I am the creator of this site and the author of almost all of its content. It's probably clear enough this site is in many ways autobiographical, which leads me to think it's right that visitors know a bit about me and the motivations for putting this site online.

In my lifetime I've done many things. My diverse roles encompass artist/printmaker, healer and computer programmer among others. It's kind of like having multiple careers in parallel. People often thought these "tracks" would feel disconnected or chaotic, yet I never experienced it that way. It never felt scattered or conflicting, rather it was all of a single piece.

It's about using the gifts we have. Are we not obligated to use our God-given talents and abilities to the best of our capability? And all the better when we apply those abilities to benefit others. This site is a vehicle for sharing some of what I've learned in the hope it will be useful.

As a kid art always interested me. My father was a big influence, he was a great painter, pianist and architect. When I was young my version of "art" veered in other directions, primarily photography and later printmaking.

Printmaking too has taken many turns, screenprinting, digital processes, most recently monotypes. Always experimenting, inventing, innovating, getting the project to work is a thrill like nothing else in creative art. Naturally trying something: and unprecedented will often not succeed. But quoting Thomas Edison, "I haven't failed, I've just found 20,000 ways it doesn't work". Every attempt enables us to learn something that moves us forward. It's still the direction I'm constantly striving to go.

Early in life I was captivated by the spirit of science. The idea of searching for the outer limits of knowable fact was very appealing. I studied chemistry in college, turned out I was very good at it. College education has indeed been very useful, especially applied to the material side of art, but it wasn't fulfilling, I was looking for something else.

Ultimately I entered the field of medicine, surely there's no more important or pragmatic application of science as well as art. Hard to say which is more central to the healing arts, but I guess we call them "arts" for good reasons.

Therein lies the kernel behind the recipes so patiently listed here. I was always interested in metabolism and obesity. Diet is an essential element of health, no secret there. But then again, cooking is an art as well as the subject of a hell of a lot of science. It comes down to that knot again doesn't it, the inseparability of art and science.

Enough said. The theme is clear, and now you know my secret, at least one of them anyway. As you peruse these pages perhaps you'll get a sense of that theme's reverberation, to know and yet not know, just like the vibes of real life itself.

Jules Atlfas
Saturday, 31 March 2018 00:05:22 -0800