"Blooming Where No One Looked"

When I was traveling in Dubai and Abu Dhabi recently, I was mesmerized by the quiet, exotic beauty of Middle Eastern women. Over strong coffee in cafes, malls and a bedouin desert camp, I observed veiled women, with kohl-rimmed eyes and hennaed hands. Although our dress, manner, language and customs were worlds apart, at our hearts we are daughters, mothers, wives, girlfriends and...yes...sisters. 

Back in my studio, I wanted to pay homage to these women. Meet Yasmine, the desert flower. 

As I was finishing Yasmine, I came across the following lovely poem from She'll Find the Sky: A Collection of Poems by Christy Ann Martine. 

Like a flower in the desert

I had to grow in the cruelest weather

Holding on to every drop of rain

Just to stay alive.

But it's not enough to survive,

I want to bloom beneath the blazing sun,

and show you all of the colors

that live inside of me.

I want you to see what I can become.