Phoenix of the Candlebark by @zenphoenixa (Annabel Lee)

Summer's on its way down here in Aus, and that means the fires will soon be returning... last year, bushfires took out over 500 homes in Canberra alone... (Australia's capital, in case you don't know) I'm lucky to live in a region which bushfires pull short of, but it doesn't mean I don't get affected! =P When the wind is blowing just right, there's hardly anywhere in Sydney which isn't fogged up by haze... smoke is all you smell in the day and all you smell at night, and the sun turns a bloody red. One month to go before Summer arrives, and I wonder how bad it'll be this year?

And so before the fires flare up again, it gets me thinking how everything which has reflourished from the last bout of fires is about to get destroyed again... but it's strange how life is actually dependent on this destruction. I couldn't think of any better example than the Eucalyptus tree, of which the Candlebark is a variety...

Eucalypts give off oils which actually fuel fire and their bark is so flammable that sometimes, the varieties are nicknamed 'gasoline' trees (which can literally explode!), so they have a part in their own demise. But at the same time, the heat of the fire causes chemical reactions in the trees which cause them to produce new buds, and the Eucalypts regenerate rapidly right after the blaze. Sound familiar? I smell a Phoenix involved... Evil grin XD

So then, lets get down to the nitty gritty. This is my half of a trade with InstantPhoenix (sloooooooowly getting my trades done) who asked for a phoenix rising from flames, and as usual I had to wander off the beaten track... ('tis amazing I don't get lost more often) My tired old pen somehow managed to colour in all the black parts with the help of a marker, and I really think I should be getting a new pen for Christmas, don't you? =P The border was hand drawn, and I thus add borders to my list of " try-not-to-draw-unless-you're-hankering- for-a-mental-breakdown" things, alongside rainbows and chains.... X__X unfortunately, the computer colouring on the border ate up a lot of the details after I'd spent so long getting it symmetrical, so I might upload the inked version of this pic elsewhere on the net... -__-;; The background caused me a lot of woe as I found myself so uninspired at one point, so it took two days to fix the darn thing up into what I hope looks like a bushfire...? I've never been in a fire (actually, that may be a good thing... O.o ) and I haven't had too much practice with fire effects so er... yeah. I hope this worked. ^.^;;;

... and that's all I can think of during this rambling session, so I'll let you all go now. Unlocks the door and unties you all XD Peace all, and search for the Phoenix that lurks around you... 'never know where one might be hiding!
Sits and proceeds to wait for the fires ¬_¬;;