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
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.
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…
Dark sounds fill the void A strong back breaks the waves Travelers of the deep
But do humans never succeed in saving a species from extinction? Of course they do, and the humpback whale is a good example.
The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. Adults range in length from 14–17 m (46–56 ft) and weigh up to 40 metric tons (44 short tons). The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is known for breaching and other distinctive surface behaviors, making it popular with whale watchers. Males produce a complex song typically lasting 4 to 33 minutes.
Humpback whales typically migrate up to 16,000 km (9,900 mi) each year and are found in oceans and seas around the world. They feed in polar waters and migrate to tropical or subtropical waters to breed and give birth. Their diet consists mostly of krill and small fish. Unique among large whales, humpbacks use bubbles to catch prey.
The humpback was a target for the whaling industry, like all other large whales. Humans once hunted the species to the brink of extinction; its population fell to around 5,000 by the 1960s. While numbers have partially recovered to some 135,000 animals worldwide, entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships, and noise pollution continue to affect the species.
Food chain
Whales are at the top of the food chain and have an important role in the overall health of the marine environment. They absorb carbon throughout their long lives. When they die, the sequestered carbon goes with them to the ocean floor, literally a carbon sink!. It is estimated that a humpback whale sequesters about 30 tons of CO2 on average, taking that carbon out of the atmosphere for centuries.
Whales are some of the ocean's most fruitful gardeners. When whales poop, they drop a load of crucial nutrients into the 'topsoil' of the ocean. Their poop fertilizes the surface of the ocean with nutrients that are fundamental to the health of ocean ecosystems, the global nutrient cycle, and the carbon cycle.
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Travelers
'Travelers' is the seventh and last 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.
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.
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
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.
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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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.
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
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.
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
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.
In the new collection Drowned Earth 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 second artwork in this new collection is 'Refuge'.
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Refuge
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.
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
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.
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…
Longing for that morning I remember the garden where I used to walk Alone among the flowers as the sun rose into a long summer day
A walk through a flower garden, early on a summer morning. Musing amidst the allium, is it a memory, or a dream?
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, 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.
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…
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".
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…
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