about triii-ray

The three 'Pillars' of Triii-Ray

When I first started thinking about what my website should be about and look like, I found myself having a hard time actually coming up with something substantial, something that reflects me as a person. The name 'Triii-Ray' had been floating around in my mind for some time already, I just had to make use of it and work around the concept of these 'three rays'.

Triii-Ray now stands for three elements of my being. Elements that are deeply connected and intertwined.

You don't have to be a genius to figure out what these three elements are or what they mean, but let me just run by each of these elements, these 'pillars' if you will, one by one.

Pillar: Art

Under the tab 'Pillar: Art' you will find information about my creative expressions, as well as a host of images and examples of creative works I have made over the past decade or so.
I've also decided to move my commercial design works under this pillar, instead of them having their own.

Art is a huge part of my life, although I don't always like to call myself an artist per say. It sounds a little pretentious to me, and I'm not always too confident about my ability either.

That said, it is what it is.

Feel free to browse around various galleries and view photo's, illustrations, pieces of digital art and more. Certain items are available for download and some can be purchased via deviantArt.

Pillar: Life

Under the pillar 'Life' you will now find my integrated blog, formerly called 'In Search of Light'. It may well keep that name, but it might change if I come up with something better.

Why keep a blog though?, I've asked myself some times. I used to write off my rants and raves on the Journal section of my deviantArt account. At one point I came to see that it was not the right place for me to write about personal things, and what I wrote about was always very personal.
My own website would be a more suitable place for that, but even now I want to refrain myself from going too deep into business that is not of anyone else.

Still, I do love to tell stories, and I want to share my personal story and the walk I now take with God. I want to inspire, amuse, make people think, and share those stories with friends and random visitors alike.
You are welcome to read my Blog or sign up and comment.

Pillar: Faith

Faith is becoming an increasingly large part of my life. My recent history - and by recent I mean the past 5 or 6 years (counting from 2005) - has been a truly challenging, difficult and emotionally rich and beautiful one.
The climax of it being my surrender to the One, Living God and choice to follow Him and His Son Jesus Christ. I want to especially inspire and motivate people who are struggling in their lives, especially when they don't know God yet, or have lost track of Him for whatever reason.

Under the pillar 'Faith' you will find my personal testimony, my statement of faith, and my take on the gospel of Jesus Christ.
If you are interested and wish to know more about how and why I came to be a follower of God I suggested reading through this section. If you have questions or comments you are free to contact me or use the appropriate place for that on my blog.

Household messages

General site information

I've personally designed and created this website. It has seen a couple of different designs already, this being an upgrade of the last version.
The website is best viewed in modern internet browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera browser. I no longer support Internet Explorer 6 and below.

Terms of use and Disclaimer

To read how to use this site, more specifically the blog section, please read the Terms of Use as well as my Disclaimer.

about me

General information

So this is me: René Mulder. I am originally from The Netherlands and still live there, enjoying the wonderfully diverse climate we ha--- Argh! I can't lie like this! The climate is dreadful! When its not raining it's either raining heavily, or snowing, or a combination of the two!
Ha, no I'm kidding, it's not that bad really. Though we do see all of the four seasons with all their unique traits, which honestly I don't all appreciate.
Spring- and Summertime are my times of the year. Fall has its charm, but Winter is a real killer for my mood. No, I'll take sunshine and warmth any day.

So what's there to know about me? I am currently 25 years of age, meaning it is about time for me to start living on my own! I was born in the small city of Assen, back in April 25, 1985. I still live in this city and have been for as long as I walk this earth.

I work 3 days a week in another city, Groningen, where I am employed as 'Front-End Developer'. I spend most of my time there building websites using HTML and CSS coding languages and less time actually designing websites.
I started out as a general graphics- and webdesigner, but have somehow grown into this role of converting other people's designs to code, which I'm actually enjoying for the most part.

I occasionally offer my services to design websites or logo's for churches. Currently I am involved in a beautiful relationship with my sweet girlfriend Karin.

Status

Full name: René Mulder
Age: 25
Date of birth: April 25, 1985
Place of birth: Assen, The Netherlands
Nationality: Dutch
Languages: Dutch, English
Occupation: Front-End Developer

Skills

Photography
Writing
Illustrating (digital and manual)
Photomanipulation
Webdesign
HTML / CSS coding
General design (DTP)

Education

Tradeschool [Marketing / Multimedia design]
Tradeschool [Retail]
Highschool

History

My story is a bit of a sad story. For the most part, life has been particularly challenging for me. Growing up in a rapidly changing world I've faced bullies, combated depressions, struggled with addictions all the while having an on and off relationship with God. For more about that I should point you to my 'Testimony of Faith'.
I've always been a bit of a loner, but of course I too needed love and care of people around me.

My parents' early divorce was the beginning of a rollercoaster-life which involved many movings and a change of schools, which is when the bullying started to take on more serious forms.
High school was no better in terms of bullies, and my graduation would bring sweet relief, or so I hoped.

I was misinformed about the requirements to get into a certain school for general design education and was forced to take a little detour through Retail and halfway through that I went to a place I can't even call a school, before I would finally end up doing what I set out to do in the first place: study design! Though I was sort of disappointed when I realized my image of 'I'll be drawing all the time!' was actually false.

This school did offer me a new start and I was freed from being picked on at last! My real problems wouldn't start until later, when I slowly fell into a deep depression and the first signs of Chronic Fatigue started to show. My lifestyle may have contributed to that a lot more than I had bargained for.
Eventually I quit school and started therapy, only to come back to finish school but burning out again just before the end. The end of my long distance relationship of three years brought insult to injury, effectively crushing my hopes for the future even more.
I ended up getting hired under special conditions at the workplace where I had been an design intern during my third year of school. That company was later sold to my current employer.

My future

Though I don't even know what tomorrow might bring, I do have a more positive outlook on my life and future now. I have a new relationship with God and believe He has a plan with me. I just have to pray and listen and obey.
My relationship with Karin is also a very stable factor on which we'd like to build more.

Because of my condition I have to live a more calm lifestyle and cannot work full time. During my days of rest I try to study the Word of God, draw or write all the while trying not to overexert myself in the process.