There is a difference between painting a fine portrait of a canine companion and painting a table full of dogs cheating at poker. I know that some people think paintings of Elvis on black velvet are fine art and hang them in their parlors. There is just no accounting for artistic tastes. That said, I must tell you that some years ago I was thrilled to find Renderosity with a lively and engaging Fractal Gallery, whose members welcomed me and invited me to keep posting. I know I wasn't very good then, and didn't even know how to make a simple frame, but the warmth and encouragement were there. Everyone who could open a fractal generator was happily welcomed. I, too, felt some distress at finding PSP tubes and Bryce primitives mapped with oversaturated fractal images, and especially distressed to find them highly praised and voted into the Hot20, until I saw who was doing the voting and praising. Mostly these images were from fractal newbies who brought their fan clubs with them from other genre, and those fans were used to galleries with many more members, so they all voted for their buddy's efforts without thinking of the impact on our small gallery. Perhaps, given enough time, the tube craze would have died down by itself. As to postwork, some of our artists use extensive postwork that makes their images even more 'fractal' than when they came out of the generator, and most of us use some form of sharpening, resizing, framing or signing, which, minimal as it is, is still postwork. I have become somewhat more philosophical over time. I have come to realize that the Hot 20 is not about how good the art is, but about how popular the artist is. I never look there anymore. I value each comment I receive, knowing that someone took the time to click for a larger image and look at my work and leave their thoughts. I think this discussion and the previous ones that brought on the rules have been incredibly valuable in making people think about their own images and what they are trying to say as artists. I do think that the moderators should not be moving people's images without consulting them and negotiating with them, and that should only be done if there is a specific complaint against them. I will be glad to have choices to vote on, but I hope they are better than the last Renderosity vote choices I participated in that specified only 3 things, none of which I particularly liked, lol.

Fractals will always amaze me!