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On a clear day with little wind, dry forest fuels, and thick timber, a fire can be very intense and send a thick smoke column nearly straight up in the air. These forests are fire-adapted and this type of fire behavior is completely natural and normal. I wanted to show how the fire and smoke reflect on the lake. **Note: this watercolor is mounted (no glass) on cradled board with an archival, UV-protective varnish, and is ready to hang!

I love making art, but my day job is wildland firefighting. I fell backwards into fire management after earning a degree in Forestry. Most of the summer, I travel to fire assignments, predicting fire spread and behavior one day or several weeks in advance with the goal of helping managers make good decisions about ongoing wildfires. I've held positions in Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, the Bitterroot National Forest in Montana, in Christchurch New Zealand, and Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Fire behavior prediction involves fire science, knowing the 'art' of fire, and some computer wizardry. Wildfire can indeed be destructive, but in the natural environment, fire means renewal, regrowth, and a diverse landscape patchwork. My...