Smokey the Bear does not want us to start fires, but that does not mean that fires are all bad. In fact, fires reduce insect outbreaks and thin the forests, recycling nutrients and increasing the diversity of life forms. Natural fires serve as agents of change and renewal in many ecosystems, including grasslands and pine forests.

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Depicted in this mosaic is Duende, a fire jinn, who seeks to pluck downy feathers from a Phoenix before it is consumed and rises. With the ashes from those feathers, he renews himself by rubbing them over his body. The forest regenerates wherever those ashes fall in his footsteps or scatter in the wind. He has gone endured the pain of fire before, and so he pauses.

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*Special Recognition in ArtQuest's exhibition "A New Beginning"

* Two Tufts... was exhibited at Peoria Art Guild's 2014 Nude Attitude event in March, 2014.