I’ve always felt like I’ve had one foot in two different worlds.
I’ve been creating art for as long as I can remember, and I’ve worked as a developer for years. The strange thing is that those two passions rarely overlapped as much as I wanted them to.
When you’re learning to code professionally, your focus is very different. You’re learning how to solve problems, build websites, create applications and deliver reliable products. It’s practical, structured and driven by deadlines. There isn’t always much room to explore creativity through code.
That meant there was always a gap between the ideas I could imagine as an artist and the code I was capable of writing.
A few years ago I took some fantastic courses by one of my biggest inspirations, Joshua Davis. They introduced me to Processing and the HYPE Framework, opening my eyes to generative art and what was possible when design and programming came together.
It completely changed how I thought about code.
Even so, I still felt limited. I understood the concepts, but many of the ideas in my sketchbook felt just out of reach. I knew what I wanted to create, but I didn’t always know how to translate those thoughts into algorithms.
Then came ChatGPT.
For me, AI hasn’t replaced the creative process—it has unlocked it.
Instead of staring at a blank editor wondering where to begin, I can now describe an image that’s only ever existed in my head. We can discuss the mathematics behind it, break down the logic, experiment with different approaches and iterate rapidly until the code starts producing something unexpected and exciting.
More importantly, the conversation doesn’t stop once the first version works.
What if the shapes reacted to sound?
What if the colours were driven by live data?
Could gravity affect typography?
What if every square behaved like its own tiny organism?
Those are the kinds of conversations that happen almost daily now. One idea naturally leads to another, and projects evolve far beyond where I originally imagined they would.
It’s also become an incredible learning tool. Rather than simply copying code, I can ask why something works, explore different mathematical approaches, simplify algorithms and understand concepts that would previously have taken days of research.
Every project teaches me something new.
The more I create, the more confident I become writing Processing sketches myself. AI isn’t writing my artwork—it has become a creative collaborator that helps me turn abstract ideas into working prototypes that I can refine, question and develop.
Looking back, the biggest barrier wasn’t a lack of imagination.
It was the distance between imagination and implementation.
AI has shortened that distance dramatically.
This blog is becoming a record of that journey—experimenting, learning, making mistakes and discovering new ways to combine art, mathematics and code. Every project starts with a simple question: “What if…?”
Now, for the first time, I feel like I have the tools to find the answer.