In 2020, we travelled for the first time to Cooktown and as we approached the town we noticed some smoke in the distance. We headed up to a higher vantage point to get a handle on just how serious the fires were and we soon realised we could be in for an interesting visit. After a rather sleeepless night not knowing which way the wind would turn, we woke to find the wind had been in our favour. I wanted to record this trip by way of this painting, showing just how ferocious the fires were, even creating their own clouds.