Bolt Creek Stump

Painting Details
Varnished watercolor on torn paper
46" x 35.5"
 
The Bolt Creek Fire in 2022 closed US Highway 2 for a time. A year later, at the junction of the Beckler River Road and US 2, I saw a "grove" of cedar-like stumps that were probably logged more than 100-120 years ago. On some you could even still see the steps cut in the sides for the sawyers to use a two-man saw.

As the climate warms, forest fires are becoming more frequent and catastrophic in the western United States. My deep anxiety with the impacts of climate change on wilderness are emerging in this series. Burned-over areas of forest are riveting. Unfamiliar tree forms are newly exposed. Formerly hidden terrain features become visible. Normal greens, blues and browns are transformed. All the worst fires of the last fifty years have occured in the last five years.

Please contact me if you are interested in learning more about any of my images. All represent original paintings, not reproductions. I have many more paintings than are shown on this site. And, since I frequently work in series, there may be additional views of the subjects shown here.