For me, art is a voyage of discovery. I am as surprised by the art I create as anyone else who views it. Though I constantly strive to improve my skills, I am much more interested in creating something new (and hopefully beautiful) under the sun than in craftsmanship. I feel that photography has superseded other forms of art when it comes to reproducing the external world -it is the interior landscape that I strive to explore and reveal.
BIO
Born in Paris, France in 1950. Moved to New York when I was 5 years old. From an early age, developed an (unhealthy? obsessive?) interest in fantasy, science fiction, surrealism and anything that was beautiful and mysterious. My parents called me "Jean de la Lune" because I was often distracted by things that they couldn't understand. Also had an aptitude for drawing from an early age, but never really pursued it seriously back then. Went away to college in 1967, at the time that the psychedelic zeitgeist was reaching critical mass & got swept up in the maelstrom. Ego disintegrated & a new one rose like a phoenix from the ashes. Began drawing & painting in a stream-of-consciousness mode, bypassing the rational mind. Fell in love, moved to Berkeley, California, and had a son. Took art classes (illustration, figure drawing, portraiture, color theory, etc.). In the late 70's, began playing with computers. Learned to program & wrote simple applications for generating visual patterns. Having no real aptitude for marketing my artwork, I instead embarked on a career in information technology, which lasted 22 years, at which time I quit (in May of 2003). My current incarnation as a digital artist began with the first release of Fractal Design Painter. I experienced a breakthrough with the first release of Bryce, which was the medium that enabled me to finally satisfy my creative impulses. I use many other supporting pieces of software (Amorphium, Poser, & several others), but they only provide me with input for Bryce. All of my images are rendered only in Bryce, with no post-processing at all. Each of them starts with a bare-bones idea or model or texture which I then attempt to allow to evolve in whatever direction "it" decides & which I have never been able to predict. I obsessively tweak shapes, colors, textures, & visual relationships until the image seems "right". If the final result is somewhat disturbing and disorienting, yet at the same time beautiful, then I have succeeded...
Comments (11)
zoren
what is an all abiding, realistic alernative to this dilemma?, if anyone can answer this question pleeeease step forward... the wringing of hands is not a viable option or helpful. until then, the juggernaut will, unfortunately, keep on rolling... nice work.
ascript
We will be the final extinction. Excellent image!
amota99517
A very impressive image!
stealthman
Nice! Love the colors and composition!
TwoPynts
Excellent element in this visual treat. The shadow play is also interesting and there is a lot to seek and find. BTW, did a little something with you in mind...
eyeland
What can we do? In general terms, we can try to be less greedy & selfish & more generous & compassionate in our relationships to each other & to the environment that we share with all the other living beings on this planet. On a practical basis, you can support companies that behave ethically & responsibly by buying their products & shun those that don't. Check out http://www.betterworldshopper.com. For $10 (& I can assure you that I have no financial connection with that site), you can purchase a pocket size guide (suitable for taking shopping with you) organized by product type, of company ratings based on their ethical & environmental behavior. If we can convince corporations that they need to behave ethically to stay in business, they may get the message. Also, I heartily recommend the book "Entropy" by Jeremy Rifkin, which explains very clearly how our greed & blindness is hastening our own extinction....
eyeland
chachi, You must have suffered a lot of disrespect in your life to be so disrespectful of others. Are you so sure that only YOU possess the truth? Are YOU so much more intelligent & perceptive than the rest of us that you feel free to mock the beliefs of others so casually & with so much rage & hatred? I can accept the fact that we see the world in different ways, but why would I want to exchange ideas with someone who shows such disrespect for my point of view?
chachi
Previous comment.... wow....i mean just wow. I just checked that website. What a load of crud. I have enough of my own problems without having to worry about Juan in some 3rd world country sewing my running sneakers for me. He doesn't have to take the job, only if he wants money. That website is a bunch of bleeding heart garbage. I take what I want but I use what I take, I don't owe anyone a thing. And it mentions fair wages....WTF?! Tell all your little liberal Hollywood stars to send some of their earnings my way, they don't even really WORK---talk about un-fucking-fair wages. What a fucking load of shit. This martyr-i'm-gonna-save-the-world-because-I-recycle-my-energy-drink-can shit is off the charts now. The rest of the world wants our money and for us to take care of their problems but their also the first losers to complain when we DON'T do anything. Fuck the rest of the pathetic planet. What a bunch of mooches. We should have left Saddam in power and see what they would have thought then. There is a reason we crawled out from the start we had, soley because of the generations before us had the fucking balls to say NO to this kind of garbage. It's people like you that will drag us down to a third world state. Global warming is not fucking real. It is a scam. If Algore was so worried about it, why does he waste more energy in a month with his house and private jets than I do in a year? Because he is an irresponsible prick that wants MORE OF YOUR SYMPATHY MONEY. But again, back into my Hummer H2 of total Doom and this time the emmisions crap comes off so it can belch black fumes into the "ozone".......Choke on my exhaust peasants........ Peace out!!!! chachi Retort... Disrespect? I have suffered very little in my life. Simply because I do things for people, not the enviornment. People first, then nature. Nature has survived millions of years without us through worse and it will survive us. Henceforth, take care of people, the planet will take care of itself. It better, cause I'm not. I have seen ZERO PROOF that there is global warming caused by people. I see no proof that spending $40,000 for a little tiny hybrid car will help, if I am going to spend that kind of money on a car I can assure you it will not be a clown car with batteries. You people buy into these left wing fear tactics so easily. I think it more arrogant to think that mankind alone can even ever so slightly harm an entire planet. I do not disrespect you, only your ignorant gullable way of thinking. Also, if you want to post a topic and art peice this controversial, please expect feedback, like it or not. You brought it up, deal with it. I've posted things of this nature before from the "other side" of things, I accepted the feedback. Don't be such a thin-skinned wimp. And yes, I am that much more educated that I can speak this way. I never said you had to like it. You don't have the right to NOT be offended. So you go save a tree, I'll cut down 20 to add to my deck in my back yard after I grill the spotted owl for lunch and drill through a caribou's head for a galoon of crude oil in Alaska to put in my cars. I accept people's points of view....just not blatent stupidity. People are important, animals and such are here only for OUR use however we see fit.
eyeland
chachi, I expect & welcome feedback, but I also expect civility. You can call me a thin-skinned wimp & label me ignorant & stupid, while claiming to not disrespect me, but you can't goad me into a flame war. Let's face it, we live in two different moral universes. I'm not going to convince you that humans are a part of nature & that compassion is a virtue & you're not going to convince me that humans are like gods that rule over nature & that selfishness, greed & arrogance are virtues. I see nothing to be gained from any further exchanges between us, so this is the last response I will make to any of your comments. So you're free to have the last word if you feel the need to insult me any further, but be assured that it will be a one-way conversation...
pteb
I don't know if you have read Gibsons book "count Zero" but in it there is a character who's cancer expands through a huge amount of vats. He is enormously rich and he just keeps adding more. Your image reminded me of him.
Ultranova
Excellent message eveland, I'm with you. Great artwork too by the way.