abstract surrealism Archives

October 7, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.

A Glimpse Of Flight

[...] When she wakes

she lifts the shade, impatient for a glimpse
of flight: a sparrow, a swallowtail—
something with wings she can memorize.

The above stanza is from Laura Ann Reed's poem "As Clouds Before the Wind", and inspired me to make this artwork.
Laura Ann is a poet from the US, her work particularly appeals to me. Moreover, she is a very inspiring woman; I am fortunate to have a regular email contact with her.
Read more about Laura Ann and enjoy some of her poems via this link to her website. The entire poem is below the image of the artwork.

'A Glimpse Of Flight' is an artwork in my collections 'Secret Places'.

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A Glimpse Of Flight - "When she wakes she lifts the shade, impatient for a glimpse of flight: a sparrow, a swallowtail— something with wings she can memorize." Surrealistic impressionistic digital artwork by Jacob Berghoef — A Glimpse Of Flight

Laura Ann's poem:

As Clouds Before the Wind

There are borders toward which
she moves, although she can’t say
what galaxies they lie between.

Daily, she prepares for a parting
in the trees, waits for the window
hinge to break, the pane to crack

and fall. She’s ready for the wind
to fill her room. She has one foot
planted on another planet,

and in her sleep she yields naked
to the Eros of its magnetic field—
its ethereal embrace. When she wakes

she lifts the shade, impatient for a glimpse
of flight: a sparrow, a swallowtail—
something with wings she can memorize.

General info on this artwork

This is a digital artwork, printed with high-quality ink on museum-quality cotton paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity.

For these artworks, I start with one or more photographs made by myself. I edit it in multiple process runs and in several layers by color manipulation and adding and editing multiple digital photographic effects. I do that until a surrealistic atmosphere is created that touches me and tells the story I want to tell.

The photograph(s) I begin with has/have an impressionistic, surrealistic or abstract realist style, which is the basis for all my work.

Prints are available, ask for a quote or contact me through a message. Prints are also available in my Saatchi Art portfolio at the artwork page

Published by Jacob Berghoef in Collaboration, Portfolio

October 4, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.

Drowned Earth: Swimming In Tears II

While trees cry
fish shed their tears
in endless waves

'Swimming In Tears II' is an artwork in my project 'Drowned Earth'.
In this project I show you how I see the earth of a century from now. A fusion of the forests and the oceans, with hopefully in the distant future a rich ecosystem that has managed to adapt to the new circumstances.

Will there still be room for humans in that world?
Yes, I think there will be. Will there also be room for consuming Western man? No, unless they learn to be one with nature again. It will take several generations before that happens. I sincerely wonder whether the generations of Western man who are now living on earth will be able to bring about this transformation. More time is needed for that, I fear....

General info on this artwork

This is a digital artwork, printed with high-quality ink on museum-quality cotton paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity.

For these artworks, I start with one or more photographs made by myself. I edit it in multiple process runs and in several layers by color manipulation and adding and editing multiple digital photographic effects. I do that until a surrealistic atmosphere is created that touches me and tells the story I want to tell.

The photograph(s) I begin with has/have an impressionistic, surrealistic or abstract realist style, which is the basis for all my work.

Prints are available, ask for a quote or contact me through a message. Prints are also available in my Saatchi Art portfolio at the artwork page

Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio

Tags: abstract photography, abstract realism, abstract surrealism, climate action, climate art, climate crisis, climate emergency, dark, drowned earth, fine art photography, jacob berghoef, less, light, modern art, pure, surrealism, surrealistic art, surrealistic impressionism, swimming in tears

September 13, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.

Drowned Earth: Living In The Other World

You ask me why I live
alone in the mangrove forest,
at the edge of the infinite sea.
I smile, I am silent
until even my soul grows quiet:
it lives in the other world,
one that no one owns.
The trees bloom.
The waves keep coming.

Inspired by the poem ‘I Make My Home in the Mountains’
Li Po (701-762 )

Mangroves, just as seagrass beds and coral reefs, keep coastal zones healthy. Mangroves provide essential habitat for thousands of species. They also stabilize shorelines, preventing erosion and protecting the land — and the people who live there — from waves and storms.

There are many threats to mangrove forests: sea level rise, tourism, land reclamation for agriculture, shrimp farms, pollution from fertilizers from agricultural areas and waste from cities, logging... just to name a few.

The consequences are enormous. Not only because, like all trees, they hold a lot of CO2 both in their biomass and in the soil of the forests, which is released when the forests are destroyed, but also because they house very fragile ecosystems that are lost when the trees disappear.

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Living In The Other World - You ask me why I live alone in the mangrove forest, at the edge of the infinite sea. - Surrealistic digital photo art, part of the collection Drowned Earth by Jacob Berghoef — Living In The Other World

General info on this artwork

This is a digital artwork, printed with high-quality ink on museum-quality cotton paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity.

For these artworks, I start with one or more photographs made by myself. I edit it in multiple process runs and in several layers by color manipulation and adding and editing multiple digital photographic effects. I do that until a surrealistic atmosphere is created that touches me and tells the story I want to tell.

The photograph(s) I begin with has/have an impressionistic, surrealistic or abstract realist style, which is the basis for all my work.

Prints are available, ask for a quote or contact me through a message. Prints are also available in my Saatchi Art portfolio at the artwork page

Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio

Tags: abstract surrealism, climate art, climate crisis, climate emergency, digital art, fine art photography, impressionistic digital art, jacob berghoef, mangrove forest, pure, surrealism, surrealistic art, surrealistic impressionism, transformed photo

June 21, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.

And Then The Sun Stood Still – Summer….

The word "solstice" comes from the Latin solstitium, which means "sun stands still," because it seems that the movement of the sun's path, whether north or south, stops for a few days before reversing. In the northern hemisphere, summer solstice means that the light is moving away from us. The days get shorter and darkness takes over again.

I love this time of the year, in which the whole cosmos seems to come to a standstill for a moment.

‘And Then The Sun Stood Still - Summer’ is a new artwork in my collection ‘Secret Places’.

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And Then The Time Stood Still - Summer solstice, the sun seems to stand still for a few days, before it turns towards us again. - Impressionistic digital art by Jacob Berghoef — And Then The Time Stood Still - Summer

This is a digital artwork, printed with high-quality ink on museum-quality cotton paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity. Of course also available as Open Edition.

For these artworks, I start with one or more photographs made by myself. I edit it in multiple process runs and in several layers by color manipulation and adding and editing multiple digital photographic effects. I work on it until a surrealistic atmosphere is created that touches me and tells the story I want to tell.

The photograph(s) I begin with has/have an impressionistic, abstract or abstract realist style, which is the basis for all my work.

Prints are available, ask for a quote or contact me through a message. Prints are also available in my Saatchi Art portfolio at the artwork page.

Through my artworks I ask you to reflect for a moment on the nature around you, on the beautiful feeling that nature can evoke, on what we lose when we continue on the destructive path of ever more…

Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio

Tags: abstract photography, abstract realism, abstract surrealism, dark, fine art photography, jacob berghoef, less, light, minimalism, modern art, pure, solstice, summer solstice, surrealism, surrealistic art, time, time stands still, zonnewende

June 19, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.

Drowned Earth: Blooming Forest

Bright sunlight dances
Coral reefs breathe new colors
Old forests in bloom

Would coral reefs stand a chance in the future, protected by drowned temperate rain forests in warmed waters in now too cold areas?

Is it an odd assumption that climate change does not destroy nature, but radically changes the conditions to which nature is slowly adapting?

Coral reefs are an important ecosystem for underwater life, protect coastal areas by reducing the force of waves striking the shore, are the source of nitrogen and other essential nutrients for marine food chains, and assist in carbon and nitrogen fixation.

Threats

Coral reefs are threatened by increased ocean temperatures and changing ocean chemistry. These threats are caused by warmer atmospheric temperatures and increasing levels of carbon dioxide in seawater. Besides that, pollution, overfishing, destructive fishing practices using dynamite or cyanide, collecting live corals for the aquarium market and mining coral for building materials are some of the many ways that humanity damage reefs all around the world every day.

More and more climate scientists agree that the average global temperature increase will be towards 3 degrees Celsius. One and a half degrees is no longer feasible, especially with all those new plans for oil and gas extraction with 'energy independence' as a lame excuse. Where we should drastically reduce the use of fossil fuels, an increase is to be expected in the next 5-10 years.

Many people seem to think that natural laws do not apply to them and their cleverness will solve all the problems. And so the still-increasing bill of our greed and stubbornness is passed on further and further to future generations.

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Blooming Forest - Bright sunlight dances ~ Coral reefs breathe new colors ~ Old forests in bloom - Surrealistic digital photo art, part of the collection Drowned Earth by Jacob Berghoef — Blooming Forest

General info on this artwork

This is a digital artwork, printed with high-quality ink on museum-quality cotton paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity.

For these artworks, I start with one or more photographs made by myself. I edit it in multiple process runs and in several layers by color manipulation and adding and editing multiple digital photographic effects. I do that until a surrealistic atmosphere is created that touches me and tells the story I want to tell.

The photograph(s) I begin with has/have an impressionistic, surrealistic or abstract realist style, which is the basis for all my work.

Prints are available, ask for a quote or contact me through a message. Prints are also available in my Saatchi Art portfolio at the artwork page and here.

Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio

Tags: abstract photography, abstract realism, abstract surrealism, climate art, climate crisis, climate emergency, coral reef, dark, extinction, extinction rebellion, fine art photography, jacob berghoef, less, light, minimalism, modern art, pure, surrealism, surrealistic art

June 17, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.

Drowned Earth: The Other World

You ask me why I live
alone in the mangrove forest,
at the edge of the infinite sea.
I smile, I am silent
until even my soul grows quiet:
it lives in the other world,
one that no one owns.
The trees bloom.
The waves keep coming.

Inspired by the poem ‘I Make My Home in the Mountains’
Li Po (701-762 )

Mangroves, just as seagrass beds and coral reefs, keep coastal zones healthy. Mangroves provide essential habitat for thousands of species. They also stabilize shorelines, preventing erosion and protecting the land — and the people who live there — from waves and storms.

There are many threats to mangrove forests: sea level rise, tourism, land reclamation for agriculture, shrimp farms, pollution from fertilizers from agricultural areas and waste from cities, logging... just to name a few.

The consequences are enormous. Not only because, like all trees, they hold a lot of CO2 both in their biomass and in the soil of the forests, which is released when the forests are destroyed, but also because they house very fragile ecosystems that are lost when the trees disappear.

Text continues below the image

The Other World - You ask me why I live alone in the mangrove forest, at the edge of the infinite sea. - Surrealistic digital photo art, part of the collection Drowned Earth by Jacob Berghoef — The Other World

General info on this artwork

This is a digital artwork, printed with high-quality ink on museum-quality cotton paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity.

For these artworks, I start with one or more photographs made by myself. I edit it in multiple process runs and in several layers by color manipulation and adding and editing multiple digital photographic effects. I do that until a surrealistic atmosphere is created that touches me and tells the story I want to tell.

The photograph(s) I begin with has/have an impressionistic, surrealistic or abstract realist style, which is the basis for all my work.

Prints are available, ask for a quote or contact me through a message. Prints are also available in my Saatchi Art portfolio at the artwork page and here.

Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio

Tags: abstract photography, abstract realism, abstract surrealism, dark, drowned earth, ecocide, extinction, extinction rebellion, fine art photography, jacob berghoef, less, light, mangrove, mangrove forest, minimalism, modern art, pure, surrealism, surrealistic art

June 16, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.

Drowned Earth: Symbiosis

Drowned forests
Nurturing seaweed
Symbiosis

Kelp forests are dense areas of kelp growth that occur near coastal waters. Kelps are ‘primary producers’ that modify the environment to create suitable habitat for a great diversity of species. Therefore they are known as foundational species. Kelp forests are also among the most productive ecosystems in the world. They support the diverse assemblage of life that inhibits them, like sea urchins, sea stars, jellyfish, crabs and snails.

Seaweed makes its food from the sun, many organisms feed on them and then in turn feed other animals. While kelp is food for many organisms, kelp also provides shelter for many forms of sea life.

And for humans? Kelp contains important minerals, antioxidants and vitamin B and C. Some species of kelp also contain protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids and fibre. Kelp is especially rich in iodine, which is a nutrient that we need but that many people struggle to get enough of.

Giant kelp forests grow amid a variety of temperatures from chilly Alaska to the warm waters of Mexico. But both bull kelp and giant kelp are being threatened by marine heat waves and other climate change stressors.

Kelp forests grow best in nutrient-rich, clear waters whose temperatures are between 42–72 degrees F (5–20 degrees C). The water must be clear so that sunlight can reach the ocean floor where the kelp life begins. If the water is too warm (warmer than 20 degrees), the kelp does not thrive as well.

Drowned Earth collection

‘Symbiosis’ is a new artwork in my collection ‘Drowned Earth’.
In this collection of new artworks, I show how I see the earth from, let's say, a few centuries from now. An amalgamation of the forests and the oceans. With hopefully in the distant future a rich ecosystem that has managed to adapt to the new conditions.

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Symbiosis - Drowned forests ~ Nurturing seaweed ~ Symbiosis - Surrealistic digital photo art, part of the collection Drowned Earth by Jacob Berghoef — Symbiosis

General info on this artwork

This is a digital artwork, printed with high-quality ink on museum-quality cotton paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity.

For these artworks, I start with one or more photographs made by myself. I edit it in multiple process runs and in several layers by color manipulation and adding and editing multiple digital photographic effects. I do that until a surrealistic atmosphere is created that touches me and tells the story I want to tell.

The photograph(s) I begin with has/have an impressionistic, surrealistic or abstract realist style, which is the basis for all my work.

Prints are available, ask for a quote or contact me through a message. Prints are also available in my Saatchi Art portfolio at the artwork page and here.

Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio

Tags: abstract photography, abstract realism, abstract surrealism, dark, drowned earth, ecocide, fine art photography, jacob berghoef, kelp, kelp forest, less, light, minimalism, modern art, pure, seaweed, surrealism, surrealistic art, symbiosis

June 15, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.

Drowned Earth: Bloom

Pulsating blue
float gently between the trees
forest in bloom

I show how I see the earth from, let's say, a few centuries from now. An amalgamation of the forests and the oceans. With hopefully in the distant future a rich ecosystem that has managed to adapt to the new conditions.

Will there still be room for humans in that world?

Yes, I think so. Will there also be room for the "civilized" Western man? No, absolutely not, unless they learn to be one with nature again. It will take several generations for that to happen. I sincerely wonder if the generations of Western man now living on earth will be able to bring about this transformation. It will take more time for that, I fear....

The title of the third artwork in this new collection is 'Bloom'.

When huge numbers of jellyfish, or any plant or animal, appear suddenly, it is called a ‘bloom’. Jellyfish in a bloom can number in the millions.

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Bloom - Pulsating blue float gently between branches forest in bloom - Surrealistic digital photo art, part of the collection Drowned Earth by Jacob Berghoef — Bloom

General info on this artwork

This is a digital artwork, printed with high-quality ink on museum-quality cotton paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity.

For these artworks, I start with one or more photographs made by myself. I edit it in multiple process runs and in several layers by color manipulation and adding and editing multiple digital photographic effects. I do that until a surrealistic atmosphere is created that touches me and tells the story I want to tell.

The photograph(s) I begin with has/have an impressionistic, surrealistic or abstract realist style, which is the basis for all my work.

Prints are available, ask for a quote or contact me through a message. Prints are also available in my Saatchi Art portfolio at the artwork page and here.

Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio

June 13, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.

Drowned Earth: Swimming In Tears

While trees cry
fish shed their tears
in endless waves

When I imagine what the earth will look like in 100 years, the image that comes to mind most emphatically is one of an earth with sharply rising sea levels. The vastly reduced life that remains in the warmed and poisoned oceans will find shelter and food in the flooded mangrove forests and tropical and temperate coastal forests.

Nature will adapt to the new conditions over time, there is no doubt. Nature has always done that since the creation of the earth. Whether humanity, and many other species as we know them today, have been given the time to do the same is very much open to question.

I show you how I see the earth of, say, a few centuries from now in this collection of new artworks. A fusion of the forests and the oceans. And hopefully in the distant future a rich ecosystem that has managed to adapt to the new circumstances.

Will there still be room for humans in that world?

Yes, I think there will be. Will there also be room for "civilized" Western man? No, unless they learn to be one with nature again. It will take several generations before that happens. I sincerely wonder whether the generations of Western man who are now living on earth will be able to bring about this transformation. More time is needed for that, I fear....

The title of the first artwork in this new collection is 'Swimming In tears'.

Swimming In Tears - While trees cry . Fish drop their tears . Drowning earth - Surrealistic digital art, part of the collection Drowned Earth by Jacob Berghoef — Swimming in Tears

General info on this artwork

This is a digital artwork, printed with high-quality ink on museum-quality cotton paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity.

For these artworks, I start with one or more photographs made by myself. I edit it in multiple process runs and in several layers by color manipulation and adding and editing multiple digital photographic effects. I do that until a surrealistic atmosphere is created that touches me and tells the story I want to tell.

The photograph(s) I begin with has/have an impressionistic, abstract or abstract realist style, which is the basis for all my work.

Prints are available, ask for a quote or contact me through a message. Prints are also available in my Saatchi Art portfolio at the artwork page.

Through my artworks I ask you to reflect for a moment on the nature around you, on the beautiful feeling that nature can evoke, on what we lose when we continue on the destructive path of ever more…

Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio

Tags: abstract surrealism, climate art, climate crisis, dark, drowned earth, earth destruction, ecocide, extinction rebellion, fine art photography, jacob berghoef, less, light, modern art, pure, rising sea levels, surrealism, surrealistic art

May 8, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.

Unending Dream

Noon.
No one around.
I walk this path,
deep
into spring.
An unending,
green dream.

A sunny, warm spring day. It is quiet in the forest, not a breath of wind, no one to be seen. As I walk deeper into the forest, the young greenery closes me off more and more from the busy world. I walk on slowly, as if in a dream....

'Unending Dream' is a new artwork in my collections 'The Narrow Path' and 'Digital Art'.

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Unending Dream - Noon. No one around. I walk this path, deep into spring. An unending, green dream. - Abstract surrealistic landscape art, based on fine art photography by Jacob Berghoef — Unending Dream

Prints are available, ask for a quote or contact me through a message. Prints are also available in my Saatchi Art portfolio at the artwork page.

Through my artworks I ask you to reflect for a moment on the nature around you, on the beautiful feeling that nature can evoke, on what we lose when we continue on the destructive path of ever more…

Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio

Tags: abstract photography, abstract realism, abstract surrealism, dark, fine art photography, jacob berghoef, less, light, minimalism, modern art, pure, surrealism, transformed photo