It's destructive but creates new life all at the same time. Meet an artist that has harnessed the dangerous beauty of prairie fires.

These beautiful Kansas landscapes have inspired no shortage of artists.

But it's their fiery rebirth that inspires Louis Copt. "It's a thing that's natural for the prairie, started by lightening."

An artist all his life, Copt started focusing on prairie fires fifteen years ago. "Because I grew up in Emporia so witnessing the fires every spring. So i started to photograph them."

The photographs allow Copt to take the time and translate flames to canvas.

"I like the drama of the fires, it lets me be abstract while also painting with realism. I hear people say they feel the heat coming off the canvas, so it translates."

Along with photographs, and paintings Copt is film-maker too. In fact, that's where we got these striking images, a short documentary Copt just finished.

"It's all a visual medium, I like film because you get the motion. It's another dimension. I see it as a universal image for the cycle of life."

You can find Louis Copt's paintings on display at the Phoenix Gallery in Topeka at 29th and Oakley.

Copt's first Documentary, "The Prairie on Fire" is about twelve minutes long and includes music by local artist Kelley Hunt.

Copt is now working on a half-hour documentary to air on PBS.