in California.

All the images were generated in Photoshop, by me, over several hours of shooting, then cutting and pasting the pieces together in a very intuitive, organic way. None of the images were premeditated, and all of them feel very different to me.

Several of the images contain pieces of fashion shoots I’ve done for clients over the years, but mostly, the imagery, or “pieces” have come from desert gardens near my home in Pasadena, and other places in Southern and Northern California.

Sending out wishes to everyone for a 2014 filled with rich, beautiful vistas, and vast horizons.

Diana