I moved this response from the end of the "Renderosity Contest" thread and made it a topic of it's own. I've noticed fractals are generally not as respected as art as most other digital medium. I suspect much of this thinking stems from people's ideas of how art is created. In other words, people equate the value of art with how it is being created. Generally people can understand art when an artist takes a pencil and draws on a piece of paper. Fractals, as all fractal artists know, have a much different and mysterious method of creation. It isn't as straightforward as trying to reproduce something in our minds. It goes beyond our minds. For a fractal artist, it is not about recreation but creation. Our skills as an artist involve complex manipulation, composition, and mastery of the digital medium. If people understood just how involved the creation of fractal art actually is, I'm sure it would get more of the respect it deserves in the art world. Thanks for reading! :) Dave