About

Welcome to the blog of Maryland artist,  Leah McNeir.

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Hey my name is Leah McNeir. This blog is a place for me to connect with collectors and new viewers alike to update everyone on new artworks as they become available. It’s also a place for me to talk about whats going on in my  life, & share things that inspire.

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Artist Statement

My art can be described as one soul’s reflection on a flight of fancy along the path to greater understanding, inspiration and expression; An attempt to release inner visions, feelings and thoughts through the conduit of a hand’s experimentations .
I try to create dimensions of color and form that invoke emotion and intrigue. A space through which i can express an idea or feeling, and connect to the viewer, where in turn, each may then add to or take from it their unique interpretation, perspective, and internal response.  My drive to be a professional artist comes from a desire to create something authentic, aesthetic and new that through time and space reaches out to be experienced and perceived in varied ways by those who view it. To inspire a feeling in others. A two-way mirror, reflecting the spectrum of human perception.
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Art has been part of my life since before i could speak. My mother said that of my first few words, two of them were the colors “green” and “blue” which i 1st muttered as she demonstrated the magic of blue and yellow mixing to become green while we did finger paintings together.
Growing up art became my solace, my refuge,  in a sometimes chaotic world.  While creating i am at peace.  Enveloped in an almost meditative state, the troubles of the world melt as i focus in on the work before me. Through vivid color palettes, soft forms, and pleasing compositions, i  hope for viewers and collectors to feel that peace as well.
Currently, my medias of choice are acrylic paint on canvas, digital fractal flames, and digital designing through photoshop, although i’ve been known to dabble in digital photography and poetry as well.
Rarely will i begin a piece with a set intent of what i want the finished image to look like. Instead, i may begin with only a color or theme in mind as i let go and follow after wherever my mind and subconscious wander. Nature, balance, gentle shapes and forms, as well as bold colors and symbolism are all common focuses in my work.
For me, creating art is a personal meditative exercise in adoration and appreciation of the beauty of the natural world and the sacred wonder of human experience. My aim is to create art that enlivens and enhances its surrounding atmosphere and to create unique designs or compositions that bring the viewer a sense of wonder and enjoyment.

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~On Fractals and Fractal Art~

Fractal Art created with:  “Apophysis”
Post-Processing digital editing software: Adobe Lightroom or Corel Paintshop.

I invite you to watch these documentaries titled  “The colors of infinity” & Hunting the Hidden Dimension to learn more about fractal geometry, its applications, and the amazing Mandelbrot Set.

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Unwittingly at the time, I first began exploring the concept of geometric self similarity and recursion in kindergarten when i discovered that a square could be evenly cut into multiple smaller squares, as other shapes too could be equally divided.  I recall my early school notebooks being covered in doodles of symmetric spirals, hearts, recursive trees and stars. Concepts of symmetry, polarity, and balance have long captivated my imagination and helped to form my perceptions. This fascination has also influenced  my art from a very early age.

In 2007, I began creating fractal flames. The algorithms and formulas that form the basis of fractal geometry seem to express a universal geometric bond; a truth and order of profound beauty that can be shown through the visual of the fractal flame.

Galileo once said, “Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe.”
Through fractal exploration, one can see the fundamental truths of mathematics and this ‘common language’ or description of physical reality in a visible and aesthetic way. When i began creating fractals with Apophysis  i was amazed and intrigued to see how a simple tweaking of numbers could bend a calculation that visually began as a meaningless mess of simulated bent light into a host of familiar images or scenes. Using the recursive self-similarity and iterated function system of fractal computing, common religious symbols like the cross, star of david, star and crescent, pentagram, mandalas, and other symbols both modern and ancient frequently take shape out of an apparent visual chaos. Images of formations that resemble galaxies, spirals of DNA,  tree rings, hurricanes and weather patterns, as well as lightning, waves, trees, leafs, mountains, flowers and more can be created through geometric symmetry and recursion.

For all my life, math has never been a strong point for me. In fact, far from it! By using fractal rendering software, and being able to really visualize the concepts however, i have come to a greater understanding and appreciation of its true significance, relation to every day life and the truths it expresses about reality itself. After months of creating flames i started to see my surroundings quite differently. I began to see the underlying geometric structure and ordering of everyday objects in nature from the galactic level to the level of atoms and photons. In it the polarity of all things, the similarity , the symmetry, the cosmos out of chaos, the common thread that expresses a universal interconnection, cohesion, unison, and balance.

Within fractal flames we can see the interplay of polarity at work; the push and pull of positive and negative forces working together to create the whole; the influence of each effecting the other.  With fractal formulas such as the Julian or Mandelbrot Set we can glimpse infinity and limitless variation.  There is no limit at which some fractals cease to hold infinite complexity. Within the image of a fractal, we can see how a tiny speck can hold potentially infinite information.

Through my fractal art, i hope to bring more attention to this fascinating and inspiring field of geometry. Like a photographer capturing the serene majesty of a landscape, my work can be seen as simply snapshots of the fractal world. It is not the photographers landscape, as it is not my fractal. The calculations and formulas belong to all of us and none of us.  I, like the photographer, only seek to use our tools to find, highlight and share the wonder and beauty that surrounds us to bring to others the appreciation and awe we feel as we take it’s ‘picture’.

Bear witness with me and see. Everything is a fractal. Everything is connected.

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