Light is the sole reason why life exists. It provides us with warmth; it allows us to see; it nourishes all the living things on this planet. Many painters, especially the masters of Old Renaissance Period, have recognized the importance of light and its intimate connection with nature and life itself. In their paintings they gave tribute to light, giving the impression that their paintings had a light source hidden within them. Al Hogue, the artist who created the paintings that you see before you, has studied their techniques for many years. As time went by, light permeated not only his paintings by also his life, becoming his sole philosophy.

US marines watch the mushroom cloud from an atomic explosion rise above the Yucca flats, Nevada during a US nuclear weapons test. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). USA, 1945

Only with a pencil, ruler and protractor, without the help of a computer, Venezuelan artist Rafael Araujo creates complex fields of three dimensional space where butterflies come to life and shells rise from mathematical spirals.

The rising sun penetrates early morning mist and begins to burn off the first frost of winter in the Cheshire countryside at dawn on 24 October, 2007, Knutsford, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Employees conduct a final check to fix any cavities in the seams of balls inside the soccer ball factory that produces official match balls for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, in Sialkot, Punjab province May 16, 2014. It was when he felt the roar of the crowd at the 2006 World Cup in Germany that Pakistani factory owner Khawaja Akhtar first dreamt up a goal of his own: to manufacture the ball for the biggest soccer tournament on the planet. Last year he finally got his chance – but only 33 days to make it happen. (Photo by Sara Farid/Reuters)

The winners of The London’s Natural History Museum's prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year for 2013 have finally been unveiled. Selected from almost 43,000 entries from 96 countries, the winners offer a glimpse of the stunning array of natural beauty on our planet. Photo: Canada: “Lucky pounce”. “Anticipating the pounce – that was the hardest part”, says Connor, who had come to Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA, in search of wildlife as much as the spectacular landscape. He had found this fox, his first ever, on his last day in the park. It was so absorbed in hunting that Connor had plenty of time to get out of the car and settle behind a rock. It quartered the grassland, back and forth, and then started staring intently at a patch of ground, giving Connor just enough warning of the action to come. When it sprung up, Connor got his shot. And when it landed, the fox got his mouse. (Photo by Connor Stefanison/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013)

“The scientists behind NASA's $2.5 billion Curiosity rover mission on Mars on Tuesday explained the nature of a tiny, gleaming "flower" embedded in Red Planet rock, and revealed where they'll be using the SUV-sized robot's drill for the first time”. – Alan Boyle via NBCNews.com

Photo: Scientists say that a “Martian flower”, seen here in an image from the Curiosity rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager, is a 2-millimeter-wide grain or pebble that's embedded in the surrounding rock. Another, darker-colored mineral grain can be seen above and to the left. (Photo by NASA)

Sydney resident Virginia Maddock watches the supermoon rise off the Sydney beachside suburb of Wanda, August 10, 2014. Sunday’s moon was at its closest approach to Earth, appearing bigger and brighter than any other moon this year. The moon was 221,765 miles away and looked 16 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than usual. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)