Keith said: "Like it or not, when fractal art finally appears in the high end galleries in the big cities, that art will be made of flames."

Possibly, possibly not. Just because a particular medium is widely used, doesn't mean that the best art is created using it. Many, many more pictures have been created using crayons, felt-tip pens or coloured pencils than oil paint, but look what's hanging in the galleries.

"The flame trend is real and it is growing. I am trying to decide if I want to jump on the bandwagon with everyone else."

Very little worthwhile Art (with a deliberate capital A) was ever created by anyone who chose to be on a bandwagon. In fact, I think I can fairly confidently say that ultimately the most celebrated art is created by the people who jump off bandwagons or who deliberately head off in directions no wagon has gone before.

When, eventually, there are images hanging in 'high end galleries' that have been created digitally, I think it very likely that they will have been created by people who are more focussed on the image than they are on the medium. The software that is used to make them will be the software that enables the artists most powerfully to express themselves, whether it's flame-based, escape-time-based, or whatever.

I don't really like the term 'fractal art' because I think it is too focussed on the medium - there's an unhealthy set of ideas (I think) that follow from too much focus on the medium (e.g. don't post-process) that get in the way of producing the best art. Anyway, I digress. The point is that I think we're still in the early stages of using computers to make art, and understandably we're still pretty much focussed on what can be done technically, and not thinking enough yet about what we're actually producing. Most people who visit galleries wouldn't understand the difference between flames and other types of fractal, neither would they want to, and why should they? Given that, what's the likelihood of stuff hanging in a gallery that does little more than demonstrate the creator's ingenuity with flames?

I've rambled on at quite some length (more than I intended to). I did so because I think Keith's original comments demonstrate a lot of wrong-thinking (sorry Keith, but I know you like straight talking!). I think it is counter-productive to try to create art that other people will like - you should create what you like, and then (ironically/paradoxically) I think you're more likely to be creating something that will end up hanging in a gallery (that people other than your peers will want to look at). I also think it's wrong to care whether flames/Apo will 'win' or escape-time/UF will - I don't care what software you use: use whatever helps you express yourself best. Lastly, I think it's wrong to want the average person to know what a fractal is - what we create should be compelling whether or not the viewer knows anything about the medium - so I don't care whether the average person thinks of flames when they hear the word 'fractal'.

Erm... I prattled on far too long, so I'm going to shut up now. :-)

Best wishes,
Simon.