Hi: I need some honest opinions! There is a site that I have been posting on for about 2 months and I upload the same images there that I have here at Rendo. It's one of those site that has to approve the image first before it's placed in the gallery. I noticed that since Sept. 13th, they have not posted any of my images, that is over 2 weeks worth of images (1 post for each day). I decide to write them and ask why, if they didn't like my work or what? Was I wasting me time and theirs making these daily postings? Well their reply was that my images since sept.13th have been very inferior and they knew that I could do much better than what I have been sending in!!!! I looked at the other images in the same catagory (abstract) and they don't seem to be any better than what I was doing. After deleting my work, I noticed that the last abstract that someone else had done was dated 6/16/05, I don't know what their problem is but it made me upset that they think my work is crap, I already feel insecure about my work any way. I need honest opinions, am I wasting my time and need to move on to something else or what. I try to keep my work as unaltered as possible, so that they basically stay as close to true fractals as possible. Well enough about this, I just need to know how others think about what I'm doing!!!! Thanks for letting me get this off my chest!!! Patti

What site is this you refer to??? Some people have no appreciation for fractals at all.Sadly, even, some have no idea what a fractal even IS.I run into this alot here in Podunk, WV when I show friends my "artwork". I've also been told by an artist friend that computer generated art isnt even art.Go figure that one out!! Don't sweat it Patti. If you enjoy what you're doing then keep doin it. I use art as an escape, not to please the masses.

Thank you, Alison for your reply! I live in a small town in Georgia and when I mention fractals they seem interested, until I mention the word computer or digital art and if I say geometry or math their eyes roll to the back of their heads like I was going to make them take a math test. I did the same thing in school when the teacher said test. But as adults you would think by now some would have learned how to be polite. I never would have posted there if it didn't already have fractals, that's the first thing I check when I find a different site. After removing mine, the last one posted by someone else was the middle of June, maybe they were told the same thing and stopped posting too!!! They need a sign posted on the home pafe that says "FRACTALS NO TRESPASSING". Then it will be out in the open and up front and not so underhanded about it. Thanks again, I know I should be more thick skinned. Hope you have a wonderful week!

Like Alison I an curious to know what site you refer to - is there other fractal work on the same site, are they comparing apples with apples? Your artwork may not be what they want but that is a totally different matter - I have looked at your gallery again (I assume your postings were the same as here at Rendo and all I can say is if they are acceptable prior to Sept 13 I don't see why they were unacceptable after that date - of course we all have postings that we know are better than others, but I would personally say your images are always a consistent standard. If this site is making you unhappy Patti I would say, go to one were you are appreciated - why give yourself the upset and heartache, that's not why we enjoy fractalling we do it to make good pics and enjoy ourselves. (have you every considered you might be TOO good for them!!) Keep smiling Judi :O)

I honestly LOVE your work Patti! Don't you EVER listen to anyone who starts making half-assed comments about "quality"... your work is top notch as far as I'm concerned! ...and if you have any doubts about any of your work... you just remember that YOU inspire ME to be a better fractal artist! So there ner! Ditch the site that houses the idiots, and stick with the ones that truly appreciate your work, OK? T.

The first thing that I did was find the fractal gallery and since they had one, I joined and I posted the same images there as I have here. I have only been at the other site for about 5 or 6 weeks and they have a pending area where images wait to be approved. I had just noticed that my pending image went back to Sept 14th so I wrote and asked them why they weren't posting them and the reply was that they were inferior and that they knew I could do better work than that. My point is why didn't they say something like "We are no longer interested in your work or something! The fractals that someone else has posted don't look that great. Don't worry I will not be back there.

Thanks Tracey, I needed that! A good swift kick in the butt! When I got their email and read that about my work, I said OK, I'm outta there!!!! So I took my little images and went home!!! Pee-Pee on them!! 8)

You're quite right, Patti, by taking your work out. Personally I have never tried Apo and therefore it's not my main interest here in the gallery. But I regularly check in on your work because I really like them. There are a couple of artists working with Apo who's work I admire and you're one of them. So don't sell yourself short. You deserve better. In short: I'm just repeating what Tracey already said :-D Yvonne

Patti, Do you really want an honest opinion? I've been giving this a lot of thought in the last couple of weeks. Not about your stuff specifically but the whole flame "movement" in general. I'm not exactly gushing over flames lately and since your stuff is mostly flames you might might not like what I have to say. Let me know if you want to hear it. I'll try to be gentle, but honest. Keith

Well Keith, just from what you have said already, I get your opinion without asking! Some of us don't have the capabilities to do wonderous 3D or XD images, either because of lack of ability to work some of the very complicated progs and there are a lot of us that can't afford the price of the expensive software to do these type of images. Free ware is all I can afford and with $1,400 a month prescription bill, I'm afraid that this is the best that I will be able to do!!! The med. test for yesterday was only about $1,000 so I guess all the really great programs will have to wait a few years longer!!! I do understand that there are a lot of people who don't care for fractal, but it sure is a very cheap form of therapy both physically and mentally. Especially mentally, I use it to help relieve the depression and forget the ones who seem to have it all going their way.

OK. I'm glad I asked. Please keep in mind that I was going to talk about Apophysis and flames in general and not about you specifically. I didn't mean to upset you. I'll pick a different thread.

Don't worry about it! I'm just very thin skinned and I wish I could do the work that you do, but I just try to do the best with what I have and mostly my self taught knowledge. I never should have brought the question up to start with. I think really what I needed was a little assurance that I'm worth a little something!!!

I am in a way sorry that my first post is here in this thread. I came to the forum as a novice to ask some questions that probably have been asked several times before. But reading this thread (to get a bit acquainted with the members here, makes me want to add something here. Simple: the most important, or better: only! worth is self-worth. You do what you do, and that's it. Follow your heart, and choose with your mind. This said: no artist can create something every day. In the best of cases, there will be repetition. As for the expensive applications: the Gimp is free and replaces photoshop. Wings3D is free and is a VERY good 3D application. DAZ studio is free, as are Daz' main characters for basic use. Beautiful art can be made with a pencil. But many pencil drawings are sketches. And not every sketch is meant to be exhibited. No one can judge you, or your creations, but yourself. Your sense of worth comes from yourself, not from anyone else. But to know your worth, you have to learn to know yourself. And there others can be very helpful. This is not meant to judge or hurt, only to give my very personal point of view on the general situation in which I interpret you are a bit stuck. And, indeed: flame fractals are wow, but too many people are creating them. Perhaps time to add another (free) fractal application and be ahead of the herd?

Hi Patti - you make some VERY pretty flame images - I like almost all that I see. But, even if I thought they weren't very good, it wouldn't mean that you as a person weren't "worth a little something". Some of the most obnoxious artists make wonderful pieces but just because their art is good doesn't mean that they are worth squat as a human being. You are who you are and your art is what it is and being good or bad at one doesn't mean you are good or bad at the other. This is how some artists become defensive over any slight criticism of their work and, by being "thin-skinned", might miss an opportunity to learn something from another artist or progress and improve their work by changing something.

It's like a person becoming emotionally invested in one's opinion during a debate of an issue. Even when presented with overwhelming proof of the wrongness of their opinion or belief, their ego says, "I CANNOT be wrong" and they persist. What suffers is the truth and they never find it. They want to be RIGHT more than they want to learn the TRUTH.

Don't worry overmuch about that gallery thing. Fractals, especially Apo flames - even ones as good as yours - are the "stepchild" of the digital art world which is in turn the step-child of the "real" art world. I'd be interested to know what site you are talking about. All major art fairs and shows are "juried". Juried means that you send them examples of your work and they are then judged for merit by people who, supposedly, "know" art as to whether or not they will be allowed into the show.

One problem with places like Rendo is that the encouragement/comment thing can give one an amplified sense of the worth of their art and even of their "self". I was invited to the DragonCon Art Show recently held in Atlanta. My samples passed the jury. Since my work is very well received here, I figured I was a shoe-in, would kick major butt, and proceeded to spend well over $1000 for giclee prints, matting/framing, gas(!!!! - lol ) and 5 days in a motel to do the show. Nobody there knew "Rykk" from Joe Blow and I didn't sell a single one. Hurt pretty good for a bit but then I realized that my art isn't ME. It is sometimes an expression of my emotions at a given time but whether someone sees it as "good" or "bad" doesn't mean I as a person am good or bad or that I didn't have great joy in the creation of it. That is not to say that the encouragement I've received here hasn't spurred me to greater effort but one has to not let it "go to their head".

Just let the art you create flow from you and be thankful for the gift of creativity (many people either don't have it in much abundance or don't let it out) you've been blessed with, feel the joy of doing it and discover that your "worth" is something that comes from within and not from some faceless stranger's opinion of your images. I know, easier said than done - even by me who be de one who done did said it - lol.
Flame on!
Rick

Message edited on: 10/08/2005 16:17