Fireweed and the Burn

original painting: 16x22, oil on panel

this painting is available for purchase, contact the artist for information

In the summer of 2021 I was awarded an opportunity to spend two weeks in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex in the northern Rockies to focus on my art and creative process as a participant in the Artist-Wilderness Connection program. 

Just as important as the sketches and paintings that I created during my residency was the undistracted time I spent at the Granite Cabin reading, writing, and thinking about the concepts of place and wilderness and how these ideas can be made into my artwork. This work evolved into an idea that the landscape around me had three stories to tell: a geological story, a natural story, and a cultural story. These stories were then incorporated into a new series of paintings to capture the full story of this place in the Great Bear Wilderness.

A few spots near the cabin were recently burned.  Although the charred trees look lifeless, the underbrush was thick with new growth. One area I walked through was full of fireweed, one of the first plants to thrive in disturbed landscapes. This piece "Fireweed and the Burn, shows these contrasting elements of the forest.