Sticks Reprise

Sticks Reprise Framed 11 inch x 14 inch acrylic on canvas. FAR Tag  # : 2676; Sticks Reprise, by Jake Beckman, shows a stand of denuded aspen sticks against a smoldering red sky at the So High Ranch near Flagstaff.

The wildfires that raged through AZ in 2002 were an impetus for a series of very red sticks pictures I painted. The worst of these fires was the Rodeo-Chediski fire that burned nearly a half million acres in June 2002. I have had the opportunity to get a birds eye view of the devastation, when I participated in a ham radio field day; we selected a site in the Apache-Sitgreaves Forest next to a fire tower, that we would have good unimpeded radio reception. The ranger allowed us to climb the tower and have a look around. It was blackened pine as far as the eye could see. As I understand the nature of these forests, the prolonged drought and "only you can prevent forest fires" management policy of the last century are both to blame for the devastation and the fire hazard that continues to exist even today. I only hope a happy medium can be reached before our whole state burns down.-Jake.