A cold and barren landscape doesn't have to be grim. I did a phoenix-like abstract work before, so I thought an ice phoenix would be an interesting variation. Created in Vue, with the streaming effect done in Paint Shop Pro. The texture on the phoenix is from the background of Waltz of the Snowflakes.

This design is in the Art Deco style popular in the early 1900s. I came across a lot of stained-glass designs in my researches, so I decided to try one with the popular sun motif. I had fun picking textures from various Apophysis and Xaos renders, some of which have been sitting on my computer for months or even years. There are bits of Eyes of the Storms, Waltz of the Snowflakes, and Chaos Tie-Dyed in there, as well as others that have never seen the light of day.
December 21, 2015

This was the result of playing around with gradient overlays and an old Apophysis render that had been calling for me to find a use for it. The jewel is actually the first one I ever designed in 2008 following a tutorial, but for some reason I missed the part about how to add the shine and couldn't figure out why it looked so flat . Three years later I finally revisited it and came up with this.

This scene from some far-away frozen planet was created in Terragen. I don't remember if it's where I got the name, but it makes me think of John Rutter's Distant Land.