dialyn - thank you. That thread has been going on and off for quite a while. I often don't have much time for it, due to overwork and a slow connection. I do my best to be as objective as possible when selecting and commenting on images. Before I started it I had no idea we had a fractal gallery, much less that it had so many great images in it. And now to answer the thread: What is art? Visual art is the desire to communicate in visual terms something from the artist to the viewer. It may be specific, or it may be more general. The success of the piece can be judged on wether or not the piece has communicated what the artist desired. The media that the artist has used is entirely irrelevant. Many of the artists here are happy with the artistic statement of 'this is beautiful' or 'this is a beautiful (sexy?) person'. However, there are many who have more to say than that. Digital image tools have given more people the chance to express their vision, but as Sturgeon once said "90% of everything is cr*p" I can honestly say that I have seen more bad poser renders than any one person should legally be subjected to in one lifetime. Why do I continue? because I have also seen work that speaks to me in ways that mere words cannot express - images that will remain in my memory forever. For those images and artists, I am willing to put up with a great deal of student level work. Lyrra