Fire and Ice

On rare occasions during mid- to late February, Yosemite National Park’s Horsetail Falls can glow orange and appear to look like hot lava when the light from the setting sun hits the flowing water from the falls at just the right angle. This unique lighting effect happens only on evenings when no clouds are obscuring the setting sun at this time of year. I was fortunate to witness this spectacular event during a trip to the park in February 2019, and was able to take several photographs to work from as reference in my home studio to create this painting.