It’s that time of year again! I will be participating once again in our annual studio tour this weekend. Details are available at http://www.welcomebacktootterville.ca, or you can rely on what I’ve posted here and pick up a postcard when you arrive at my gallery. The postcards look like this and have a map and list […]
Welcome Back 2022 — LIANNE TODD
The above is from my other website and blog, inviting all interested parties to join us this weekend for our annual studio tour.
One of my favourite things about opening my gallery for studio tours is the interaction with people who are seeing my fractal art for the first time. It’s definitely not the same as viewing it online, partly because of the image resolution and detail and size, and partly because of the metal and acrylic surfaces I usually print on. And for the paintings, the size and the detail provide even more of a difference from what you’ll see here on my website.
But the best part is introducing some to the entire concept of fractals. If you missed the fun of reading my blog from the very start, back in 2014, and you don’t have a way to come this weekend to see them, I am linking you back to that first post here.
I would love for you to come and visit my gallery this weekend so I can share with you the joy and wonder I feel about creating vivid reflections of nature with both paint and with mathematics.
Just come to Otterville and look for the yellow flags – we welcome you!
Click on the image above to be directed to more information about what you’ll find at each studio or shop.
Today I will be setting up at South Gate Centre in Woodstock in preparation for this weekend’s Oxford Creates Art Expo, organized by Oxford Creative Connections, Inc. I will have several of my newest watercolour paintings available there, as well as a sampling of my fractal pieces. There will be many other artists, as well as authors, exhibiting at this show.
In two weeks, I will be opening my own gallery/studio doors to welcome the public for our 23rd annual studio tour here in Otterville: Welcome Back to Otterville. This will feature a much larger selection of my own work. We have a very good variety of stops this year with several new artisans! I will post again soon with more details about that.
For now, here are the details of both shows:
For even more information:
Oxford Creates: https://oxfordcreativeconnections.com/oxford-creates/
Welcome Back To Otterville: https://www.welcomebacktootterville.ca/
I’ve never been to Utah, unless you count a layover at the airport on the way to California. It was snowing in Salt Lake City at the time.
However, I have seen some photos of the landscape there. Somehow, when I created this image, I was reminded of those beautiful rock formations on a clear hot sunny day. I imagined hiking through this fantasy landscape, and the name for this image came to me and stuck.
‘Utaopiah’ will be available for viewing (along with many other pieces) in person on May 4 & 5, from 10 to 5 p.m. during the Oxford Studio Tour, at my home gallery, which is Location #4 on the tour. It is the only one of my metal prints that actually has a frame (the frame is black) – something new I tried out this time!
Utaopiah. Digital fractal art. Single metal print. 12×16″. Artist Lianne Todd
Every once in a while I discover and develop an image that is just uncannily familiar. From the similarity of “Pollinator” to an actual pollinator, to the “Ocean Floor” that isn’t actually an ocean floor, we see how nature follows the patterns dictated by the geometry we know as fractals. However, it is not strictly ‘natural’ things which follow fractal patterns. We can see fractal patterns in things like architecture, art, music, and… fancy china dishes!
I absolutely love this image which I’ve entitled ‘Time for Tea”. To me it seems vaguely reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland and the interior of my Mom’s china cabinet. I recently printed it on metal. Here is what the digital image I created looks like. In the metal print, the white parts are silver, so it does change the look of it a little. It would be perfect in a super modern dining room, I think.
To see the 24×32″ metal print, you’ll have to come out to my gallery, as it is just very difficult to photograph the reflective surface. Lucky for you, the perfect opportunity to do that is right around the corner, during the Oxford Studio Tour, May 4 & 5, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.!
Time for Tea. Digital Fractal Art. Single metal print is 24×32″. Artist Lianne Todd.
Have you ever wondered if there is any other life out there in the universe? I think there must be. The universe we can see contains around 100 – 200 billion galaxies and it is estimated that is only ten percent of what it actually contains. That’s just galaxies – each galaxy contains perhaps 100 billion stars. I don’t know about you but I have a hard time wrapping my brain around numbers that large. The odds against this being the only planet to support life of some kind are huge. So, then one wonders, what would alien life look like? We’ve seen so many science fiction movies, now, where others have imagined it, and they’ve done a really convincing job. It’s amazing, really, what our minds can come up with.
But what if we leave it all to the mathematics? If fractal geometry is the geometry of nature, let’s assume that all nature, not just that of planet Earth, is governed by it. I find it really fun to create a little ‘planet’ using Mandelbulb 3D, and then explore it, finding scenes that remind me of Earth. I’ve done this before with ‘Climb it, Change’, ‘There is Always a Bridge’, ‘No Port in Sight’, ‘Ocean Floor’, and many more that I haven’t shown anyone yet. This one I call ‘Coniferous Tree on Planet B’. Obviously the ‘coniferous tree’ isn’t the only bit of vegetation on this particular ‘planet’. I see vines, and cabbage-shaped types of vegetation, and driftwood – but you might have to come see the piece in person to appreciate all that. Next weekend is the 11th annual Oxford Studio Tour and I am at Location #4. Why not come out and see it for yourself?
Coniferous Tree on Planet B. Digital fractal art printed on metal, single print. 24×32″. Artist Lianne Todd. $550.00
This is the first piece of fractal art I’ve created and shown that isn’t square, but rather a landscape format. I hope that doesn’t throw anyone off!
I cannot wait to show you this latest piece in person. Some images conjure up abundance, richness, and decadence, and this is one of those images. There is plenty here for your own imagination to work on, but you won’t be able to properly see it unless you come to my studio! Lucky for you, my studio is often open, all you need to do is contact me. But even luckier, there are a whole bunch of studios open on May 5 & 6 in Oxford County, and mine is one of them! I am at Location #4.
This image you see here is a mere fraction of the size I have printed it – 24 x 24 inches. As usual, I only have one print made of each fractal piece, on metal (or sometimes acrylic), so each is an original. Although, I think this would make a great metal album cover don’t you?
Feast. Digital Fractal Art printed on metal, single edition print. 24×24″. Artist Lianne Todd. $450.00
There exists a very old phrase, ‘as above, so below’. Its meaning is interpreted in various ways, depending on where you look. Its source is generally attributed to Hermes, though according to some, it is probably even older than that.
According to Wikipedia, the full quote translated from Hermes ‘ The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, as translated by Dennis W. Hauck, is “That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracle of the One Thing.”
Isaac Newton translated the Emerald Tablet’s passage as follows: ‘That which is below is like that which is above & that which is above is like that which is below to do the miracles of one only thing’ (according to Quora).
I don’t know exactly where I first heard the phrase, but it certainly popped into my head a lot as I began to explore fractal geometry. The more I learn about fractals and about the cosmos, the more I see similarities between large scales, like the universe, and small scales, like an atom. Perhaps an easier example to envision is the similarity between say, a river drainage pattern and the venation in a leaf. After all, fractals are often self-similar on smaller and smaller scales. It is one of the ways in which fractal geometry was discovered by Benoit Mandelbrot. My cursory understanding of such things, as an artist whose education was mainly in biology, does not diminish my enthusiasm for humanity’s search to find a Theory of Everything. Whenever I see a Physics article in my various news feeds, I am struck by either their use of illustrative images which I recognize from experience as being generated fractals, or how much the actual images generated by their physics experiments resemble generated fractals. Maybe someday the ideas will all fit together. Until then, I will continue to happily make my art and notice how in reality, sometimes it is tricky to know what the scale of an image is.
This piece will be on display in my gallery this weekend during ‘Welcome Back to Otterville’, our town’s 21st annual studio tour. Please visit www.WelcomeBackToOtterville.ca for details of the tour, including maps and times.
A Matter of Scale. Digital Fractal Art, printed on metal. 20×20″. Single edition print. Artist Lianne Todd. $345.00
I posted at length about our ‘Welcome Back to Otterville’ studio tour yesterday on my watercolours blog, and I wanted to make sure everyone who subscribes to this one knows about it too. There is a press release contained within that blog post, if any local journalists would care to deliver our story to their reading public.
This is our 21st annual tour (the 12th one I have lived here for), and every year it is slightly different. The tour was founded by my good friend Sue Goossens, pictured here with me. As you can see, she is also a very talented watercolour artist. Our website is www.welcomebacktootterville.ca, if you’d like to see who else is on the tour. If you are unfamiliar with my art, you may also see a good sampling of it here, and here.
I hope to see you here in Otterville, Ontario on November 18 & 19, from 10 to 5 pm. It would make a great, stress-free day-trip for anyone in the area of London, Stratford, Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph, Hamilton, Simcoe, St. Thomas, and all points in between or south to the lake. Look for the yellow flags, and I’ll be waiting in my gallery with some hot cranberry wassail!
Sue and Lianne
Hey everyone, the 10th Annual Oxford Studio Tour is this weekend, May 6 & 7! That’s just in case I haven’t reached you yet… I have been so busy promoting the tour on its website, and on Facebook and Twitter, I almost forgot to post on my own blogs!
As you may know, my gallery/studio is Location #3 this year. There is another near me, Location #4, and we are always happy when studio tourists make the trip out to the southeast corner of Oxford County, Ontario, to see us. Here is a peek at what you’ll find when you get here.
The entrance to my gallery is at the rear of the house:
I’m still saving the new art for when you get here! 😉
Have you seen our posters or picked up a brochure yet? They are in libraries, tourist offices, and many nice businesses in and surrounding the county. You could also get one from the first artist you visit. This is what they look like:
But here is the basic information to get you started, and our website is full of maps as well:
FractaLiArt 