Illustration Friday: Fierce -

"Fierce"
digital collage by Mick Mather

Once again I find the theme at Illustration Friday somewhat difficult. This week the word is fierce and I'm beginning to think that this much difficulty so many weeks in a row may actually just be me. Well, whichever way the wind is blowing, the fires out west are what collectively inform tonight's piece. I have another version of this that I like better, because of it's JMW Turner aura, but this one is somewhat smoother and less harsh to one's delicate sensibilities in view of such things as destructive fires. At the same time I have to wonder if the rougher image might be more effective. Even though torn, all is well and I've posted it here at No Matter What Shape - The Archive.

The fires continue to burn -

"Talking About the Fires"
digital collage by Mick Mather

From time to time current events come to the top of my work pile. In this instance, the forest fires in the western United States, and one particular report on a particular effort to stem the encroachment. Without getting overly specific or too political, be wary of falling into the global warming trap that is the not-so-secret-agenda of some reporters, some media and some analysts. For example, last week's 60 Minutes feature took less than 10 minutes to brand the disaster as the result of global warming; and, right on the heels of the Federal Guy-in-Charge telling of decades long practices of removing brush and some second growth as a misguided method of prevention. Since most folks seem to have a short memory, how about reconsidering another decades long, incremental series of limits and outright bans on forest industry practices. This country has always had a healthy forest management plan that includes logical, linear thinking as regards a sustainable future while being good stewards of the environment that, quite likely, would have been a helpful stopgap in the current outbreaks that are now well out of our control. Enough said? I think not, but that's enough from me for the time being.