Featured Artist Dani Swope

Digital photographer Dani Swope presents a stunning portfolio of kaleidoscopic images created from nature. Learn more by visiting her website.

 

 

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to nature and have loved photographing the natural world. I likely got this from my mother, who regularly delighted in life’s tiny details -like the graceful fall of a leaf or the sudden dart of a bug across a puddle, and who gave me my first SLR camera. For me, taking pictures of icicles, or bark, or ferns, or rocks brings me peace.

 

 

Several years ago, I had an idea of creating kaleidoscopic images from my photographs, using nature’s treasures to create whimsical bursts of color and geometric shapes. It wasn’t until my children left for college and I stepped away from running The Children’s Book Bank—an organization I founded and led for over a decade—that I finally had the time and energy to explore this creative notion.

 

 

My son Trevor, a brilliant programmer, became an invaluable collaborator in this journey. Understanding my vision, he designed a digital interface that allows me to transform my photographs into geometric art. With it, I can spend hours immersed in a single photograph, exploring hidden lines, shapes, and textures. By capturing and reflecting these features around an axis, I create kaleidoscopic images that mirror and celebrate the vibrant details of the natural world.

 

 

Creating art has become a calming, almost meditative practice for me. Many people who view my work describe a similar sense of peace, which I attribute to the subtle energies of nature, color, and geometric shapes. Research supports this idea: studies have shown that exposure to nature can reduce stress and improve well-being. Similarly, fractal patterns prevalent in nature have been shown to have a calming effect on the brain. (It’s no wonder my mother encouraged plenty of outdoor playtime.)

 

 

Color plays a significant role in my work. Research in chromotherapy suggests that colors also influence our emotions. I might use spring moss (green) to evoke a feeling of renewal or the vibrant hues of an orange petal to stimulate creativity and joy. When I need to find my voice, I will sit quietly with one of my blue-hued pieces, to energize and support my throat chakra.

 

 

Building sacred geometry shapes into my art, I believe, grounds its energetic and emotional impact. I love to use natural elements like twigs, ripples, and petals to create the repeating geometric shapes—triangles, squares, pentagons—that anchor each piece. I try to create shapes and patterns that seem to radiate both inward and outward to evoke a feeling of interconnectedness.

 

 

After drawing upon nature’s textures, its diverse color palette, and sacred geometry to create a piece of art, I like to play with the final placement of the focal point.  I find a centered, symmetrical image brings a sense of balance and order, while offsetting the focal point adds a dynamic or unexpected element to a piece. Either way, my goal is a piece of art that embodies and reflects the profound power of nature to calm and heal.

 

Dani Swope invites you to follow on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook. 

 

 

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