"Then Iluvatar said to them..."

"...of the theme I have declared to you, I will now, that ye' make, in harmony together, a Great Music."

-The Silmarillion

"And the glory of it's beginning...

...and the splendour of it's end amazed the Ainur,

so that they bowed before Iluvatar, and were silent."

- The Silmarillion

Here Iluvatar's theme is purposed to the ainur and maia. In contrasat to the previous image in all it's "glory",  the "splendour" of this image rests in the intricacies of Iluvatar, to which all things have sprouted.

Here the final light of his thoughts no longer erupt forth in blazing blasts into the heavens...but ripple and sparkle forth from within Him.

You can just make out the faint visages of the Ainur in the background...moved to silence by their awe and wonder of what Iluvatar has put before them.

To capture the final abstract thoughts of Iluvatar, I have used images of fountains and waves, as well as a delicate spash caused by a single water droplet. The energy spiral in the center is accentuated by butterfly wings.

I thought the challenge of showing silence amid such sound, that the other images strived to showcase, was going to be a challenge. I finallly used the faces of classic greek statues. The gods and goddesses of ancient greece stand as representations of the ainur and maia...their faces, a reflection of beauty and silence...silent as the stone from which they are cut from.

"And it came to pass...

...that Iluvatar called together all the ainur and declared to them a mighty theme. Unfolding to them things greater and more wonderful then He had yet revealed."

-The Silmarillion

Iluvatar, in the center of the image...speaks to the ainur and maia as they whirl about him in rapted attention.

His word, and the power and beauty of his thought, are here put forth so that they may understand it...and they are delighted by the new and wonderful themes he has articulated for them.

Here you can see Iluvatar encapsulated by his own thought, words and ideas for this new theme swirl about him and blast forth into the Void.

This is the first image where the embodiement of the Ainur can clearly be seen as small planetoids and asteroids begin to appear in the foreground.

The angelic ainur and maia spin about Iluvatar...trying to take in all that is being said.

In this image I have used the metaphoric image of Iluvatar as the spiral galaxy and his thoughts and words are represented by the magnetic field lines which issue from the top and bottom of his being.

Torrents of ideas swirl from the points above and below and essay into the Void for all to comprehend.

The ainur and maia, drawn in closer to Iluvatar to better understand his themes, spin and rotate about Him. (Caught up, no doubt, by the gravitational pull of his words.)

The image is comprised of the spiral galaxy imagery I used before, as well as asteroids and planetoids, green, red and blue nebulas, computer generated representations of magnetic fields, and time-lapse photography of stars as they traverse the skyline.

(UPDATE) I finally got around to adding the collage elements to this image. I used images of schooling fish to insinuate the spirits gathering around to hear Iluvatars words. Red koi as well as blue barracuda, a manta ray and yellow carp were all used. You can also find white birds flying in formation along the energy lines and natilus shell patter and the cross section of one are used to further emphasis the intricate energy of Iluvatars words. I'm not exactly sure why this image ended up incorporating so many natical images but i feel it turned out ok.

"Yet ever as They listened...

"They came to deeper understanding...

and increased in unison and harmony."

-The Silmarillion

Eventually, the ainur and maia learn to use their individual voices and unique gifts in concert with one another...bringing forth sounds, which were before unheard when each would sing alone.

They have, here at this point in the telling, learned how to blend their voices in compliment to each other...mixing their Iluvatar given personalities together, in greater beauty and expertise.

I have used the stars as the setting for this image again, showing what must be a great choir of ainur and maia singing together.

I used images of mirrorballs to help insinuate the new complexity of music they are now learning to create. The more intricate the combination of voices...the more dazzeling, and beautiful the sound.

I also used a map of the constellations to show how the individual ainur and maia are now learning how to group together to create something new.

I liked the imagery of the constellation maps as it lends itself to the idea that some ainur are related more to each other than others are...(perhaps bringing to mind the concept of individual ainur having a following..."the peoples" of the ainur, as it is described later in the tale.)

You will also find in this photocollage auroras and stage lights, represent the sounds they are creating...as well as the pattern of light the mirrorballs cast out.  All hopefully creating a mood of complicated and beautiful music eminating from their new found unison.

The strife and discord the music will eventually take is, at this point, not yet been introduced by the ainu, Melkor.

You will find small doves, iguana scales, a kelp forest and irridescent fish scales as well as small orange roses.

"But, for a long while....

"...they sang only each alone...or but few together, while the rest hearkened."

- The Silmarillion

Here I have tried to show the Ainur singing together. Keeping in mind that only those of similar backgrounds would be able to sing together at first.

"For each comprehended only that part of the mind of Ilúvatar from which he came. And in the understanding of their brethern...they grew but slowly"

- The Silmarillion

I have used nebulas and star fields to represent the Ainur and Maia and in creating their voices I combined elements such as lightning, musical note bars, wave patterns and water ripples.

Strawberries, monarch butterly wings, faun spots, autumn leaves, a cardnial and Georgia O'Keffe's "Oriental Poppies"...were all used to convey the spirit of the three main Ainur that are singing in this image.

(Hopefully...the image will bring to mind the ainur Yavanna, Nessa and Vana, the three ainur closest in mood and demeanor with nature, harmonizing together. I wanted to use these three personalities int his image to convey the idea that only those ainur who were most like each other would at first sing together.)

I really wanted to give a nod to Vana and Nessa since they are in my opinion under-utilized ainur in the telling of this story.

Depicting them abstractly here was a way to make sure they become incorporated into the story and not just pushed to the wayside becasue their contributions to the Silmarillion as a whole were less dramatic or substantial then some of their ainur counterparts...why, even Tulkas, Nessa's spouse, has a much larger role in the overall story then his wife does.

"and they sang before Him...

"and He was glad."

- The Silmarillion

Here I have used a less prevalent image of the galaxy to represent Iluvatar. The water lily image can be seen in the vcenter of the galaxy. with large water ripples eminating from the center.

To show that now Iluvatar is not the only voice that can be heard...smaller ripples can be seen issuing forth from the smaller stars. This is my attempt to show in visual langauage the Ainur and Maia using their individual voices in concert with His.

I have used rain drop ripples, dandilions and water lilies to show the joy and serenity and mostly harmony that exsists at this point of the telling of the Ainulindale. You can also find two seperate instances of an aurora to bring in light as a hormonic device in this image.

I had a very hard time with this image...as I did with the very first image of this series.

It was necessary to add elements to the original image to give it a layered quality, but I found it a much harder task to find images for this particular picture then I did for the first one.

I was also extremely hesitant to add anything to this image, mainly becasue I had fallen in love with its simplicity.  Being part of the overall look, I knew I had to...so I kept the photo layering very subtle.

I hope it works

"and He spoke to them...

propounding to them...themes of music."

- The Silmarillion

Here Iluvatar conveys to the Ainur and Maiar the nature of music. Bringing forth into the void, Sound, where before there was nothingness.

Here I have shown Iluvatar as the spiral galaxy with rays of light streaming forth in hopes to show his thought and his will in conveying to his creations what music is and how to make it.

I have used in the collage, elements such as a bird's wing, an ocean wave crashing the shoreline, musical notes, and sound waves.

You will also find the display of an audio equalizer...all helping to convey the idea of the teaching of what sound is and how to create the harmonies of music.