Welcome to the Circus

Ferris Wheel

"A consummate showman and entrepreneur, P.T. Barnum was famous for bringing both high and low culture to all of America." – from http://www.ptbarnum.org/

If we substitute "all of America" to "the whole world" we might have an idea of the current state of Fractal Art today. There are masters and wannabes, highbrow and low, geniuses, impostors and fakes abundant in our little self-absorbed world of art. I’ve always said that my personal style of art is suitable for hanging – if you live at the circus!

It was a great surprise and honor to be invited to contribute to this blog. I agree with Kerry’s affirmation of Apathy. I also agree with Keith that Renderosity and other art sites are there mainly for the sense of community. I wouldn’t have met many of you without them. The days of the newsgroups have long passed.

If I had one wish for sites that let you post just any old thing, it would be for more people to take pride in their work. I grow weary and jaded at the presentation of somebody’s umpteenth variation on a theme – as if sheer numbers of posts were the goal.

I’m not an everyday fractalist. I appreciate something that has some "oomph" to it – be it highbrow or low!

There’s a poem I learned in grammar school. Sometimes I just want to scream it at the screen.

It’s a little ditty by Anne Shaw called "Life’s Lessons":

Life's Lessons
If you can't be a tree, be a bush,
But be the best little bush on the hill.
Opportunity's door is marked, "Push,"
And failure's door says, "Stand Still."
If you think you're too small for big things,
Then do small things in a big way,
You cannot win if you don't begin,
And the best time to start is today.
If you can't score the goal, give the cheer,
Every life has a goal to be found.
Just remember today's mighty oak,
Was a nut who once held his ground.
----Anne Shaw

Sometimes I think we’re all just a little bit nuts!
--
Panny