The Wildfire Series
I first painted a post-fire landscape many years ago after a canoe trip in Northern Saskatchewan took us through a burned out part of the Churchill River system.
Even though we know the fires mean forest renewal, they also mean threat and loss to so many. These paintings are about the fires that are happening around us now, not only in Saskatchewan, but across Canada.
Raining on Fire (7) 24"x24"
Fireweed (After the Fire), 18"x24"/SOLD Many of our canoe trips in Northern Saskatchewan have taken us through burned out parts of the Churchill River system. In the summers after the fires have been through, Fireweed carpets the ground in an impressive display of neon pink and green.
Raining on Fire (5), 24"x36"/SOLD The inspiration for Raining on Fire came during a really hard spring "fire" season. Huge fires were burning in forests and near communities across many provinces, and then, to an almost collective sigh of relief, it began to rain.
Burned Over, 24"x36"
Back in the Forest (After the Fire), 18"x24" A wildlife biologist in Northern Saskatchewan told me that after a fire, many animals are back in the forest within days, as long as there is something to eat. This female bear was on our trail camera on the South Saskatchewan River. For this painting she got moved into a burned out forest.
Back for the Beetles (After the Fire), 12"x24"/SOLD
On the Move, 24"x36" This painting was made from a photo taken by Dinyar Minocher. In 2016, he was on a crew fighting the fires around Fort McMurray, AB. In this image they are moving along a cutline to the next site. They carried a lot of gear, sometimes travelling by truck, and sometimes rappelling from helicopters and then hiking to their designated site.
Water Break, 24"x24"
Walking Among the Ferns (After the Fire) , 16"x40" This painting was inspired by a photo taken by Dinyar Minocher. He took it after the fire that went through Fort McMurray, AB in 2016. On a fire crew at the time and only about 40 days after the fire, the ferns were already more than waist-high.
What Remains (The Palisades Fire, Jan 2025. Los Angeles, CA), 24"x24" The idea for this painting came from a conversation I had with a good friend. Someone close to them lost their house in the Los Angeles fires in January 2025. They evacuated safely, with a special rug. The worn and faded rug I modelled this painting after is special to me, it came from Egypt in WW1, where my grandfather was a chaplain.
Fireweed (After the Fire) 16"x40"/SOLD
Fireweed (After the Fire), 20"x10"/SOLD
Raining on Fire (6), 24"x36"
Fireweed (After the Fires), 12"x60"/SOLD
Raining on Fire (4), 24"x36"/SOLD
Fighting Fire (The Superheroes), 36"x36" Looking through the photos D.M. sent me of his experience on a fire crew near Fort McMurray in 2016, I was impressed by the amount of equipment they carried through tough terrain. Clearly the job was difficult, and risky. So, I posed these made up guys with their gear, as The Superheroes.
On Fire, Northern Saskatchewan, 24"x24"
Grandmother's Bay Wildfire 2021, 18"x36"/SOLD In July 2021 we were canoeing on the Churchill when lightning started a fire near Grandmother's Bay. That night we camped across the water from the fire and watched while a helicopter and tanker plane fought the fire. We left the area the next morning, but that fire, once controlled, burned all summer.
Donnie Creek, B.C., 36"x48"/SOLD
Coal Creek Wildfire, Yukon, 36"x36"
Burned Over(3), 36"x24"
Fighting Fire, 48"x24"/SOLD
On Fire (Jasper), 24"x24"
Clam Lake SK (After the Fire), 24"x24"/SOLD
Raining on Fire (3), 10"x20"/SOLD
Raining on Fire, 12"x24" / SOLD
Smoky Skies, AB, 36"x36"
Smoke Haze, Churchill River, 12"x36"
Burned Over(2), 15"x30"
Fire Tornado (Jasper), 24"x24" In July 2024, fire overwhelmed a huge area of Jasper National Park, including the townsite. In places, the wind generated by the fire created a whirlwind. Afterwards, some of the burned forest looked as if a tornado had come through the area, leaving trees lying in a swirling, spiral pattern.
Raining on Fire (2), 12"x24"/SOLD
What Remains (The Palisades, Los Angeles CA), 12"x24"
The Fires are Merging, May 27, 2025, 36"x36" Quotes in this painting come from news articles in May 2025, when large fires in Saskatchewan forced many to leave and sometimes lose their homes.
Slowing the Fire, May 27, 2025, 36"x36" Quotes from this painting come from news articles about fires across the western provinces in May 2025, burning thousands of hectares of forest.
Smoke Haze, 12"x24"