I received my Bachelors of Fine Art degree from Iowa State in May of 1990. Needing to support my family, I decided to work in a non-art related field. I produced almost nothing artistic in the following five or six years. That changed when I purchased our first computer.
I began by playing with the program “Paint” which came standard with Windows. My interest in the computer as an art medium grew and soon I had purchased a more advanced drawing program. Unfortunately, all my early works were lost when the hard drive fried. This loss allowed me to upgrade to a more powerful computer (which I now back up regularly).
Three years ago, my art underwent a change after meeting artist Janet Parke at the Des Moines Art Festival. She based her art around fractals. A fractal is a mathematical formula, which has been converted into visual form. The elements of a fractal are repeated throughout the piece, changing size and viewing angle. The result is often quite organic in appearance, although it is possible to get hard geometric shapes too.
She recommended the program Ultra Fractal, which she helped develop. I have been using this program ever since. This program produces colorful and exciting fractals without the user having to be a mathematician. All I have to do is pick a formula and change the variables until I see something of interest. I then collect these pictures in a file, which I later access from my regular paint program. The real art work happens now. I mix, match, cut, paste, etc. the fractals (and some times other inputs) until I get a finished piece.
I was able to by an Epson 7800 Pro, wide format, printer just this January. With this purchase, my art was finally freed from the computer. I now hope to pursue my earlier dream of being a professional artist.
For the last 15 years I have allowed myself to grow away from the art scene. Sure, I went to a few art shows and stopped by galleries, but I haven’t really followed any one movement or artist. I entered art shows as a student, but that was a while ago. Now that I have more time and am able to focus on things that are not child related, I plan on entering future shows and re- connecting with the art scene.
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