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.
In my System Change post, I explained man's impact on earth and raised a number of questions. The most important: Do you know what your ecological footprint is?
No one answered that question. No, I'm not disappointed, because I actually didn't expect it either. And the question was also not asked very directly and not very prominently in the beginning of the (long) post.
Still, ....
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....
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...
Weeping pine tree –
Blue rain falling to earth,
mixed tears of happiness.
Weeping pine tree - A pine tree on a sunny winter day, the sunlight brings tears of happiness, but mixed feelings because of the declining state of nature.
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.
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
...
The previous owner of our house had a huge fondness for rhododendrons. So we have them in many shapes and sizes. And we love the poisonous tea that comes from it 🙂
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...
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
Crying Pine Tree
Crying pine tree –
Blue rain falling to earth,
mixed tears of happiness.
It is based on a photograph I made on a walk on a bright sunny day on the threshold of spring, in nature park Lövö, a beautiful fairy tale like peninsula on the Baltic coast in the Kalmar region, Sweden.
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...
A beautiful sunny winter day. A group of gulls fight each other for a piece of bread. When the seagull with the bread in its beak crosses a wide ditch, the whole group follows; screaming as if panicking to lose sight of the seagull with the bread.
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.
In my System Change post, I explained man's impact on earth and raised a number of questions. The most important: Do you know what your ecological footprint is?
No one answered that question in a comment. No, I'm not disappointed, because I actually didn't expect it either. And the question was also not asked very directly and not very prominently in the beginning of the (long) post. Still, ....
System Change, we need Systemic Change !
This is what you read and hear more and more often. In comments, articles and discussions about the state of the Earth's health, about the alarmingly rapid change in our climate.
And that alongside, of course, the call for Degrowth....
What is meant by this system change?
Insofar as you can and may explain a very complex system in a few simple phrases: ...
March 3, 2024 — Comments are off for this post.
Earth Cries
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, while technology has never yet brought an opolution 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 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, 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
And do you want to reduce your ecological footprint?
Ask me, I will help you. For free. Or simply choose for Your Footprint in the menu.
Wandering between dreams and reality on a crisp winter morning, the artwork 'Blooming Winter Dreams' captures a magical 3D effect, created by Karina Mosser painting on a photograph. Part of 'The Narrow Path' collection, both original and various print editions are up for grabs—drop a message to own one.
Jacob Berghoef's "Earth Cries" combines art and poetry, expressing grief over Earth Overshoot Day 2023. The work highlights the toxic, irreversible damage we've caused, living off the earth's credit without a way to repay. It's a wake-up call to consider our incessant consumption and its grave, lasting impacts on the planet.
In the morning of my dream
Only shadows will remain
Echoing the light of my thoughts
'Echo Of My Thoughts' is a new digital artwork, made by transforming one of my own impressionistic photographs through extensive editing to achieve a surreal effect.
My work encourages reflection on nature's beauty and the consequences of human destructiveness.
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
February 26, 2021 — Comments are off for this post.
Did you know you can see my complete portfolio on Saatchi Art? Scroll through all 900+ works at your leisure, or choose 1 of 13 collections with a particular theme.
All my works are for sale as Original Artwork (Limited Edition). But also as (Open Edition) print starting at US$ 55. If you wish you can even have it framed.
Want to inquire about an art piece?
All content © 2014-2020 Jacob Berghoef