Genesis

Good morning, seekers after Diatomic wisdom. At the risk of putting you to sleep, I thought I would explain how this project originated. The first picture is the first, most basic, and yet perhaps most elegant of the Diatoms. It is the diatomic equivalent of Lucy, the first hominid (that we know of, anyway.) This arose from my attempt to refine an earlier star pattern that I designed (it can be seen in the top row of picture #2.) If you're really interested, the whole thing began with picture #3. I was exploring the use of pattern variations derived from Greek designs, and since I enjoy mazes, I played around with designs which incorporated that motif. As I viewed this particular pattern in the file preview, I realized that the pattern was so dense that the program could not render it accurately in its diminished size, and the result inspired me to try to replicate, as far as possible, what I was seeing. Picture #2 is the culmination of that effort.

While reproducing the stars, I discovered that it was possible to refine the design, to make it less fuzzy, to make it clean and sharp. As I reproduced that star, I became aware of a single design element which was repeated over and over. In fact, except for the very heart of the pattern, that element is the only component of the design.

This led to my wondering what else could be done with that component, and I began to experiment with the component and various pattern hearts. The Diatoms, in all their variety, are the result.

Wake up! I'm done. I'm sorry, but I felt the need to explicate the long, strange trip that I undertook.

I really don't mean to be boring, but this is a journal, and I had to get all of that off my chest. I will keep posting the Diatoms; as of now, a new one is being born.

Except for short notations on each Diatom, I have no more detail to go into; if you have bothered to read all the entries, you know the whole story of one man's descent into a sort of madness.

Well, that's all for now, folks. I hope you enjoy the pretty pictures. Be humane to one another; you never know when you might need someone's help.