Monday, August 24, 2009

Fractal Geometry on Etsy



Handpicked on Etsy
A Fractal, known to mathematicians as The Mandelbrot Set, is very simply defined as an object that displays infinitely complex self-similarity at all scales. Mathematically inclined artists can use Benoit Mandelbrot's iterated equation, Z = Z2 + C, to generate digital fractal images, or freehand art influenced by the fascinating iteration and recursion of fractals.
Inspired by the recent fascinating Nova feature about fractal geometry, I became curious to see whether Etsy artists consciously use fractals as inspiration and was pleased to find a few to showcase in today's feature.
While fractal patterns are evidenced everywhere in nature, from fern fronds to jagged mountain ranges, it is another of those phenomena we are often oblivious of or take for granted, until either a mathematician or a skilled artist invites us to focus on the mesmerizing beauty of natural repetition. Click on the pictures to go directly to these Etsy listings. Prices from $6.00 to $200.00.
Today's Etsy artists include: Roo84, Fractalgirl, kellydietrich, infraliminil, HAzevedo, lunarcus, ArtisticallySpeaking, bibbidibaubles

6 comments:

Andria said...

Believe me, I'm a total math dunce, though for some reason geometry came a bit more easily to me in school. I don't claim to be able to generate anything with the Mandelbrot equation, but I was fascinated by the Nova special and it is interesting to see some people on Etsy applying fractal geometry to their art.

Kelly said...

Thanks so much for featuring one of my fractals on your blog. I suffered through math classes in high school and still have nightmares about not being ready for the big math test - lol! Creating beautiful images with fractal geometry is my way of reconciling. :)

Andria said...

Hi Kelly, Funny you mention the universal nightmare... I had one couple of nights ago and maybe it was triggered by trying to understand this equation.

Your math teachers would be proud to see what you're doing now :)
Andria

Russell Dornan said...

Hello,

I love fractals - I am in fact a geek.

Thanks a lot for featuring my humble picture among these great works.

How exciting!

: )

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing all of these. I'm gonna look through the rest now! *hunkers down for a good read*

HAzevedo said...

Thank you so very much for featuring my poor fractal picture.
Excuse me also for posting so late.