Tunnel and Scorched Earth:

These are two separate paintings, but, I think they work well as a diptych.

I painted Tunnel first, in June 2020, it was an image based on some of what I remember seeing during the spring that followed the tragedy of the Woolsey Canyon Fire. The picture, alone, is not directly about the fire and does not make any references to it. The tunnel, though, is a powerful symbol, the meanings of which I may go into later.

The winter following the fire was very rainy, that, combined with a lot of fertile ground opened up by the fire, created a mega-bloom across the region.

Consciously, I did not plan on creating Scorched Earth (painted July 2020) but subconsciously I guess it was on my mind after painting Tunnel which brought back, not so distant, memories of the fire. I started it as something abstract and then I sort of just found this naturalistic picture of a charred landscape in the composition and colors.

It was not until I finished the painting that I put it next to the Tunnel picture and saw they fit together. Though they lined up pretty well there were some areas were the continuity of the images needed improvement. For example: the road out of the tunnel went into a dead end, in the Scorched Earth picture. So I made some adjustments here and there, in both pictures, dialing-in the details, but, taking care to not over-do it by changing major compositional elements. I think the result is an attractive, and engaging work that speaks about loss, destruction, challenges, and maybe –if going from left to right–it could be seen to speak of rejuvenation; though one fraught with dark times and obstacles which we will have to find a way through.