I began making fire paintings in 2020 after a friend’s cabins and property in Swanton in Santa Cruz county burned to the ground. It was in a forest. I would go for several days at a time to make both studio paintings and plein aire. It was truly a sanctuary a retreat space, quiet and beautiful. The fire as so hot it burned the roots in the ground. The ground is so rich now from the charcoal, only the poison oak grows and it’s 6 foot tall.

I am inspired by the landscape and the natural world around me. I want to paint how it feels to be in nature.  I work in my garden see and feel the changes of global warming. I notice the trees need watering more and don’t sustain themselves anymore by the seasonal rains. I was driving north in late May on highway 101. I saw standing dead pine trees dead from bark beetle and the drought. They will soon be the fuel of a new fire season.