The 'Abysmal' triptych from the Infinite Sea collection comprises three digital artworks created from manipulated photographs to elicit a surrealistic atmosphere. These pieces highlight the profound connection between nature and human emotion, while they inspire a reflection on our environmental impact and urge a less consumptive lifestyle.
'Suixtinction' is self-inflicted extinction, where species destroy vital conditions for life through overconsumption, pollution, and resource depletion. It's happening now, with dire consequences felt globally. This term and the related digital artwork mashup signify an urgent wakeup call to address these pressing environmental issues.
Tags: climate art, climate crisis art, Climate emergency art, Digital art, Earth crisis art, Environmental art, Expressionism, Fine Art Photography, jacob berghoef, Nature’s Soul, Suixtinction, Surrealism, Surrealistic expressionism, Surrealistic expressionistic art, Surrealistic impressionism, Surrealistic impressionistic art, Surrealistic photography
May 18, 2023 — Comments are off for this post.
Spring Morning At The Pond
In "Spring Morning At The Pond," an artwork from the collection "Secret Places," I expressed the serene beauty of spring using digital techniques. Using impressionism and surrealism as the foundation, I transform photographs through color and effects to evoke a surreal atmosphere. Limited and open editions are available for purchase, with the limited edition including a signature and certificate of authenticity.
Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio: Nature's Soul
Tags: art, breeze, climate art, climate crisis art, Climate emergency art, dark, Digital art, Earth crisis art, Egalitarianism, Environmental art, Expressionism, Fine Art Photography, gate 8, human design, Impressionistic photography, jacob berghoef, light, mindful, mindfulness, Nature’s Soul, pond, rebel, rebel with a cause, reed, reflections, spring, sunrise, Surrealism, Surrealistic expressionism, Surrealistic expressionistic art, Surrealistic impressionism, Surrealistic impressionistic art, Surrealistic photography, transformation, transformed photo, water
Lying on our backs in the woods, we observe nature's symphony flying above, and the gentle dance of light amid the trees—a phenomenon known as Shinrin-Yoku, or "forest bathing," celebrated in Japan. It refreshes the body and mind, enhancing health and well-being. Anuscka's original blog post inspired a digital artwork, capturing this therapeutic essence.
Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio: Nature's Soul
Tags: climate art, climate crisis art, Climate emergency art, Digital art, Earth crisis art, Environmental art, Expressionism, fine art, Fine Art Photography, forest, healing, healing forest, impressionism, jacob berghoef, Jacob Berghoef FineArtPhotography, Nature’s Soul, Shinrin-Yoku, sky, Surrealism, Surrealistic expressionism, Surrealistic expressionistic art, Surrealistic impressionism, Surrealistic impressionistic art, Surrealistic photography
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'.
Text continues below the image
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
ALL WE NEED IS LESS CONSUMING
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 your actions to support the wellbeing of the earth and everything that lives on it, on what humanity loses when many of us continue on the destructive path of ever more greed and consuming, on how you can survive in this rapidly changing world…
Want to know your ecological footprint?
Visit this website: https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en
Want to reduce your ecological footprint?
Ask me, I will help you. For free. Or simply choose Your Footprint in the menu
Tags: Abstract Photography, abstract realism, Abstract surrealism, bird, climate art, climate crisis art, Climate emergency art, dark, Digital art, Earth crisis art, Environmental art, female poet, Fine Art Photography, jacob berghoef, laura ann reed, less, light, Minimalism, modern art, Nature’s Soul, poem, poetry, Pure, Surrealism, Surrealistic art, Surrealistic expressionism, Surrealistic expressionistic art, Surrealistic impressionism, Surrealistic impressionistic art, Surrealistic photography
Living In The Other World
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.
Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio: Nature's Soul
Tags: Abstract surrealism, climate art, climate crisis, climate crisis art, climate emergency, Climate emergency art, Digital art, Earth crisis art, Environmental art, Fine Art Photography, Impressionistic digital art, jacob berghoef, mangrove forest, Nature’s Soul, Pure, Surrealism, Surrealistic art, Surrealistic expressionism, Surrealistic expressionistic art, Surrealistic impressionism, Surrealistic impressionistic art, Surrealistic photography, transformed photo
August 22, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
Right To Fly
I have the right to fly
To grow, to prosper
The right to be
To raise offspring
Feed you and others
To be fed myself
Who defends our rights?
Does a human being have more right to a clean earth and a safe and healthy life than a bird, a tree, a flower?
If your answer to this is "Yes," then why?
Hasn't that human being forfeited that right by polluting the earth, by risking his health through bad eating habits and by using year after year more than what the earth can provide?
Does a Western person have as much right to it as a person in a developing country who has never been guilty of that unbridled consuming, polluting and unhealthy behavior?
Right or Favor?
Do I have a RIGHT to live in a healthy environment? Or is life a FAVOR of nature, which I may enjoy as long as I behave nicely and don't make a mess of my body and my surroundings, and that of people around me and people far away?
I can get terribly irritated by the cries of Western people about their rights. Right to clean air, right to clean water, right to healthy food, right to... In my opinion, we in the 'developed countries' have long since forfeited all our environmental rights, and yet we continue as if the amount of available rights for us can never be exhausted.
Wake up, it's long run out. There is no clean water anymore, no clean air, no clean fertile land. Your rights, my rights, they all stop, where and when we abuse the rights of nature.
We spoiled children, we must earn our rights for today and tomorrow and the rights of humanity in the future. By sustainable living, by consuming significantly less, by cleaning up what we ourselves have polluted.
General info on the artwork Right To Fly
'Right To Fly' is a new digital artwork in my collections 'Stray Birds' and 'Digital Art'.
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.
ALL WE NEED IS LESS CONSUMING
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 your actions to support the wellbeing of the earth and everything that lives on it, on what humanity loses when many of us continue on the destructive path of ever more greed and consuming, on how you can survive in this rapidly changing world…
Want to know your ecological footprint?
Visit this website: https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en
Want to reduce your ecological footprint?
Ask me, I will help you. For free. Or simply choose Your Footprint in the menu
Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio: Nature's Soul
Tags: abstract realism, climate art, climate crisis art, Climate emergency art, dark, Digital art, Earth crisis art, Environmental art, favor, Fine Art Photography, jacob berghoef, less, light, modern art, Nature’s Soul, Pure, right, Surrealism, Surrealistic art, Surrealistic expressionism, Surrealistic expressionistic art, Surrealistic impressionism, Surrealistic impressionistic art, Surrealistic photography
August 8, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
Harvest Dance
Sun and rain have done their work
Barnacle geese dance above the fields
The harvest has begun
August heralds the beginning of the harvest season. In practice, we have been harvesting in our vegetable and fruit garden for several weeks, but the farmers around us are now gradually beginning to harvest the crops as well.
It feels to me like the beginning of the end of the growing season. It is not yet autumn, or in my words, nature's rest period has not yet begun; in fact, it is the busiest time of year for food-growing humans. But nature's task is almost over for this growing season, the fruits can be picked.
And in recent days we have seen the first flights of geese pass by, shuttling back and forth between the nature reserve where they spend the night, and the fields where harvesting has taken place, feeding on the scraps left by the harvesters.
Have they sensed that harvest time is beginning, and there is plenty of food for them?
I think so...
'Harvest Dance' is a new digital artwork in my collection 'Wavy Fields'.
The photo of the fields in front of or house, which is the basis for this work, is made by Anuscka.
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: Nature's Soul
July 25, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
Autumn Sea
An autumn walk on the beach of Schiermonnikoog, one of the Wadden Islands on the north coast of the Netherlands. The weather is stormy, the waves break with large foam heads.
A digital painting, made of a photograph I made in 2011 on the beach of the island Schiermonnikoog, the Netherlands.
Three digital layers melted together. Each of them ach with the same photo, two of them edited with color and texture, one with the original photo.
This is a digital artwork, available as archival pigment print. Printed with high-quality ink on museum-quality, acid-free cotton/rag paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Ultra Smooth 305 g/sqm). The work comes as 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 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: Nature's Soul
July 18, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
Summer Evening At The Pond
I sit on a stone,
on the east side of the pond
Staring at the water,
waiting.
Nobody understands why
All I want is to see how
the setting sun colors the flowers
in the ripples
of a summer breeze.
'Summer Evening At The Pond' is a new digital artwork in my collections 'Secret Places' and 'Digital Art'.
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: Nature's Soul
May 29, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
Voices In The Trees
Yesterday I climbed up the hill
But halfway there, the wind and fog made climbing hard
The grass slippery with moisture,
and smelling of spring
A song helped me to continue on my way
Once at the top I used the moss as a pillow
while the voices of the wind in the trees soothed me to sleep.
Last Thursday morning Anuscka and I were intensely enjoying our introduction to Vietnamese coffee. We only drink 1 cup of coffee a day, so when you taste a fantastically beautiful coffee for the first time, you enjoy it with very small sips.
When my cup was empty, I looked, as always, at the "markings" the coffee grounds had left on the bottom.
I grind and brew my coffee by hand, pouring it through a metal mesh filter, so there is always some sediment in there. Mmmmmm.... 🙂
The 'drawing' I saw fascinated me, and inspired me to create this artwork.
Inspiration
It is a great pleasure to mention here the 3 inspiring women who, without knowing it, participated in this creation. If you don't know them yet, visit their profile on LinkedIn and read what inspires them. Very worthwhile !
Niloofar mahafel, a wonderful painter from Iran, who trusts me to be her representative AND sent me many photos of the wonderful Iranian landscape. They are a huge inspiration ! No doubt she will recognize the picture of one of her beautiful landscapes in this artwork.
Daphne Nguyen, she introduced me to the coffee coming from her company's coffee farms in Vietnam. Anuscka and I love this coffee, the passion she and her colleagues have for coffee and the enormous commitment to the coffee farmers. I'm sure she never expected that her coffee would become the basis for an artwork...
Karina Mosser, a wonderful painter and a great person to work with. Recently she made a series of abstracts for me to use as background for my digital creations. Through a green abstract painting of hers, I managed to create a work that brings together Iran and Vietnam as a landscape for my "coffee tree".
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: Nature's Soul
April 21, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
First Kiss Of Light
A bright morning arrives fresh and new
Pine trees lean toward the first kiss of light
We walk together among the trees
as the sun climbs into a warm spring day
Go for a walk early in the morning and keep your eyes open for that first kiss !
(Text continues below the image)
'First Kiss Of Light' is a new artwork in my collection ‘Secret Places’'.
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: Nature's Soul
January 26, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
In A Dream
In a dream
you came to me on the silver
of a winter morning
Without a sound
you disappeared
into the light
(text continues below the image)
'In A Dream' is a new digital artwork in my collection 'Secret Places'.
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 road of 'never enough'.
Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio: Nature's Soul
January 16, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
Entwined
A tender kiss
our dreams
entwined
‘Entwined’ is a new artwork in my collection ‘Along The Bank’.
(Text continues below the image)
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 road of 'never enough'.
Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio: Nature's Soul
Tags: Abstract Photography, abstract realism, blue, cold, dark, Digital art, dreams, entwined, Fine Art Photography, jacob berghoef, kiss, less, light, Minimalism, modern art, Pure, texture, water, waves
January 1, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
A New Day
Light. Hidden
behind a veil of silence
of the fading darkness
Celebrate a new day
Every day
Time is an abstract concept, but at the same time compellingly concrete. It's a human-designed scheme, into which we think all our doing (and what we don't do) should fit. And which must be accounted for regularly, with great accuracy. Perhaps time even is the only abstract concept of which most people feel they are constantly short.
Anuscka and I are in the fortunate position of feeling that we have more than enough time. And in doing so, we have become increasingly detached from the contrived scheme.
For us, a year is a bit much to comprehend and embrace. We try to focus our lives on the rhythm of the sunlight.
We wish you many beautiful new days. And we hope you will celebrate them, together with the people you love, in good health and with a positive spirit.
'A New Day' is a new artwork in my collection 'The Narrow Path'.
(Text continues below the image)
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 road of 'never enough'.
Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio: Nature's Soul
December 25, 2021 — Comments are off for this post.
Frozen Sunrise
My wife Anuscka and I do not celebrate Christmas.
So my wish for all of you is somewhat different from the traditional Christmas greeting:
I wish you silent days, with a light in your heart for the earth, for nature and for all the needy people.
Whatever you celebrate today, make it a beautiful, colorful day, and take a moment to think and care about all that is vulnerable and needy on this earth.
(text continues below the image)
'Frozen Sunrise' is a new digital artwork in my collection 'Secret Places'.
Prints are available, ask for a quote or contact me through a message.
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 road of 'never enough'.
Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio: Nature's Soul
December 21, 2021 — Comments are off for this post.
And Then The Sun Stood Still
The word ‘solstice’ comes from the Latin solstitium meaning ‘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 direction. On the Northern hemisphere, winter solstice means that the light returns: the sun turns towards us again. The days grow longer and the light regains its dominance.
I love this time of the year, in which the whole cosmos seems to come to a standstill for a moment.
I wish you peaceful dark days, filled with warmth, lights in the home and in the heart, and time to enjoy the silence and beauty of nature at rest. May we absorb a piece of that into our bodies and minds so that we can begin the new season of light full of energy.
‘And Then The Sun Stood Still’ is a new artwork in my collection ‘Secret Places’.
(Text continues below the image)
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 road of 'never enough'.
Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio: Nature's Soul
December 5, 2021 — Comments are off for this post.
Colorful Days
I have enjoyed converting a small selection of my forest photographs into intensely dark black and white artworks. They were of course meant to express my concern about the climate and the lack of climate action.
But they have also become a new way for me to look at my earlier work. After I finished the black and white works, I felt a great need to do something with colors. Much bolder colors than what you generally see in my work, sunsets excepted.
I asked myself: how do we prevent the forests from becoming as dark and gloomy as in the black-and-white photos. How do we bring back color where it is needed, and keep the colors that are still present from fading?
And then, Black Friday came into sight, so I read in various newsletters and posts on LinkedIn... The desire to make a statement against it was strong.
And so the series "Colorful Days" was born.
(Text continues below the image)
Preserving color by degrowth
It is an indictment of the greed for buying, the unbridled consumption that many people, living in so-called "developed countries," practice on a daily basis.
The works ask you and everybody who sees them the question, "What have you done to preserve my color, to restore colors where they are fading, to bring more color into the gray world that people create around them and where there is no place for nature anymore."
(Text continues below the image)
An appeal to you too
They call on you to boycott the increasing number of "black days" like Black Friday. Days that further fuel humanity's consumerism. They are telling you that living with nature, preserving and restoring nature, is only possible if Western man consumes significantly less. And what we consume, must be produced colorfully, that is, in harmony with nature.
(Text continues below the images)
Availability
The series 'Colorful Days' is part of my collection 'Secret Places'.
Prints are available in my Saatchi Art portfolio, ask for a quote or contact me through a message.
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 road of 'never enough'.
Published by Jacob Berghoef in Portfolio: Nature's Soul
Want to inquire about an art piece?
All content © 2014-2020 Jacob Berghoef