A Mountain Campfire

"For three years, I wanted to make a campfire the unique focus of a painting. As a regular visitor to Yosemite National Park and an admirer of the writings of naturalist John Muir, I have a special appreciation for the wilderness. A photo cannot possibly reveal a fire's extremes of bright and dark. Every value of light and shade must be precise; only a paintbrush can convey it. And how could a photograph express the mesmerizing pattern into the air, the energy of decades of sunshine dispersing in a matter of minutes? It took years of planning and months of preliminary work, but finally the painting was completed.

"After creating 'A Mountain Campfire,' I happened upon a quote by John Muir about a night spent in the wilderness. It was as if Muir had seen the painting himself. Muir said, 'The glories of a mountain campfire are far greater than may be guessed. One can make a day of any size and regulate the rising and setting of his own sun and the brightness of its shining. You gaze around at the illuminated trees as if you'd never seen trees before. Sparks stream off like comets or in round, star-like whirls from a sun. They fly into space like Milky Ways of lavishness and fall like white flakes, feathery and pure as snow.'” - Stephen Lyman

Reproduced from the artist's original artwork of Oil on Canvas 36 x 54. Painted 1989

1957 - 1996

Born in 1957 in Idaho, wildlife artist Stephen Lyman was an explorer who specialized in painting the most elusive moments in nature. His inspiring work was inspired, in turn, by the writing and teachings of famous naturalist John Muir. "Muir wrote, 'Climb the mountains, and get their good tidings,'" Lyman said. "I know exactly what he meant." Lyman's love of the great outdoors stemmed from a childhood spent in the Pacific Northwest, where hiking in Snake River country was a regular family ritual. 

Lyman had a natural artistic talent and began his professional career as an illustrator in Los Angeles after attending art and design school in Pasadena California. However, a true explorer who was inspired in part naturalist and writer John Muir, the artist decided to return back to the Northwest. He began to communicate his love for nature with art and spent his time hiking, exploring and meticulously researching the subjects for each of his paintings. 

He continued to discover the wonders of the natural world and of living a natural lifestyle. "All my paintings have their origins in my experience and perception of beauty in the wilderness," he said.  

His work included paintings, sketches and photographs made during more than 35 trips into California's Yosemite National Park, Alaska's Denali National Park, Oregon's Willamette Valley, the Canadian Rockies and Northern Idaho. Stephen was killed climbing in Yosemite National Park in California.

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