Many people dream of an earth that is safe and clean, that is treated with care so that it can give enough to all that lives on it without becoming exhausted.
Only when all those dreams come to life in common sense and people take action to live modestly as a part of nature, the earth can recover through our care and compassion for all that lives, giving us what we need.
As Clouds Before the Wind
... When she wakes
she lifts the shade, impatient for a glimpse
of flight: a sparrow, a swallowtail—
something with wings she can memorize.
Early on this beautiful autumn morning, a walk takes me down deserted narrow paths. I stop, look at the light spot at the end of the path and enjoy the warmth of the rising sun.
When I walk through our garden, I love to touch the trees and plants I walk by. It creates a connection with the nature around you when you not only sniff scents and enjoy the colors, but when in addition you feel the softness of leaves, the hardness of bark, the fragility of flowers….
Harvest. Not by far over yet. Pears, apples, pumpkins, zucchini’s, the last few blueberries, wild strawberries...
And, of course, it is also the time to harvest seeds: Marigold, Poppy, Cornflower, Perpetual Kale, …
Tomorrow, Friday, I will post the following text on LinkedIn.
Some of you have no doubt noticed over the past six months that the LinkedIn jacket no longer fits me....
More than 15 years on LinkedIn, the last 5 of which have been exclusively, the only social media I use... Now I have decided to close my account as of next October 1.
I have always found LinkedIn a pleasant environment and a good medium to display my art, to tell something about my philosophy of life and lifestyle, and air my opinion regarding the state of the earth.
When we are at the beach, we spend a very large part of the time with our gaze focused on the ground. A few square meters around our feet are continuously scanned as we slowly walk forward. Periodically we stop, and let our gaze wander to the dunes, the sea, or the sky….
Harvest. Not by far over yet. Pears, apples, pumpkins, zucchini’s...
And every time when I walk into the garden, I notice a 1, 2, 3, ... details that I have never seen before. Full of enthusiasm I then call out to Anuscka: come and see what I found here !
September 14, 2024 — Comments are off for this post.
In the tranquil medieval village of Corenno Plinio, narrow streets and old stairs evoke a time long past, with few signs of modern tourism. The artwork 'Awakening (3)' from the 'Lost Cities' collection is a digitally altered photograph, aiming to capture a surrealistic atmosphere.
A surreal sunrise of 2 suns during a rainstorm ?
That was my first Star Wars-inspired thought when I saw this….
Our garden is slowly preparing itself for winter. Due to a strong summer storm a few weeks ago, autumn has arrived early. Leaves have blown off, what is still on the trees has mostly turned brown...
We have a wide variety of trees and plants in our garden. Some immediately recognizable, like a birch, an oak….
Others with a lot of effort and searching, like the Swedish whitebeam. And a few only after seeing and photographing them for a full year in all 4 seasons...
We return to the beach, this time in the month of May. We make a walk on a stretch of deserted, beautiful beach on the west coast of North Jutland. This beach is called Bøgsted Rende; in high season it's often crowded here with several dozen bathers. But the rest of the year, beach lovers are rarely to be found.
What I did find was this strikingly blue “fingerprint” ...
The weather has been beautiful for several days with temperatures well above normal for early September, but it cools off considerably at night, resulting in damp mornings. Dewdrops adorn the grass and the leaves of trees and shrubs.
Then I notice a bluish glint, standing out beautifully against a brown mottled background….
Today another beach find. Well, can you call something that has a length and weight like a passenger car a find? But weathered it is, by sunlight, salt water and wind, the original colors and textures no longer reveal the origin.
When I find something on the beach, other than the things that 'belong' on a Danish beach like stones, shells and seaweed, I often visualise in my mind the journey that object could have made....
Today a beach find. Weathered by sunlight, salt water and wind, the original shapes, colors and textures are hardly recognizable anymore.
When I find an object on the beach, other than the things that 'belong' on a Danish beach like sand, stones, shells and seaweed, I often visualise in my mind the journey that object has made.
Nature is brimming with a huge, fascinating collection of shapes, colors and textures. And at every moment of the day, wherever you go and no matter where you look, you will find a new treasure chest of abstract natural artworks.
Exploring this infinite pallet by crawling through forests, fields and over beaches, provides a vast amount of material and inspiration for a new collection of abstract, slightly reworked artworks.
Nature is brimming with a vast, infinite collection of colors and textures. And every moment of the day, every place you go, everywhere you look, every change in weather and light, opens up a new treasure chest of experiences.
Exploring this pallet, by crawling through forests, fields and over beaches...
Reflections Of Life
Sitting alone near the pond
seeing the day fade
All things are reflections,
distorted by our mind
Only the heart sees pure
Only body and soul tell what’s right
A heavy rain storm just passed the Flade Sø, a lake directly behind the dunes of the North Sea and part of the Nationalpark Thy...
A morning by the sea, the water is called back by the tide, bringing the beach back to the land. Thousands of waves, as far as the eye can see, weave together like an infinite velvet sheet.
Whether it is a cloudy or sunny day, open spaces in a forest have something magical about them. And the denser the forest, the greater the magic when you suddenly find yourself in a place where an abundance of light welcomes you.
August 19, 2024 — Comments are off for this post.
An Iris is a fascinating flower, especially if you look at it very closely....
It was a beautiful winter day for a long walk.
As we approached the edge, the sunlight displaced the darkness of the dense spruce forest...
Golden wings of light move slowly through the cold evening air, bringing the last light of the day into the darkening forest....
August 17, 2024 — Comments are off for this post.
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....
It's still dim when I wake up. I get out, I can't stay in bed. For a moment I go outside, it is cold. I enjoy the quiet first hours of the day.
Then you wake up. Your hand touches me, a warm embrace, a kiss. The day begins.
Just as I sometimes dream of spring or summer while it is still winter, I also sometimes dream of winter on a warm summer day.
It is a kind of vague longing for peace and quiet, for moments of reflection. Summer is a hectic time of blooming, ripening, harvesting, processing and making ready for storage...
There is nothing like an early morning walk in nature, where you get to witness the awakening of that piece of earth. The light, the smells, the sounds, the cool breeze caressing your skin….
What sense are we missing right now? Oh yes, of course…
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...
'Today we have used up resources for an entire year, we are now living at the expense of future generations'.
Is that it, or is there more to it?
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.
It is early morning on a beautiful, sunny but damp spring day. Sunlight warms the forest floor, patches of fog rise. The trees seem to be moving, appearing out of the mist, as if they are gathering for their morning meeting.
Reaching into the highest worlds,
drinking from the three wells
Yggdrasil, from Old Norse Yggdrasill, is an immense mythical tree that connects the nine worlds in Norse cosmology.
An immense ash tree that is center to the cosmos and considered very holy. The gods go to Yggdrasil daily to assemble at their things.
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
It is early one summer morning, I am walking through our forest garden. The first sunlight awakens the flowers, they open their petals and show their vibrant colors. Musing, I pause for a moment among the ornamental onions. Is it a memory or a dream?
A bright white light? Eternal darkness?
It is my conviction that after our death our spirit, our soul, or call it our energy, travels to its origin somewhere in the universe. Once arrived, our energy is reunited with the energy from which everything around us once originated.
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?
My LinkedIn connection Ashok Subramanian posted a review on 4 poems, with my poem Lost In Moonlight among them:
I walked in the woods, on a path I walked
many times before, completely lost in thought,
not noticing that darkness was falling, that stars
...
And Then The Sun Stood Still - Summer.... - I love this time of the year, in which the whole cosmos seems to come to a standstill for a moment...
Did you know that oceans and seas are so polluted with PFAS (forever chemicals), plastics, pesticides and other poisons that you cannot breathe clean air on any coast?
Nowhere.
The “spray” from the waves is seriously polluted... Add to that the incalculable amount of crap in the air everywhere on earth....
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...
Reflection Of Stillness
Translucent thoughts cling to my mind
A dream is blown away, without
disturbing the reflection of stillness
A sunny day in June in the nature reserve ....
(Click to read the whole post)
Autumn Fire
Cold trees lean against the morning sun,
full of longing.
Light swirls around the fading leaves,
a rustling autumn fire.
Early in the morning in a forest near the city of Nijmegen, the Netherlands. It is cold, but the autumn sun warms everything it touches.
A special calm comes over the evening when the sun disappears behind the horizon and the light of the day slowly dies. Nature awaits the night, the trees lean against the darkening colors.
I love that intens, quiet moment of the day...
Midnight
a memory, a dream
A moonlit silent scream
Confused, a handful of
tears. We forgot ...
Lost In Thought
I walked in the woods, on a path I walked
many times before, completely lost in thought
not noticing that darkness was falling, that stars
appeared in the sky, that moonlight
brightened my path. A sound brought me out of my musings...
We all know that spring brings new life to the unfamiliar forest, no matter how dark it can be there. New life, nourishing for everything alive.
Yet there is a fear of entering that unknown, that darkness.
But knowing we need that renewal, I set out. Will you join me, come after me?
March 3, 2024 — Comments are off for this post.
Huge amounts of toxic
content drowns the lands
Dead eyes,
the earth cries
The sun colors the morning
in the hues of dead trees
on the banks of greed
How high may become
the price the future
will have to pay?
" The computing power for AI models requires immense – and increasing – amounts of natural resources. Legislation is required to prevent environmental crisis.* "
Why can companies develop products and services that are a danger to a human being or even humanity? And that even without making a proper risk assessment beforehand and submitting it for approval to a government agency that judges on objective criteria that protect humanity and its home?
And why, after the production and delivery of a product or service is no longer of interest to them, can companies turn around and walk away with pockets bulging with money, after which a government becomes responsible for the damage and you and I foot the bill?
So why do you and I accept that we are footing the bill for the second time? Didn’t we already pay heavily for the highly profitable products and services for the companies as well?
And why do you and I allow money, the ultimate driver of greed, to rule us to a degree that our children and grandchildren will end up in a world that is completely poisoned and unlivable, even in those locations where Western man has been able to build his destructive world in a comfortably mild climate for the past millennia?
Are we so addicted to consuming that we do not care at all, or that we think (hope) that inventiveness and not yet existing technology will bring the solution to problems that are already so big that we cannot comprehend the consequences? And that while technology has never yet brought an solution to a big problem without in turn creating new, often bigger problems?
So tell me, what do you think a 1.5-degree temperature rise in the next decade will mean for the earth in - let's say - 150 years if it is not also and above all accompanied by an immediate end to greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and poisoning of air, water and land, depletion of the earth, destruction of biodiversity, ...?
Do you really grant your grandchildren and/or the grandchildren of your family and friends, that world?
* Note: we are already in a huge environmental quadruple crisis. Are we longing for one more?
Link to the article the quote in the beginning of this post is referring too.
Artwork: Earth Cries (2), by me (of course...)
Text continues below the image
'Earth Cries (2)' is a new artwork in my collection 'Drowned Earth', prints are available, contact me for a quote.
Through my artworks I ask you to reflect for a moment on the nature around you, on the beautiful feeling that nature can evoke. Thus to think about your actions to support the wellbeing of the earth and everything that lives on it. And on what humanity loses when many of us continue on the destructive path of ever more greed and consuming. And please, reflect on how you can survive in this rapidly changing world…
So do you want to know your ecological footprint?
Then visit this website: https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en
And do you want to reduce your ecological footprint?
Then ask me, I will help you. For free. Or simply visit my website and choose in the menu for Your Footprint.
And if you appreciate my writings and art and want to support me, you can buy me a piece of fruit here: https://ko-fi.com/jacobberghoef, thank you 🍏 !
So are you interested in more? Then read what I wrote about System Change, Man's impact on the earth, Organic Change, Regenerative Agriculture, Regeneration
January 1, 2023 — Comments are off for this post.
In the tranquil medieval village of Corenno Plinio, narrow streets and old stairs evoke a time long past, with few signs of modern tourism. The artwork 'Awakening (2)' from the 'Lost Cities' collection is a digitally altered photograph, aiming to capture a surrealistic atmosphere.
December 31, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
The first light
Slowly awakening trees,
for a brief moment
woven in liquid gold
'The First Light (2)' is a new artwork in my collection 'Wavy Fields’.
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
December 31, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
Morning glow
The sun kisses the clouds
Blinded by the eye
A beautiful autumn morning. The sun appears on the horizon, its warm light kisses the clouds above the fields in Kobberø, Thy region, North Jutland, Denmark.
'Kissing The Clouds' is a new artwork in my collection 'Wavy Fields’.
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
December 27, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
Thick clouds of black
smoke darken the sun
Eyes tear,
trees cry
The sun colors the evening
in the hues of the flames that
eat tree after tree
How high may become
the price the future
will have to pay?
I feel it as my mission to make people aware of the beauty, power and simultaneously fragility of nature. Yet at the same time, this sometimes feels like hypocrisy because I am part of the society that is causing the destruction of the habitability of the earth. Even though I do my best to live simply and keep my carbon footprint considerably smaller than "the use" of 1 earth.
At times when I feel that, I also feel an urge to create a work with a poignant message....
Trees Cry (1) 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
December 27, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
Thick clouds of brown
smoke darken the sun
Eyes tear,
birds cry
The sun colors the evening
in the hues of the poison that
factories vomit
How high may become
the price the future
will have to pay?
I feel it is my mission to make people aware of the beauty and at the same time fragility of nature. At the same time, this sometimes feels like hypocrisy because I am part of the society that causes the destruction of the earth's habitability. Even though I do my best to live simply and keep my ecological footprint considerably smaller than "the use" of 1 earth.
At times when I feel that, I also feel an urge to create a work with a more poignant message....
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
October 7, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
[...] 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.
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
Swimming In Tears II
While trees cry
fish shed their tears
in endless waves
In the project Drowned Earth 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.
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.
August 22, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
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?
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.
'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.
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
August 15, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
Dreams wander
between the trees,
waiting, longing
to be reborn as
common sense
in a new time
Many people dream of an earth that is safe and clean, that is treated with care so that it can give enough to all its inhabitants without becoming exhausted.
Only when all those dreams come to life in common sense and people take action to live differently will that dream become a reality.
Do you ever dream about that too? And what did you do today to make those dreams come alive?
I washed myself this morning with cold water, yesterday I grabbed my bike to go shopping. Then I covered a section of the vegetable garden where the harvest is finished with a layer of shredded garden waste. As food for the new sowing season next year, to cover the soil in its resting period against drying out and prevent the growth of too many weeds...
'Wandering Dreams' is a new digital artwork in my collections 'Secret Places' and 'Digital Art’↗️.
This digital artwork was created through a collaboration with Janet Akselrud↗️, here is her website↗️.
She generously gave me permission to use one of her digital artworks.
Thank you Janet, I hope you like the result !
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. Thus to think about your actions to support the wellbeing of the earth and everything that lives on it. And on what humanity loses when many of us continue on the destructive path of ever more greed and consuming. And please, reflect on how you can survive in this rapidly changing world…
So do you want to know your ecological footprint?
Then visit this website: https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en
And do you want to reduce your ecological footprint?
Then ask me, I will help you. For free. Or simply visit my website and choose in the menu for Your Footprint.
And if you appreciate my writings and art and want to support me, you can buy me a piece of fruit here: https://ko-fi.com/jacobberghoef, thank you 🍏 !
Interested in more? Then read what I wrote about System Change, Man's impact on the earth, Organic Change, Regenerative Agriculture, Regeneration
August 8, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
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...
This artwork comes in a Limited Edition of 4 per size group, signed and with a certificate of authenticity. But of course, it is also available as Open Edition print, without signature and not numbered. Prices starting at €50 / US$55.
'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.
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. Thus to think about your actions to support the wellbeing of the earth and everything that lives on it. And on what humanity loses when many of us continue on the destructive path of ever more greed and consuming. And please, reflect on how you can survive in this rapidly changing world…
So do you want to know your ecological footprint?
Then visit this website: https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en
And do you want to reduce your ecological footprint?
Then ask me, I will help you. For free. Or simply visit my website and choose in the menu for Your Footprint.
And if you appreciate my writings and art and want to support me, you can buy me a piece of fruit here: https://ko-fi.com/jacobberghoef, thank you 🍏 !
July 25, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
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 'Summer Evening At The Pond' artwork is a digital transformation of a photograph, printed with high-quality ink on museum-quality, acid-free cotton/rag paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity. But of course, it is also available as Open Edition print, without signature and not numbered. Available in any size you desire !
Maximum size is 225Wx150H cm / 90wx60H inches. The work can be printed in any size up to that maximum, so please let me know the size you would prefer.
I start with one or more photographs made by myself to create these artworks. Then I use digital painting, color adjusting and adding and transforming multiple artistic effects, until a surrealistic atmosphere is created that touches me and tells the story I want to tell.
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. Thus to think about your actions to support the wellbeing of the earth and everything that lives on it. And on what humanity loses when many of us continue on the destructive path of ever more greed and consuming. And please, reflect on how you can survive in this rapidly changing world…
So do you want to know your ecological footprint?
Visit this website: https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en
And do you want to reduce your ecological footprint?
Then ask me, I will help you. For free. Or simply visit my website and choose in the menu for Your Footprint.
And if you appreciate my writings and art and want to support me, you can buy me a piece of fruit here: https://ko-fi.com/jacobberghoef
Thank you 🍏 !
July 18, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
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 (1)' is an artwork in my collection 'Secret Places'.
This 'Summer Evening At The Pond' artwork is a digital transformation of a photograph, printed with high-quality ink on museum-quality, acid-free cotton/rag paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity. But of course, it is also available as Open Edition print, without signature and not numbered. Available in any size you desire !
Maximum size is 225Wx150H cm / 90wx60H inches. The work can be printed in any size up to that maximum, so please let me know the size you would prefer.
I start with one or more photographs made by myself to create these artworks. Then I use digital painting, color adjusting and adding and transforming multiple artistic effects, until a surrealistic atmosphere is created that touches me and tells the story I want to tell.
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. Thus to think about your actions to support the wellbeing of the earth and everything that lives on it. And on what humanity loses when many of us continue on the destructive path of ever more greed and consuming. And please, reflect on how you can survive in this rapidly changing world…
So do you want to know your ecological footprint?
Then visit this website: https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en
And do you want to reduce your ecological footprint?
Then ask me, I will help you. For free. Or simply visit my website and choose in the menu for Your Footprint.
And if you appreciate my writings and art and want to support me, you can buy me a piece of fruit here: https://ko-fi.com/jacobberghoef, thank you 🍏 !
July 11, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
[scorched]
adjective
UK /skɔːtʃt/ US /skɔːrtʃt/
slightly burned, or damaged by fire or heat
While the ice caps are melting and the oceans and seas are warming and being robbed and poisoned, humans on land are not sitting still either. Or perhaps better to say, that's where the misery begins. Because that's where humans have settled and do most of their 'ingenuity'.
The Western world should really be called the 'land of never enough'.
There where consumption was invented, at the same time as growth for growth's sake and the 'creation of shareholder value'. In other words, profits that are never high enough.
Our addiction to money is so strong, that we are prepared to exhaust the earth for it, to destroy plants and animals and to make the world of the children and grandchildren of humanity dry, or flooded, and hot. In many places even unbearably hot.
Many people even think (still!) that the consequences of global warming will not be too bad. After all, we are smart, a technical solution will be found that will allow us to continue living the way we are used to...
...larger and larger parts of the earth are being scorched. Scorching by the ever-increasing temperatures. By spraying poison to make the yield of intensive agriculture as high as possible. And by the emission of poison into the air, land and water as a by-product of our endless consumption. Scorched by the fires that rage around the world day in and day out as a result of increasing drought. And by fires started by humans to turn even more nature into monoculture with endless fields of genetically engineered crops on exhausted, diseased soil.
You all know by now that a text like this accompanying a work of art is not quite my style. But sometimes you just have to go outside, look up at the sky and scream really loud...
A cry for climate action...
These artworks are digital transformations of a photograph. Printed on order with high-quality ink on museum-quality, acid-free cotton/rag paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity. But of course, it is also available as Open Edition print, without signature and not numbered. Available in any size you desire !
Maximum size is 150Wx150H cm / 60Wx60H inches. The work can be printed in any size up to that maximum, so please let me know the size you would prefer.
I start with one or more photographs made by myself to create these artworks. Then I use digital painting, color adjusting and adding and transforming multiple artistic textures and effects. I do this until there is a surreal atmosphere that touches me and tells the story I want to tell you.
'Scorched Earth (1)' is an 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. Thus to think about your actions to support the wellbeing of the earth and everything that lives on it. And on what humanity loses when many of us continue on the destructive path of ever more greed and consuming. And please, reflect on how you can survive in this rapidly changing world…
So do you want to know your ecological footprint?
Then visit this website: https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en
And do you want to reduce your ecological footprint?
Then ask me, I will help you. For free. Or simply visit my website and choose in the menu for Your Footprint.
And if you appreciate my writings and art and want to support me, you can buy me a piece of fruit here: https://ko-fi.com/jacobberghoef, thank you 🍏 !
So are you interested in more? Then read what I wrote about System Change, Man's impact on the earth, Organic Change, Regenerative Agriculture, Regeneration
July 1, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
It is early in the morning after a cool night. The first rays of sunlight make a mist rise from the wet grass. Omens of a warm day....
A digital experiment with a photograph I made in 2018 in the floodplains of the river Waal near Nijmegen, the Netherlands, to give it the atmosphere I remember.
Text continues below the image
General info on this artwork
'This'Weeping Pine Tree' is a digital transformation of a photograph, printed with high-quality ink on museum-quality, acid-free cotton/rag paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity. But of course, it is also available as Open Edition print, without signature and not numbered.
Maximum size is 225Hx150W cm / 90Hx60W inches. The work can be printed in any size up to that maximum, so please let me know the size you would prefer.
I start with one or more photographs made by myself to create these artworks. Then I use digital painting, color adjusting and adding and transforming multiple artistic effects, until a surrealistic atmosphere is created that touches me and tells the story I want to tell.
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.
'Weeping Pine Tree' is also available on Fine Art America
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 in the menu for Your Footprint.
If you appreciate my writings and art and want to support me, you can buy me a piece of fruit here: https://ko-fi.com/jacobberghoef
Thank you 🍏 !
June 21, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
And Then The Sun Stood Still - Summer.... - I love this time of the year, in which the whole cosmos seems to come to a standstill for a moment.
Travelers
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.
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?
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.
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.
Bloom
Pulsating blue
float gently between the trees
forest in bloom
I show you 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.
Refuge
Sea turtles
finding refuge
among old-growth
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.
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.
May 31, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
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?
May 29, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
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.
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".
This 'Voices In The Trees' artwork is a digital transformation of a photograph, printed with high-quality ink on museum-quality, acid-free cotton/rag paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity. But of course, it is also available as Open Edition print, without signature and not numbered. Available in any size you desire !
Maximum size is 250Wx125H cm / 100wx50H inches. The work can be printed in any size up to that maximum, so please let me know the size you would prefer.
I start with one or more photographs made by myself to create these artworks. Then I use digital painting, color adjusting and adding and transforming multiple artistic effects, until a surrealistic atmosphere is created that touches me and tells the story I want to tell.
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. Thus to think about your actions to support the wellbeing of the earth and everything that lives on it. And on what humanity loses when many of us continue on the destructive path of ever more greed and consuming. And please, reflect on how you can survive in this rapidly changing world…
So do you want to know your ecological footprint?
Then visit this website: https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en
And do you want to reduce your ecological footprint?
Then ask me, I will help you. For free. Or simply visit my website and choose in the menu for Your Footprint.
And if you appreciate my writings and art and want to support me, you can buy me a piece of fruit here: https://ko-fi.com/jacobberghoef, thank you 🍏 !
January 26, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
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'.
This artwork is a digital transformation of a photograph, printed with high-quality ink on museum-quality, acid-free cotton/rag paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity. But of course, it is also available as Open Edition print, without signature and not numbered. Available in any size you desire !
Maximum size is 225Wx150H cm / 90wx60H inches. The work can be printed in any size up to that maximum, so please let me know the size you would prefer.
I start with one or more photographs made by myself to create these artworks. Then I use digital painting, color adjusting and adding and transforming multiple artistic effects, until a surrealistic atmosphere is created that touches me and tells the story I want to tell.
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. Thus to think about your actions to support the wellbeing of the earth and everything that lives on it. And on what humanity loses when many of us continue on the destructive path of ever more greed and consuming. And please, reflect on how you can survive in this rapidly changing world…
So do you want to know your ecological footprint?
Then visit this website: https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en
And do you want to reduce your ecological footprint?
Then ask me, I will help you. For free. Or simply visit my website and choose in the menu for Your Footprint.
And if you appreciate my writings and art and want to support me, you can buy me a piece of fruit here: https://ko-fi.com/jacobberghoef, thank you 🍏 !
January 1, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
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)
This 'A New Day' artwork is a digital transformation of a photograph, printed with high-quality ink on museum-quality, acid-free cotton/rag paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity. But of course, it is also available as Open Edition print, without signature and not numbered. Available in any size you desire !
Maximum size is 225Wx150H cm / 90wx60H inches. The work can be printed in any size up to that maximum, so please let me know the size you would prefer.
I start with one or more photographs made by myself to create these artworks. Then I use digital painting, color adjusting and adding and transforming multiple artistic effects, until a surrealistic atmosphere is created that touches me and tells the story I want to tell.
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. Thus to think about your actions to support the wellbeing of the earth and everything that lives on it. And on what humanity loses when many of us continue on the destructive path of ever more greed and consuming. And please, reflect on how you can survive in this rapidly changing world…
So do you want to know your ecological footprint?
Then visit this website: https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en
And do you want to reduce your ecological footprint?
Then ask me, I will help you. For free. Or simply visit my website and choose in the menu for Your Footprint.
And if you appreciate my writings and art and want to support me, you can buy me a piece of fruit here: https://ko-fi.com/jacobberghoef, thank you 🍏 !
December 21, 2021 — Comments are off for this post.
And Then The Sun Stood Still - Winter Solstice - The sun seems to stand still for a few days, before the light returns.
Want to inquire about an art piece?
All content © 2014-2020 Jacob Berghoef