Tiny Leaves is the moniker used by artist Joel Pike of Shropeshire, England. Joel is an eco-acoustic composer who creates beautiful music in collaboration with nature. And if you’ve read my book WILD WONDER, you will recognize his name! Joel contributed a lovely piece at the end of “Suite No. 1 – OCEANS” where he lifted the veil and described his unique creative process of bringing the sounds of nature into his musical compositions. I highly encourage you to check out the rest of his music, especially my favorite tracks “You’ll Be Okay” and “View From Here,” as well as his latest album Mynd, which is featured in my book.
Forming a Visual Identity
For years, I have been mesmerized by the river systems that glaciers leave behind. Their feathery blue veins illuminated by refractive glacial flour flow through scraped landscapes like abstract art.
In 2018, when I saw this river from my drone in New Zealand, I imagined the sound of a cello. Because when I hear music, I see shapes, patterns & movement. And when I see certain visuals, I hear sounds.
At that time, I knew what I was capturing was special... at least to me. I decided these images weren't for immediate sharing on social media. They deserved more than a few quick Likes. I wanted to hold them closely to the chest & wait to unveil them with the right project... & that project HAD to feature cello.
Two years later, in the early days of the pandemic, when the whole world was locking down & all my gigs were being cancelled, I met cellist & composer Peter Gregson over Twitter. And an unexpected friendship formed as we both entered into a slow, thoughtful creative process to dream up the visual identity for his new album, PATINA. And this photo ended up becoming the cover art!
Peter writes, "There was something about the scale, colour, & serenity of this scene that drew me in early on when writing the record. I love how it teeters on the edge of reality but retains a grandeur that could only be natural. This was the foundation of the artwork & aesthetic for the whole record: something that was so real, it almost looked artificial."
Peter's music & friendship were such a timely gift to me in such an uncertain & tumultuous year. PATINA is now available on all music streaming platforms.
classical finesse
Two of my favorite musical genres are classical & cinematic film scores. Welsh composer & pianist Julie Cooper creates at the intersection of these two sonic landscapes. And she does so with a finesse that typically only experienced & classically-trained musicians can do.
In the fall of 2023, Julie reached out to commission me for two new works of hers, “ECHO” & “MOONGLADE in Jet Black,” both of which are featured on her latest album “OCULUS.” And with these commissions came the invitation to bring an extra touch of finesse to both the filming, editing & color grading, as well as blending live footage of musicians & singers with my aerial footage.
When the surf was high, the sounds of the sea was one continuous roar, heavy, deep, dark, sombre, with all kinds of variation, and at its height you felt it also came from the very Earth beneath your feet. Composers would have called this the opera of the sea, poets would have called it the expression of the bleeding dawn sky, and priests the voice of God in nature.
~ Þórbergur Þórðarson, Icelandic Poet
A Nature-Based Collaboration
I’ve had the great joy & honor of collaborating with VOCES8, one of my favorite choral groups of all time, on a cinematic music video for “Distant Earth Renewal.”
This song was composed by Paul Smith & features choral groups VOCES8 & Apollo5, as well as a group of insanely talented musicians.
A Contemplative Collaboration
Every time I look for music to license for a client’s video project, I often land on a score composed by Jordan Critz. Imagine listening to a lush, sweeping soundtrack composed for a film that has yet to exist. Jordan’s music is thoughtfully crafted & designed to evoke both contemplation & celebration. The versatility in his orchestrations & melodies is balanced with a unique & recognizable sound that marks Jordan’s work.
Jordan & I have developed a collaborative relationship that is natural & fluid. Often he will send me an unreleased track with no expectations of me liking it. But I always do. And in the following weeks, I let the song soak into my being & give space for the right imagery to surface. It’s a relationship & process that I have greatly enjoyed over recent years. Working with Jordan has really helped me to hone in my craft, which I am so grateful for.
Please enjoy our collection of cinematic music videos, featuring lots of misty mountains, ocean shores & foggy forests.
Slow Art Is the Best Art
One of my creative heroes is an artist named Makoto (“Mako”) Fujimura. For the past decade+, Mako has greatly influenced who I’ve become, both spiritually & artistically.
Mako has taught me the art of slowing down. As you can tell, my work is mostly digital. Whether I’m firing up projectors or flying drones, technology is my paintbrush. And with technology comes the temptation to go fast. But through Mako’s art & creative process, I’ve been gently encouraged to take a more contemplative & thoughtful approach. This invitation to slow down involves sitting still & being present with a quiet moment, & in our context, with an image.
But Mako is so much more than an artist; he is, in the deepest sense of the word, a culture-maker. Through his teachings, he invites all of us to be peacemakers. This counter-cultural posture stands in stark contrast to today’s sensational headlines & algorithm-driven social media feeds. One of Mako’s strongest messages is the act of “culture care.” This is the practice of seeing Culture-at-Large not as a battleground to be won but rather as a garden to be cared for. This bold yet humble approach contradicts the divisive culture wars that plague so many spheres of society, such as politics & religion.
Creating beauty – whether you see yourself as an artist or not – is a profound act of culture care – one that we can all partake in. You can see this quite clearly in Mako’s art & how he talks about it.
From time to time, Mako has invited me to collaborate with him on an event or art installation. Our collaborations have taken place in a variety of contexts – from gallery shows in Chelsea to tea ceremonies in Israel-Palestine. But no matter the context, I know that when Mako reaches out, it’s going to be quite interesting & completely different than my normal day-to-day work. Here are a few glimpses from some of those collaborations.
An Ancient+Future Soundscape
For years, Slow Meadow has been creeping into my ambient music playlists, slowly transforming the soundscape that underscores my internal creative world. Matt’s humble approach to music has an ancient+future quality to it, embracing both analog & digital instrumentation.
Within the same song, you might hear electronic arpeggiations overlapping with strings & vintage tape loops. The sonic intersection that results is incredibly mesmerizing & filled with peace.
“Adorned in Ribbons” & “Bird’s Tail (Rework)” are two cinematic music videos that Matt & I collaborated on.
Where It All Started
Tony has a been a dear friend for many years now. When we met in 2012, I was extremely busy & extremely burnt out. So much that I barely remember it… my social bandwidth was spent & my walls were up. Thankfully, we kept in touch, & slowly through the years, we bonded over our shared passion for creating deeper, more imaginative art within an exhausted creative industry that was spreading thinner & thinner by the day.
Tony is also the first composer to reach out & invite me to collaborate on a music video. At the time, I was brand new at flying drones & filming cinematic landscapes. But nevertheless, Tony wanted to see what would happen when I listened to his music & added a visual dimension to it.
Here are all the collaborations that resulted. As you scroll down, you’ll go backwards in time, starting with our most recent work & ending with the earliest.
When Collaborating Becomes a Dance – Literally
A few years ago, I was invited into a theological cohort at Duke Divinity by artist Makoto Fujimura. The cohort was made up of both artists & academics who were exploring the Psalms through various mediums of expression & interpretation. I felt like a young padawan sitting in on a meeting of the Jedi Council.
During my time there, I met Elisa Young-Schroth, leader & choreographer of Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet. She & the dancers so graciously allowed me to experiment with projecting onto them during a performance one evening. It was a simple & wonderful introduction to a collaborative relationship that has blossomed since.
My work with Ekklesia involves both projection mapping & nature-based visuals that I capture with my drone, as a high focus of our performance art is the beauty of the Earth & how we should be doing a better job of caring for it. The narratives that unfold are the result of our heart for ecological justice & beauty.
a peaceful nuance
In the fall of 2023, an artist named Amit Inderdeo reached out to see if I would be interested in collaborating with him on a series of cinematic meditations. Amit has been writing peaceful music for his newborn baby, and he wanted to share it with the rest of the world, especially in these very dark, chaotic times. He was looking for some aerial footage of landscapes to accompany his new music featuring Indian instruments and vocals. And after I heard the first track, I was hooked.
Amit’s music brings a peaceful zen to my inner world, and I am honored to collaborate with such a gifted artist.
where poetry & political activism collide.
With LA flowing through his veins & armed with a bold message, Propaganda has assembled a body of work that challenges and guides. Propaganda’s ideas stem from where he sits at the intersection. He sees how cultures cross and inspire one another, and can see the oneness of us all. Propaganda will cause you to nod your head, but more importantly he will stretch your mind & heart.
I loved getting to collaborate with Nate Fray & United Pursuit on the release of their single, “Providence.” As soon as I heard it, I was taken back to Iona & the Isle of Skye in Scotland.
So much of this song is about reconstruction of faith & reconciling a complicated relationship with the Church. And for me, Celtic Christianity has been playing a huge role in my spiritual life & practices. One of the major themes is reconnecting with Creation. And it was on Iona & Skye when I began to gain a new awareness & understanding of this.
As the song says, I’m thankful. I’m so so thankful!
May the blessings of earth, sea & sky be with you on whatever journey you find yourself on today. There is so much to be thankful for.
exploring the sacred feminine.
Behind the moniker “Isa Ma” is artist & songwriter Lisa Gungor (of the band GUNGOR.) Her incredible skills as a musician & singer have brought a whimsical & light-filled harmony to the work that GUNGOR has created over the years. And like it is with many great artists and duos, her art cannot be limited to one container.
As Isa Ma, Lisa has given herself space to explore even deeper the beautiful mysteries to be enjoyed in the Sacred Feminine aspects of God & within ourselves. I’m so grateful for the rare spiritual color that she’s brought to lens through which I see all of life.
Lisa has been like a sister to me for many years. We’ve toured together & collaborated on countless concerts, but apparently that wasn’t enough! Because an African safari, forest bathing by waterfalls, & soaking in hot springs in New Zealand also happened along the way! And once in a while, we still like to collaborate & put a few things out into the world, which have included two music videos.
a friendship that runs deep.
Once in a while, someone shows up in your life and becomes like a sibling. Leslie is just that: a true sister. And she has been an faithful friend through many ages.
While I was refining my work as a projection artist, Leslie was launching onto the music scene with a folk worship duo called “All Sons & Daughters.” We collaborated on countless projects, both on the road & in our home church in Franklin, TN. Many memories were made.
Fast-forward a few years later, Leslie has stepped out with her own solo projects, bringing even more calming, peaceful music into the world. And it’s been a privilege to continue collaborating with her through providing landscape photography for her album artwork & aerial footage for her lyric videos.
Non-Fungible Tokens
gm!
This is art that I’ve minted on the Ethereum blockchain. These are digital collectibles for those in web3. But still enjoyable for those in web2.
Yeah, I know. I got into NFTs. I’m one of those. (But not as much anymore.) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
#WAGMI
proktr.eth
my spiritual mother.
I truly do not know where to begin when it comes to Beth Moore. Not only is she a force to be reckoned with, but she’s also one of the most fun & joyous people I have ever met. And she’s also the best boss & client I have ever had in my entire career. But more than that, Beth has loved me like her own child & has been my spiritual mother in the faith for almost as long as I’ve worked with her.
I have worked alongside Beth as her creative co-conspirator on her live events called “Living Proof Live” for over 18 years, mainly in the realm of visual media, content creation, and creative experiences. I would have to create an entirely new website to contain all of the projects that we’ve collaborated on for these events. Like, close to 200 videos maybe? I’ve lost count! And that’s not even including all of the visuals I’ve projected for our LPL worship leader, Travis Cottrell!
But there is one special project that stands out that I wanted to feature on my portfolio here. It’s called Symphoneo, and it’s the one time that I got to play the role of producer on a cinematic/classical music project, featuring the incredible artistry of Cody Fry.
WEIWU
Sometimes a new piece of art needs a new canvas to paint on. Weiwu is Michael Gungor’s solo musical project that is focused on embodiment, dance, and the mystery and wonder of being alive in human skin. In this debut solo album, Michael, the multiple Grammy nominated artist from the band Gungor, unleashes his full arsenal of musical and production skills to create a truly unique tapestry of sound that moves the listener into an embodied, psychedelic trance state of surrender to life.
a prolific composer of minimalist music.
Like many of the artists I have collaborated with over the years, David is one of my favorite humans & a really good friend. From The Radial Conservatory to performing a contemplative project called Breathing Strings in Europe (including a cave in Iceland!), David & I have co-created some of the most meaningful & memorable experiences of my entire career.
These are just a few glimpses into the moments we have created together.
my passion project in nashville.
In the mid 2010s, I partnered with a few artist-friends in Nashville to create a series of out-of-the-box concert experiences. After our initial concert, we were invited to perform at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens, TEDxNashville, Culture Care Summit in Pasadena, & FestivalOne in New Zealand. These were among my favorite productions of my career.
We were creators who sought not to perform or display our own art but rather assemble into an entirely different space – a space where people could step out of the everyday to engage their imaginations & connect with something deeper, quieter within.
The slow, sweeping sonic landscape of neoclassical & experimental music was brought to life in the spectacular visual world of color & light that surrounded the musicians & immerses the listener. These various mediums fused together to bring us somewhere we couldn’t go without our imaginations, blurring the line between performer & listener in an immersive, contemplative concert experience.
If your ears want a taste, you can listen to The Radial Conservatory on Spotify & Apple Music.
brothers of brilliance.
David Gungor & John Arndt are two dear friends & have become like brothers to me over the years. We have collaborated on countless concerts across America, Thailand, New Zealand & beyond.
Their music is sort of like if The Beatles & a string quartet had a baby, though they are constantly surprising me with their latest music & breaking the barriers on their own genre. And lyrically, they are always pressing into the hard stuff that provokes all of the emotions our society is struggling to express in these controversial times. Their music is both inspiring & timely.
Most of my work with them has involved some form of immersive projection for their concerts. I’ve also remixed stock footage for a handful of their music videos, as well as created an original music video featuring my aerial footage for their song “Earth.”
