Fractal images are the application of a practical branch of geometry to art. It expresses the inherent beauty of nature and is about everything in the universe from its largest elements to its smallest particles. It finds order in chaos. Many years ago as an undergraduate art history major, I realized that all of the world's great artists were intuitive mathematical geniuses. My work with fractals is a continuing exploration of this theme.

 

"As I start work on a new piece, I ask myself, "I wonder what would happen if?" Often, what happens are software crashes and lost images. Much of the time, it takes days or weeks of tweaking a formula to give me the image that I'm trying to achieve. I usually start working in black and white, then apply color later to add life and warmth. The rush comes when I see an image emerge from the constantly changing equations. After that, I pare the image down to show its underlying structure and achieve elegance and simplicity.

For many years, I was a handweaver and textile artist. The move to computers and digital art was a very natural one. Looms were, after all, the first computers. Currently, I am using fractals to explore how connected every part of the universe is. There are mathematical principles that describe almost everything in existence. It is amazing to see how a mathematical formula can render a beautiful image and describe the roughness of a coastline or the vastness of space. It all works together.

The above image is titled:Target Practice or You Can End Up in Two Very Different Places From the Same Starting Point.