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Photos: After the Thomas fire, an artist picks up the pieces

Fighting off the flames of the Thomas fire was an "unbelievable experience," said Carpinteria artist John Wullbrandt, who along with his partner fought the flames to protect their 100-acre property.

Fighting off the flames of the Thomas fire was an “unbelievable experience,” said Carpinteria artist John Wullbrandt, who along with his partner fought the flames to protect their 100-acre property.

  (Hal Wells / Los Angeles Times)

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Fighting off the flames of the Thomas fire was an “unbelievable experience,” says Carpinteria artist John Wullbrandt. He saved his house but lost vital paintings and records. Despite the sorrow of his loss, he says the process has given him new hope.

After the Thomas fire, an artist picks up the pieces

The Thomas fire swept through Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, charring areas like this one in Upper Rincon Canyon. It is the state’s largest fire on record.

  (Hal Wells / Los Angeles Times)

After the Thomas fire, an artist picks up the pieces

Fire-resistant cactuses and succulents helped beat back some of the flames that reached the 100-acre El Rancho Botello, the ranch just above Carpinteria that artist John Wullbrandt owns with partner Jean-Claude Rivalland.

  (Hal Wells / Los Angeles Times)

After the Thomas fire, an artist picks up the pieces

John Wullbrandt sifts through the ashes of his painting archives. Although he and Rivalland saved the main ranch house, they lost the barn where Wullbrandt’s larger paintings were stored and two shipping containers filled with his life’s work.

  (Hal Wells / Los Angeles Times )

After the Thomas fire, an artist picks up the pieces

Once the fire got close, Jean-Claude Rivalland, left, and John Wullbrandt had to hose down their outdoor animals, including two donkeys -- El Paso, foreground, and Paris. The animals survived.

  (Hal Wells / Los Angeles Times)

After the Thomas fire, an artist picks up the pieces

“We were told to evacuate,” the painter John Wullbrandt says of being warned that the Thomas fire was heading for his Carpinteria ranch. “But Jean-Claude and I chose to stay with the animals and ride it out.”

  (Hal Wells / Los Angeles Times)

After the Thomas fire, an artist picks up the pieces

Once the Thomas fire had scorched the needles off the ranch’s cactuses, the cows were able to easily enjoy the tasty treats. The idea to plant fire-resistant succulents at El Rancho Botello proved a fortunate one.

  (Hal Wells / Los Angeles Times)

After the Thomas fire, an artist picks up the pieces

Jean-Claude Rivalland wears a mask as a precaution against the smoke and ash still swirling in the Carpinteria area. Recalling the night he and his partner sprayed down their house and animals as the Thomas fire approached, Rivalland said, “At times, I didn’t think we would survive.”

  (Hal Wells / Los Angeles Times)

After the Thomas fire, an artist picks up the pieces

Rivalland surveys scorched hills on his way to check on El Rancho Botello’s water tanks.

  (Hal Wells / Los Angeles Times)

After the Thomas fire, an artist picks up the pieces

Rivalland hugs one of El Rancho Botello’s three 5,000-gallon water tanks. But for the water from these tanks, he and partner John Wullbrandt would not have saved their ranch, their animals and themselves.

  (Hal Wells / Los Angeles Times)

After the Thomas fire, an artist picks up the pieces

With Wullbrandt and Rivalland’s ranch house in the distance, charred brush stands as ghostly sculpture left behind by the fire.

  (Hal Wells / Los Angeles Times)

After the Thomas fire, an artist picks up the pieces

A 2007 photo shows the barn where Wullbrandt’s larger paintings were kept. These paintings found homes before the Thomas fire hit, but the structure was reduced to a pile of charred metal roofing and ash.

  (Hal Wels / Los Angeles Times)

After the Thomas fire, an artist picks up the pieces

Carpinteria painter Wullbrandt, photographed after the Thomas fire, says that with loss will come new life for the landscape. “It really will be like the Phoenix rising out of the ashes, the rebirth,” he says. “It will be so much more beautiful once it starts to rejuvenate. We’re gonna see wildflowers we haven’t seen in 100 years.”

  (Hal Wells / Los Angeles Times)

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