Father of Worlds

A time of creation is nearing. The world is ready to enter a deep transformation, to reinvent itself. So the fatherly energy shows itself, a power that slices through reality, changing the shape of everything it touches. Chaos and creation in a simultaneous game.

Concentration, expansion. Tiny and glowing; vast, dark and pulsing.

The Bull’s Stare

This piece will probably stand out from the rest of my work for its rough and unpolished look, but I just felt I had to publish it… now.

It seems I was tapping into a very different kind of energy the moment I brought this creature to life. It formed itself in an instant, and I felt its strenght and brashness almost literally.

Hidden Ancient

Can you feel the pulse of this force, oldest of all? Contained for so long, waiting to burst out and leave a dent – or a crater – in this world. Can you hear the call to embrace this wild, primal power?

The human spirit is not always gentle, but through awareness, this instinct of chaos and destruction does not need to be violent.

Don’t let “it” stop you

“It” can be anything. It can be your own fear, your perception that what you’re doing is not right, that you somehow don’t hold up to the imaginary standard you set for yourself. Your energy is constantly expanding, but when you put the various “it”s of your life in the way, you will only block yourself.

There are several things I’ve had to clear out of the way lately: The idea that any and all of my images must be accompanied by “thoughtful and deep” words, thinking it’s ok for a completed image to remain unpublished just because I don’t feel like writing today, believing I don’t need to share what I do with the world, that I only do it for myself.

All these things have proven to be so wrong on so many levels. I can’t keep hiding behind this kind of “it”. I owe that much to my creative spirit. Just like most paradoxes in life, as soon as you face it head-on it has a tendency to resolve itself, to vanish into air. I don’t have to write content to pad this wonderful image I present to you, but curiously, I can’t help it from pouring out of me.

99% inspiration indeed.

The Meaning of Symbols

I had a discussion recently over at Koldo Barroso’s site, regarding one of his pieces which had a very strong symbolic meaning for me, which was apparently never intended by the author.

In response to my comment, he mentioned:

I usually get an image in my head and later I add a text or a story to it, ’cause I’m more of a painter rather than a writer. So, the image comes to my head, I don’t think of the image in terms of symbols, but later it can be interpreted.

This answer illustrates a rather curious fact. Why is it that we are always looking for meaning and symbolism in everything we see? Is it not right for a work of art to exist just for it’s own sake, without necessarily transmitting a message?

I’ve curiously fallen into this habit too. The fractal images I create based on chaotic principles always start out as a blank slate, dots littering the screen, just being dots. However, as soon as I start arranging them in a specific order, a meaning emerges. The chaos becomes something more; all of a sudden it stands for a concept, a state of mind, or even a mythical creature.

I guess all of this just proves that we are fundamentally creative beings, that we choose our own meaning for things whenever we can’t find any. But is the meaning of anything even there, before we take our very first look at it?

Ultimately, it’s just the other half of our joint creative act taking place, don’t you think?

The Elements Dance in the Forest

It feels good to be writing again. I usually love the silence, but I was twitching to blog something lately. Some time away from the keyboard and the weekly pressure of posting has been very refreshing, but it’s time to pick up the pace again.

There have been a lot of changes in my life, which have made me think about the direction this blog should be taking, and I have lots of ideas in mind that I’ll be slowly adding to this space.

In the meantime, my artwork has started to show a new light; the energy behind my creations is coming through much clearer and as vibrant as ever. This is the perfect time to make up for a long standing debt, the promise of making (some of) my artwork available as wallpapers.

The elements have been speaking to me again lately, so I thought I’d honor them with an update to this old series. It’s incredible to go back just a little in time and see such a difference in composition and polish between those old fractals and my new work. But you be the judge of that, and let me know your opinion in the comments!

Elementals (2nd series)

Click on each image to see the larger version , then right-click to download.

Air

Fire

Water

Earth