Hannah Moghbel – Desert Mystics

In the high desert of Colorado, our trails are lined with the understated prickly pear cacti. In winter, their leaf pads lie so limp they appear dead, but they are simply resting. In spring they begin to lift and green. Then for a few weeks in summer, arrestingly beautiful blossoms explode, seemingly out of nowhere.

My fiancé was my summer. Tragically, like my baba, the first man who taught me love, Andrew suffered from addiction. In the end, I left to save myself. Walking away from the man I loved so deeply was the hardest thing I have ever done.

Shortly after our break-up, a blooming cactus caught my eye at Home Depot, sparking a whole new series of paintings. During this liminal period, I found solace in Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art. Singing dancing, and sparring with newfound friends helped lift the weight of my sadness. Unfortunately, a sports injury ensued, requiring hip surgery. As a self-employed massage therapist, the unpaid rehabilitation was a crisis.

The morning following my surgery brought devastating news that Andrew had died in a car accident—his life cut short in an instant. I inquired about our beloved dog, only to learn he too was gone. Physically and emotionally broken, all I could do was pray and rest.

Painting through those dark hours was a long, lonely crawl through the desert. My art is a continued search for meaning. As I paint, I meditate on the cacti’s resilience and their ability to bloom in the harshest of landscapes.

Painting no longer feels self-indulgent or frivolous. It is how I celebrate the gift of being alive. I blossom by breathing beauty and color into the world. Creating prayers of self-expression, I hope to honor loved ones I have lost and to uplift those around me.