I live in Seattle, not too far from the beach. All year around people walk the sand, rain or shine. As the sun sets, fires are started along the shoreline and people huddle together. The sight is primal and celebratory and it fills me with a nostalgia apropos of nothing since I’ve never been prone to that particular practice. I suppose a fire is embedded in our DNA as human beings.

I collected sand the morning after all the gatherings and cold embers dotted the grains. I like that idea. The soul of the fire still present, giving off warmth and conversation. This painting is about that togetherness. It has that same sand sifted onto the surface, as well as falling rain, instrumental in peeling away layers of paint to leave poetic rivers.

I can feel the world turn in this painting. I’d like to think we’re all huddling together, around our fires, against the darkness of the unknown.