Between you and a few others I see I will have to sharpen my pencil if I plan to participate in this contest...I don't know about the Arctic but I do see a lot of fire and smoke...puts me in mind of the scorched earth policy in some military strategies...dark, dense, and a killer design...great idea for the contest, Les.

Arctic Fire looks like it might image an accretion disk bounded by a plane, thus also a beacon for the Black Sun (a central gathering construct for avatars in N. Stephenson's "Snow Crash" (if one looks to Wikipedia for info on Snow Crash ignore the critics)).

A quote from Wikipedia's article on Snow Crash's Metaverse:

***

Stephenson's Metaverse appears to its users as an urban environment, developed along a single hundred-meter-wide road, the Street, that runs the entire 65536 km ... circumference of a featureless, black, perfectly spherical planet.

***

Bilateral geometric symmetry: white, blue, brown, and red; the colors of the four elements in a Metaverse.

Ok, its a stretch, but this is the Metaverse.

---../.\\. Feel free to share your thoughts. .//.\\..---

Les, I don't have my 'thinking' yet. I am still in the stage of enjoying your very fine artwork.

Good Luck in the contest!

I'm totally amazed at this one Les, I love the color tones, the details, and the reflective presentation. If cookies were given out for the artistic expression, I would give you the whole package! :) Of course a fave for me. tigs=^..^=

I see both a sunrise and a sunset in this wonderful work. All is possible in this world.

So it's true then! Global warming is a fact! It's getting so hot there that everything has the glow of burning embers...except for that blue area...which is all that's left of anything that is in the least bit frozen, but not for long. I just hope all the penguins and polar bears got out alright! Very beautiful image, Les, and very intriguing to look at.

I have to believe it is so if you say so. But I am impressed with the fractal all the same Les. Great work.

This is an eerie scene. It's quite remarkable, the reflection gives you a sensation of depth and yet also, movement. You can view this for quite a well and its very soothing actually. Well done.

Eye-opening one here.

My thoughts? Wait, just need to grab my butterfly net...

OK. There's an impression of leatheriness, so the soft green part in particular reminds me of spreading dragon wings. The line could be a distant horizon, so... pretty big dragon. :-)

On the other hand, the glowing colours must resemble his eyes. He's in a large underground ice hall with soaring rafters. I don't know what he's protecting -- perhaps the lost arts?

This guardian is well hidden from the outside world, so those arts are still somewhat lost. Someone managed to wrest this one away from its talons, bringing it to this forum before collapsing in an exhausted heap.

Criticisms? This: I don't want to be around when the dragon arrives to get it back...

This is some great work, Les. You've got such a good handle on Apophysis (I'm guessing that's what this is). Best of luck in the contest.

Watching this image I feel shivers down my spine while my face burns like in fever. Literally so. I am feeling quite feverish and stunned.
Thanks, dear friend.
And needless to say - best of luck in the contest.
Hugs from
SAM & SAAB

Caveats - I almost forgot ! LOL

N O N E

SAM

The undersigned have also been impressed with the comment from Alan and gave him one cred from us... Hope you don't mind. :)
SAM & SAAB

Gorgeous fractal image with detail and depth and subtlety.