Obsidian is an unusual and compelling love story, set in the high mesa country of the Southwest. Erica Hanlon, a world-famous sculptor in her seventies, whose hope is fading as her eyesight is failing, takes in a young painter named Michael Spielman to be her handyman, friend, and companion. Michael becomes her apprentice, hoping to learn about living and working as an artist and how to succeed in the business of promoting his paintings. However, his ambitions gradually fade with his increasing care of Erica, putting him at risk for becoming a mere footnote to her distinguished career. Obsidian explores how these very different people clash and spark against each other in the realms of art, ambition, wealth, and love in a story that begins and ends in the wilderness of the desert but extends out to Paris, Provence, and New York City.