I just walked through the aftermath of a forest fire in Portugal this September. The experience changed me. Among the ashes, I collected charred wood and forest remnants – pieces of a landscape forever altered. These fragments became more than just burned debris – they became my medium for honoring what was lost.

Nature will try to heal itself, but it needs our hands in the soil, our minds in the game. It doesn’t happen on its own, at least not in a very short time.

It comes down to trees. They’re the anchors that quite literally hold our world together, but they need us now more than ever. When we plant native species, we need to think it through – giving them room to grow, access to sunlight, and spacing that helps them survive future fires.

Like any living being, they need clean water and protection from grazing animals while they establish themselves.

The piece itself carries actual remnants of that burned Portuguese forest. For me, it’s both a memorial to what the fire took and a statement about nature’s stubborn ability to bounce back – with a little help from us.

Name: Specks of Love 5 Size: 80.5 x 80.5 cm Materials: wood ashes, sand from Portugal, clay, water from levadas from Madeira, acrylic on canvas Year: 2024