Tag Archives: digital art

An Archetypal Image

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I think I have mentioned before how I see many fractals as somewhat archetypal in nature.  We have, in our decorative past, incorporated many motifs that turn out to be quite common in fractal geometry.  The swirls and whorls, the spirals and branches, the radiating patterns… it is like we knew about fractals before we knew about fractals.  But of course we did, didn’t we?  Because fractals are the shapes of nature, and we are a part of nature ourselves, and surrounded by it.  We noticed the regular and irregular natural patterns around us and we appreciated them.  We began to find them beautiful. Then we began to associate them with ideas, and some of them became symbolic.

This particular fractal is one of those ones that seems to be archetypal.  Of course the cross shape, as a symbol, is much more ancient than the Christian religion.  This is more complicated than a simple cross, though.  What other associations does your mind bring to this image?

Symbol. Digital fractal art on metal. Single edition print. 16x16". Lianne Todd

Symbol. Digital fractal art on metal. Single edition print. 16×16″. Artist Lianne Todd. Private Collection.

I hope you’ll come out to my studio this coming weekend during the Oxford Studio Tour to see this piece and more.

New Fractals

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I’m excited to have some new fractal art to show you in a week at the Oxford Studio Tour.

We have thirty-one artists at seventeen locations throughout Oxford County, Ontario, Canada in the heart of the southwestern part of this province.  It will be a fun day trip for anyone in the region – even those coming out from Toronto! (Wouldn’t it be nice to get out of the city for a day or two?)

Here is a preview of one of the fractals.  I have printed it (using Posterjack) on metal, 20×20″ and that is the only print I will do, so it is an original piece.  It is created digitally using the Mandelbulb 3D software.  As I find usual and striking for fractals, it looks very natural. It is pretty obvious what I thought it resembled!  I hope you’ll come and see it.  I think it would make a great piece to gaze at from anywhere in your house, while you consider nature and its mysteries, and it draws you in close, as well – as all fractals do with their self-similarity on smaller and smaller scales.

I call this one Ocean Floor:

Ocean Floor. Digital Fractal Art. Lianne Todd.

Ocean Floor. Digital Fractal Art. Lianne Todd.  This image has now been printed on metal as a single edition. 20×20″. $345.00

 

A Farewell to “Wind”

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A while back I found out one of my fractal pieces had sold from the Art Gallery of Lambeth.  I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them for representing me and for selling this piece.  I didn’t find out which one it was, until recently, and then I was not surprised, as many people at various exhibits have told me it is their favourite.

I was going to find the image on this site and change the caption to say it was sold… and then realized I have never posted it here!  I’ve used the image to advertise some of my shows, but have never quite written the blog post I wanted to write about it.

While “archetypal” comes to mind (and is wrong) to describe this image, I confess I’m at a loss otherwise.   And maybe that is why it took me this long to write about it.  There is just something about it that speaks to people, and while I feel it too, I can’t describe it.  Who needs words when it comes to visual art anyway, right?  But I would love to hear your ideas.

My original title for this was “The Birth of Wind”, but then it just became “Wind”.  I don’t even have an explanation for that!

All I really have to say is, while this image is also one of my favourites and will stay with me for a long time, I am glad someone else is now able to enjoy it on a daily basis.  If you are the buyer, thank you and please let me know as I haven’t been told who you are.

Wind. Digital Fractal Art on metal, single edition print. 20x20". Lianne Todd. SOLD

Wind. Digital Fractal Art on metal, single edition print. 20×20″. Lianne Todd. SOLD.  Private Collection.

Scarf Arrival

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Yesterday, my scarf order FINALLY arrived.  (I ordered it December 15.  It is now March 1 –  Hardly the 30 days between order and shipping that was promised by the company).  I received several surprises between then and now, and not all of them were pleasant.  Please know, I have been on their case about the lateness of the order fulfillment, among  other things, and while they were not prompt with their response, either, they have responded and are taking measures to remedy the situation for the future.  At least, that is what they are trying to do.  They are a pretty new company, so I guess we can give them the benefit of the doubt.  If you, like me, placed an order, I hope yours has also arrived.  If not, I am sure it will, very soon.  And I am sorry if it hasn’t.  In every other way, the VIDA company has dealt with me fairly and has generously kept my page live past the original deadline.  For that I thank them.

Now, on to the scarf!  I only ordered the one design, so I don’t know how other designs will turn out.  The colours are a little different from the original design – some are more intense and others a slightly different hue, but the clarity of the image is great and the quality of the scarf is quite nice.  All in all, I’m happy.  I hope you will be too if you purchased any.  Thank you for doing so!

The original design compared to the actual scarf (which I haven’t ironed yet – sorry!):

Design&RealityArtifactAnd here it is on me, tied a few different ways:

Artifactsscarf4

Artifactsscarf1ArtifactsScarf2aArtifactsScarf3

 

 

Show opening this weekend

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The artists’ group I am a member of, the Artists of Oxford, is having a group show at the Ingersoll Creative Arts Centre and the opening for the show is this Sunday, 2-4 pm.  I’ve got two pieces in the show, and they are both digital fractals printed on acrylic.  One is called Diaphanous, the other is called Indeterminate.

I hope you’ll be able to join us for the opening or make it to the show while it is on!

Artists-of-Oxford---postcard-good

back of invite to email

The scarves are selling!

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I still have my design page on VIDA, where you can purchase the 100% natural Charmeuse silk square scarves with my fractal designs on them.  These are larger (34.5×34.5″) than any of my wall pieces with the added value of being wearable!  VIDA emailed me the other day letting me know traffic to my page has been strong, and in the email they sent a few coupon codes for me to pass along.

Here they are!

5 USD Gift Card off Orders 50 USD+ (use code PMCG3191V3IX)
15 USD Gift Card off Orders 100 USD+ (use code 83PNNJ8ZCUCE)
40 USD Gift Card off Orders 200 USD+ (use code NHJTDLZ2XS7P)

This offer expires on Sunday January 24th at midnight PST.

GroovyPageVIDA

HiggsBosonPageVIDA

ArtifactsPageVIDA

 

Rough Waters

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A little over a month ago, my mind was in turmoil and I spent some time creating this image.  The process of creating is always calming and even though none of the problems turning circles in my head were solved by it, it was a way for me to get through that time.  The piece is called “No Port in Sight”. Since then, things have gradually become better.  The waters have calmed.

No Port in Sight. Digital fractal image. Lianne Todd. Unprinted as yet - only one print will be made. If you wish to own this please contact me to discuss format, size, etc.

No Port in Sight. Digital fractal image. Lianne Todd. Unprinted as yet – only one print will be made. If you wish to own this please contact me to discuss format, size, etc.

Unbeknownst to me, at the same time, another artist, a photographer named Dave Sandford, was capturing the real thing from my favourite beach, Port Stanley!  I hope he won’t mind if I link to his photos here.  I don’t know him but apparently he lives in my “hometown” of London, Ontario.  They are absolutely awesome, would have been difficult to capture, and really exemplify the turbulence and fury our Great Lakes are capable of.  I hope the fractal nature of these is as obvious to you as it it is to me, especially after seeing the image above created entirely using fractal software (Mandelbulb 3D this time – a new (to me) application I’ve been learning to use).

On that note, I’d like to wish you all a Happy New Year – and may you always have a port in sight!

Wearable Fractals!

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I am very excited to share with you a new direction I am taking with my fractal art.  I was approached a couple of weeks ago by VIDA, which is a global partnership of co-creators – artists and designers all over the world, makers in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Latin America, and consumers all over the world.  They are backed by, among others, Google Ventures and Universal Music Group. One of the reasons I accepted their proposal is their socially responsible outlook.  The makers receive a living wage, as well as a basic literacy and math education they wouldn’t ordinarily get.  The artists receive ten percent of all sales from their collection, and nothing is made until it is ordered.

I love the idea of my fractal art being worn!  What a great way to show off the natural beauty of the fractals while increasing my exposure as an artist.  I have chosen, at least as a starting point, to only use either my original watercolour fractals as designs, or digital fractals I haven’t printed on metal or acrylic.  My first pieces are silk square scarves, as they worked well with designs I had already created.  One of them has been designed using the software Mandelbulb 3D.  Click on the image below to visit my VIDA collection and shop online!

VIDApage

Following the Patterns of Nature

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It is an absolutely beautiful day today in Otterville, full of colour and the patterns of nature, so I plan to spend some time outside.  It was during another beautiful day a few years back, hiking in the woods at Awenda Provincial Park, that I came across many kinds of fungus.  I took a number of photos, and an edited version of one of them ended up as part of this image I am presenting to you today.

On another completely separate occasion, I was creating fractal images and found that, as is often the case, there were distinctly natural and vegetative features recognizable in one.  I saved it, and later on when looking through all of my photos, I noticed how well the features in it mimicked and extrapolated the patterns of growth I had noticed in the fungal photo.  I had even just happened, by whim, to have edited the photo so that its colours matched the ones I had, by chance, used in the fractal creation.

What you see below is a digital collage of the natural and the generated fractal patterns, printed on metal.  Once again nature shows how it is a manifestation of the fractal patterns of the universe.

Following the Patterns. Digital Fractal Art printed on metal, single edition. 16x16". Lianne Todd. $225.00.

Following the Patterns. Digital Fractal Art printed on metal, single edition. 16×16″. Artist Lianne Todd.  SOLD.  Private Collection.

Fractal Machinery

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I just wanted to say thank you to all the studio tourists who took their precious weekend time to drive out my way and visit my studio.  It was a pleasure to meet you or see you again, and I had fun giving brief explanations of fractals and their significance when you showed an interest.  If you want to see some more of them in person, right now there are four on display at the restaurant Sixthirtynine in Woodstock, ON.  A very fine restaurant suitable for a special dinner date!

On the tour weekend I presented a few new fractals.  This is one of them (watermarked):

Pretty Cogs in the Big Machine. Fractal Digital Art printed on metal, single edition. 24x24". $425.00 Lianne Todd

Pretty Cogs in the Big Machine.
Fractal Digital Art printed on metal, single edition. 24×24″.
$450.00 © Lianne Todd

This one doesn’t really reflect the natural world so much as it reflects our complicated man-made world.  It’s not likely that most cogs in our machines are this pretty, but there is definitely a complexity in our modern technology that has beauty.  Some of that complexity, for instance, is contained in the very machine you are viewing this on.  Maybe there are no cogs, but the minutiae of its workings have to rival the intricacy they feature.  The background of this piece could also be compared to the circuitry involved in some of our other more powerful pieces of technology.  For instance, if you have a smart phone, the antenna that makes it all work had to be a fractal, or we simply wouldn’t have smart phones.

For a while I was referring to this image to myself as the steampunk fractal, as I have recently become enamored with all things steampunk.  However, giving it such a title didn’t seem to really fit.  These are far from steampunk-type gears, they aren’t real, and the machinery is not reminiscent of anything very old-fashioned.  This is just a nod to the genre!