Awaiting Fate

The trees in the foreground are awaiting their fate after lightning sparked intense fires that tore through Stirling Range National Park in Western Australia in late December 2019.
This painting depicts those fires near Bluff Knoll. The ferocity and damage done by this fire will take many, many years to heal in this biodiverse area. 
I aimed to capture the foreboding darkness and stillness in the foreground whilst all hell was breaking loose behind the silhouette of the mountain, with tonnes of smoke billowing wildly  in the sky dulling the sun.
With permission from a reference photo by Terry Dunham.