Kwarekken, Westerlo – Short fly-through

I’ve been grappling with some kind of creator’s block for several weeks now. Creative ideas don’t come easily, and I haven’t been inclined to experiment on my modular synthesizer either. So, I’ve decided to reverse the process and create visuals that inspire me to compose music. Take this, for instance, where I delve once more into my collection of pre-recorded samples. I captured these drone shots two years ago on a misty yet sunny morning in the Kwarekken.
Ironically, despite my careful handling and storage after the shoot, this series of flights proved fatal for my DJI Spark.

Thoughts, March 4, 2024

I scarcely pen anything on this blog anymore. At times, I ponder whether to let it fade into obscurity or to infuse it with new life. More often than not, I am inclined towards the latter.

I am no longer the same person who initiated this blog. I have metamorphosed, evolved, and found solace. Even my interests have undergone a transformation. Photography still occupies a fragment of my time, albeit significantly less. Film photography has receded into the background, replaced by digital photography for convenience. Yet, I still engage in filmmaking, albeit to a slightly greater extent than photography.

However, the creation of electronic music has become my primary pursuit. Delving into modular synthesis, the learning curve is steep. I lack formal musical training, unable to decipher notes, relying solely on the rhythms and emotions that resonate within me. Much like in my professional realm as a computer scientist, I am self-made in this domain.

Speaking of my professional journey, I endured nearly two years of incapacitation due to severe burnout, split into two periods. Since October 2023, I have returned to the fray. It felt imperative to resume work. After all, come the end of May, I turn 65 and must bid adieu to the workforce. With accrued vacation days, I could conceivably retire earlier. Thus, I must make one final pilgrimage to my employer in late May, returning my laptop and badge.

Sweetheart and I parted ways in late August 2019 after a relationship spanning just shy of seven years. The rupture blindsided me. It took me several years to come to terms with it. And since then, no one else has graced my life—until very recently.

Hence, I am inclined to revive the narrative thread of this blog. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram fail to satiate me. I upload photos and garner likes, yet the connection remains superficial, lacking depth.

My two YouTube channels hold greater significance for me as they nurture my creativity. One predominantly features my electronic music, while the other focuses on hiking, nature, and journeys, albeit dormant.
However, come April 2024, I can finally embark on travels without constantly checking the clock.

Expressing myself on social media is both important and gratifying—not for the sake of followers or likes, but because it catalyzes ideas and insights within me. The interaction with readers and followers often proves to be more intense, profound, and authentic.


A Haunted World

For months I played with the A.I. generator Midjourney v3. Finetuning my command prompts to get as close as possible to my dreams, nightmares, and overall emotion of darkness. These creations, the visualization, were very therapeutic and helped me fight my burnout.

I went back to work at the end of August 2022. Half-November, unfortunately, I relapsed.

Just, well, something…

It has been quite a while since I posted something on this site. As some of you might know, I suffered from a second burnout. Lost it somewhere in September 2021 but started working again in the last week of August 2022. I had an easy start, 2 days of work, 2 days free at home, 1 day at work, and then the weekend.

Unfortunately, I did relapse and since November 21 I’m back at home. I do see this as losing an important battle but then again, one loses battles to, finally, win the war.

Also since half of June 2022, I have become kind of a complete recluse. I go out to shop, do my laundry, meet with very close ones, and, until recently, work.

Since that last post on this site in June, I have evolved as ‘an artist’ albeit I don’t look at myself as such.

Sure, I still make photographs, but not that much. I don’t do any video anymore and I am not active on my YouTube channel.

I moved on, walking a path that unfolds in front of me while I walk.

That path is one of self-education, going with the flow, following my (basic) needs… express myself.

Ghosts (2022) Mixed media to digital. 40 x 60 cm print

For a while, I played with DALL·E 2 and MidJourney, both AI systems that can create realistic images and art from a description in natural language. A revelation.
And for a while, I felt comfortable with MidJourney because using a good description could generate the scenes of my dreams and nightmares. I posted quite some of these works on my IG page.

Then I started altering this AI-generated art, embracing the technology. But I wanted more. I craved uniqueness.

So today I work with paint, brayers, a gel plate, laser prints to pull a print, or other stuff and try to create a world of my own.

I’m quite happy with what I am making today. It is far away from my photography, yet I can incorporate it.

Some other work…

Woman (2022) This is kind of an hommage to American painter Andrew Wyeth. Mixed media to digital. 40 x 60 cm print