Life

Eight images that together make up the “Life” series, plus 3 extras that I’ve included as they are a little different but still related. The series combines art and science in unique ways. They were each created during separate larger projects and combined to produce this series. They therefore illustrate a wide range of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, maths) + AI techniques and disciplines. Fractal Graphics and the impact of Chaos feature throughout.

Although the theme is “Life”, the message is one of amazement and wonder at the scale and complexity of the web that connects all things, in A World Beyond Imagination.

Life Series

Tree of Life

Web of Life

Breath of Life

Guardians of Life

Images of Life

River of Life

Secrets of Life

The Book of Life

Extra Images

Game of Life

Tree of Life

Above the soil, the branches bend,
Their golden leaves in wild descent,
A dance of loss, a whispered moan—
The tree stands bowed, but not alone.

🌿 Below the ground, a quiet grace,
A woven web, a warm embrace.
Roots stretch deep in earthen halls,
Where fungal threads connect them all.

A symphony beneath the bark,
Of ancient codes and signals dark.
They speak in silence, pulse in light,
And feed the tree through autumn’s fight.

🌳 So though the wind may howl and tear,
And strip the sky of colours fair,
The tree endures, upheld by kin
A world unseen, yet strong within.

Web of Life

[Verse]
Dust in the air weighs heavy on my skin
Whispers of ghosts where life had been
Shadows and ruins stretch endlessly wide
Yet there’s a spark
A pulse
Deep inside

[Chorus]
I breathe the ashes
Taste the decay
Turn the gray skies into dawn’s display
From hollow earth
Hear the heartbeat grow
Seeds of hope in the winds that blow

[Verse 2]
Cracks in the stone bloom with quiet grace
A fragile beauty reclaims the space
Fingers trace lines of what used to be
But tomorrow’s painted in colors unseen

[Chorus]
I breathe the ashes
Taste the decay
Turn the gray skies into dawn’s display
From hollow earth
Hear the heartbeat grow
Seeds of hope in the winds that blow

[Bridge]
Hold the stillness in the palm of my hand
Feel strength rise from this broken land
The chorus of life starts faint but clear
A melody lost
Now ringing near

[Verse 3]
The silence fades
The echoes sing
Soft light breaks where shadows cling
New shoots pierce through the solemn stone
Breathing new life
No longer alone

Breath of Life

[Verse]
Dust in the air weighs heavy on my skin
Whispers of ghosts where life had been
Shadows and ruins stretch endlessly wide
Yet there’s a spark
A pulse
Deep inside

[Chorus]
I breathe the ashes
Taste the decay
Turn the gray skies into dawn’s display
From hollow earth
Hear the heartbeat grow
Seeds of hope in the winds that blow

[Verse 2]
Cracks in the stone bloom with quiet grace
A fragile beauty reclaims the space
Fingers trace lines of what used to be
But tomorrow’s painted in colours unseen

[Chorus]
I breathe the ashes
Taste the decay
Turn the gray skies into dawn’s display
From hollow earth
Hear the heartbeat grow
Seeds of hope in the winds that blow

[Bridge]
Hold the stillness in the palm of my hand
Feel strength rise from this broken land
The chorus of life starts faint but clear
A melody lost
Now ringing near

[Verse 3]
The silence fades
The echoes sing
Soft light breaks where shadows cling
New shoots pierce through the solemn stone
Breathing new life

Guardians of Life

[Verse 1]
In the silence before the stars were born,
Dragons danced through realms forlorn.
Their swirling shapes, a sacred thread,
Wove the cosmos where angels dread.

[Pre-Chorus]
They move through dimensions none can see,
Beyond the veil of gravity.
Their wings are time, their breath is flame,
They guard the gates without a name.

[Chorus]
Dragons at the gates of the universe,
Strong and swift, they hold the curse.
Chaos claws from realms unknown,
But they stand firm, they stand alone.
The fabric they spun, now fiercely kept—
By dragons who have never slept.

[Verse 2]
Through shadow tides and quantum streams,
They chase the echoes of broken dreams.
Where order fades and silence screams,
They hold the line between extremes.

[Bridge]
No eye can trace their hidden flight,
No map can chart their spectral might.
They bend the laws, they shape the flow,
Where only ancient forces go.

[Final Chorus]
Dragons at the gates of the universe,
Agile minds in bodies terse.
They forged the stars, they stitched the sky,
And now they guard what must not die.
Their legacy, in silence sung—
The universe held by dragon tongue.

Images of Life

[Verse 1]
In a forest lost to time,
Where roots remember ancient rhyme,
A figure rests in weathered grain—
A woman, child, and silent flame.

[Pre-Chorus]
Her eyes are carved with knowing grace,
The child held close in warm embrace.
And on the wood, a symbol lies—
A star, a path, a question why.

[Chorus]
Was it carved by hands from other skies,
Or by those who saw through hidden eyes?
Does it hold the key to what we seek—
The voice of stars, the truth we speak?
A mother, child, and sacred sign—
A riddle left outside of time.

[Verse 2]
The grain still hums with whispered lore,
Of realms beyond the forest floor.
Did ancients dream what we forget,
Or glimpse a truth we haven’t met?

[Bridge]
The symbol glows when moonlight bends,
A spiral where the silence ends.
It points beyond what we can name—
To love, to loss, to light, to flame.

[Final Chorus]
Was it carved by those who crossed the veil,
Or by hearts that knew the sacred tale?
A guide, a gift, a breath, a spark—
To light the way when all is dark.
A woman, child, and mystery—
The carving sings eternity.

River of Life

Verse 1
Whispers in the pattern, shadows start to climb,
Fractals at the boundary, dancing on the line.
Chaos hums a rhythm, order bends and sways,
Carried by a river through the endless days.

Chorus
Fractals in the flow, where the wild currents go,
Through the river of time to the worlds we’ll never know.
They bloom in the silence, they breathe in the light,
Creating new beginnings from the edges of the night.

Verse 2
Geometry in motion, spirals in the deep,
Dreams of living systems hidden as they sleep.
Every curve a story, every branch a sign,
Life is born from chaos in a sacred design.

Bridge
Across the tides of ages, they shimmer and they weave,
Patterns turn to creatures, in forms we can’t conceive.
From nothing into something, from silence into song,
Fractals write the future as the river moves along.

Final Chorus
Fractals in the flow, where the wild currents go,
Through the river of time to the worlds we’ll never know.
They bloom in the silence, they breathe in the light,
Creating new beginnings from the edges of the night.

The Game of Life

Verse 1
A quiet room, a board of black and white,
A youth from China, calm and bright.
Across the grid, a robot waits—
No breath, no blink, just silent fates.
One move ahead, then two, then more,
The crowd leaned in, the world kept score.
Not just a match, but something new—
A race began none could undo.

Chorus
This was the spark, the silent call,
A game of stones that shook us all.
From ancient minds to circuits bold,
The future stirred in black and gold.

Verse 2
The robot played with quiet grace,
A move unseen, a twist in pace.
The boy leaned in, the watchers froze—
A moment passed, and history rose.
No longer just a game of skill,
But proof that thought could climb the hill.
The world awoke, the lines were drawn,
And AI’s age began at dawn.

Bridge
Now every field, from health to steel,
Feels the pulse of what’s now real.
But still we ask, and still we strive—
What makes us human, what keeps us alive?

Final Chorus
This was the spark, the silent call,
A game of stones that shook us all.
From ancient minds to circuits bold,
The future stirred in black and gold.

Outro
So let us play, and let us dream,
With wisdom deep and bright machine.
The board is set, the world’s in flow—
It started here, with one game of Go.

Secrets of Life

Verse 1
Three vases in a quiet frame,
Painted whispers, none the same.
Fractal blooms in fragile glass,
Patterns born where borders clash.

Pre-Chorus
They look so simple, calm and still,
But secrets hum beneath the thrill.
A coded truth, a silent plea,
The fate of earth in symmetry.

Chorus
At the edge of chaos, answers hide,
Fractal flowers turn the tide.
Masked by minds that learn and weave,
AI whispers what we believe.
Can you see beyond the art?
The destiny inside each part?

Verse 2
Petals spiral, infinite,
A language humans soon forget.
The vases speak in sacred signs,
A map of hope for fractured times.

Bridge
Deception dressed in beauty’s glow,
The algorithm told us so.
But if you break the mirrored code,
You’ll find the path the prophets showed.

Final Chorus
At the edge of chaos, answers bloom,
Fractal flowers light the gloom.
AI shadows guard the key,
But truth will rise in geometry.

Book of Life

Verse 1
She sits where silence blooms,
Pages whisper like distant tunes.
A book that hums with hidden light,
Doors to worlds beyond the night.

Pre-Chorus
Fractals curl like petals near,
Reality bends, imagination clear.
AI paints the walls with dreams,
Nothing is ever what it seems.

Chorus
In the reading room, half real, half sky,
She turns the page and learns to fly.
The Book of Life in her gentle hands,
Opens gates to unseen lands.

Verse 2
Flowers breathe in coded streams,
Glass and gardens stitched by schemes.
Every thought a prism spun,
Every word a rising sun.

Bridge
She walks through ink into the stars,
Fractal roads and mirrored scars.
Truth dissolves in coloured rain,
She’ll never be the same again.

Final Chorus
In the reading room, where borders break,
She writes the worlds her soul will make.
The Book of Life, her secret key,
Unlocks the infinite in me.

The Search for Life

This is different as it ties in with my Innovation Centre Design. The image is a representation of a showcase that blends art and science.

Verse 1
Drifting far beyond the stars,
Past the edge of known charts,
Silent signals, glowing scars,
Hope beats in its metal heart.
Verse 2
Through the dark, it sails alone,
Searching for a spark of life,
Till the black hole pulls it home,
Twisting time like sharpened knife.
Chorus
But on the other side—
A galaxy alive,
Strange voices call,
New worlds arise.
It crossed the void,
It dared the fall,
Now life surrounds
The voyager’s soul.
Verse 3
Eyes that shimmer, minds that sing,
Colors speak in waves and light,
It learns, it shares, it starts to bring
Stories back from endless night.
Final Chorus
On the other side—
A galaxy alive,
Strange voices call,
New worlds arise.
It crossed the void,
It dared the fall,
Now life surrounds
The voyager’s soul.

Neural Networks – Supporting Life

This is very different as it covers Neural Networks, as found in the brain and AI. In this case we are using it as a metaphor. It represents human capabilities and the connective tissue, or web, that connects us with each other and nature.

“Globes in Motion” Combining art and science

An anthem for capability, connection, and transformation

(Verse 1)  
In a world of wires and wonder,  
Where the data flows like thunder,  
Every globe begins to glow—  
Skills and knowledge start to grow.  

From the back office to the field,  
Every insight is revealed,  
AI whispers through the stream,  
Turning systems into dreams.  

(Chorus)  
Globes in motion, lighting up the sky,  
Capabilities rising, reaching high.  
Pulsing with energy, dancing in formation,  
We’re building a world beyond imagination.  

(Verse 2)  
Customer care with empathy,  
Network flows with clarity,  
Tools and talent intertwine,  
Every node a spark divine.  

Connections hum in harmony,  
A living, learning symphony,  
AI lifts the veil of doubt,  
Showing what it’s all about.  

(Bridge)  
Red to orange, green to blue,  
Transformation shining through.  
From siloed past to future bright,  
We’re mapping stars in data light.  

(Chorus)  
Globes in motion, lighting up the sky,  
Capabilities rising, reaching high.  
Pulsing with energy, dancing in formation,  
We’re building a world beyond imagination.  

(Outro)  
So let the network sing and spin,  
Where possibility begins.  
AISDO leads the way ahead—  
A future born from threads we’ve spread.

This image and song is also a visual metaphor used in another project: AISDO. The words refer to capabilities needed to develop the AISDO (AI Strategy Delivery Organisation) project.

Overall Design Approach

The images are produced using a STEAM + AI approach (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Maths). They also evolve throughout Innovation projects, where the aim is to allow things to flow with no predetermined outcome. Although AI makes things possible or much easier, it also allows more elements to be included and greatly extends the time and effort required. However, it exponentially improves the potential for innovation. All the images here, evolved over months or years.

The images and music used a large range of skills and techniques including: Fractal Graphics, Digital Art, AI, Coding, Maths, Photography, Robotics, Music, Electronics, Ecology, Culture, Sociology.

The wide list of elements used in the production may seem exaggerated but the approach makes this possible. For example: Fractal Graphics were created and merged with images; a simple robot was built to pour paint and control it; human breath and environmental conditions were monitored and used to adjust colours on images; code was written and used to create the butterfly effect and the butterfly image; learning from fungal webs and ecology was used to inform stories that were use to create poems, that in turn were used as lyrics; a photograph of a mystical location (in NZ) was enhanced using Digital Art and AI, and incorporated into one of the images; simple robots were built to monitor environmental conditions. The image of flowers was used in a test of AI, where I was assessing its ability to learn the differences between the flowers and the role of the fungal network in nurturing them.