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Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Description of the Museum

On the First Level on the west side of the Museum is the Scripted Art of Drathon Montague. In Second Life, all items you see are either built or scripted to animate movement in-world. The Scripted Art featured in the Museum is "Lunar Month", "Houston", and "Sunset Sailing" in each piece of art there are elements that move and interact with the still textures bringing the art alive with movement and passion.

Another artiste featured on the northwest and eastern walls are the lovely sketches of Dominique May. These are real life sketches that she has done and they are lovely representations of pointillism.

In order to preserve the beauty of the Gardens, glass flooring was put in on the First, Second and Third Levels. On each of the levels of the Museum above the gardens has a feature element and on the First Level there are two distinct items that are not to be missed, the First Level Element has pottery, ancient vases, and wolf fountain. The second attraction are the big windows overlooking the Grove. The moving statuary, trees, and rainbows can be seen to advantage from this point in the Museum.

On the Second Level is the incredible Private Art Collection of Mello Bonetto who has kindly lent to the Museum his extensive Van Gogh and Picasso canvasses. Each canvas has been identified by its proper real life name and period in which the real life artistes rendered them complete. There are notecard dispensers that detail each painting in this collection. The Museum received an On Lend of a Monet from Ailenor Laval and purchased the paintings of Michelangelo, Rubens, and Da Vinci.

The center element is a scripted, eight prim build that is a Fairy Tale Castle and designed and built by RacerX Gullwing who made this work available for purchase and all proceeds during the Relay for Life was donated to charity.

The final element separates the Magic Revealed and the Art Gallery is an aquarium. The aquarium is 10 meters by 10 meters by 10 meters. The entire build was a challenge. First, the shape of the aquarium had to fit into the space provided for the center floor elements. The next challenge was reshaping whirlpool water to look convincing as ocean water as the aquarium is a salt water aquarium. Then finding the coral reefs, ocean fish, and the shark.

The shark was much too big for the space that I provided so I had to ask the creator to shrink it to fit within the confines of my aquarium, which he happily did. Finally the "steel" bands were put into place and the glass put in and the water didn't fit the aquarium. All the work had to be taken apart so the water element could be fixed and once corrected the glass had to be put back together and the entire build locked together.

As the newest museum in Second Life, it was built to compete with other Museum's that as creator of the build had not viewed the competition. The vision for the museum and its grounds was to make the place a tribute to artistic beauty in Second Life, providing an atmosphere of peacefulness, beauty, and romance, enhancing the viewing experience of the art within its walls.

Only a visitor to the Museum may judge whether this vision has been met.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Grand Opening of Digital Knight Scripted Art Studio

Everything in SL is art, not all art is created equal or even beautiful in SL, however, some art stands out and deserves recognition. The Museum has three scripted pieces of artwork hung on the First Level, West Wall "Lunar Month", "Houston", and "Sunset Sailing". These pieces represent artwork that combines a hidden art in SL with beautiful, scenic settings, citycapes, and wildlife.

What is the hidden art in SL? Scripts, scripting, and inserting these scripts into objects so that we can interact, within our world, with other avatars, objects, and in this case animates the artwork to have moving elements making the common scene more, awe inspiring, mesmerizing, and makes the viewer go hmm, how did they do that?

For the purpose of this article, I will only speak on the three pieces of artwork currently on display in the Museum. "Lunar Month" is a 24-moving, texture of the phases of the lunar cycle, beginning with a thumbnail, and advancing to the full moon, and returning to the outline. The script that makes this piece of art was a very difficult set of instructions to assemble to make this artwork move. The end results are incredibly peaceful and beautiful.

"Houston" is a cityscape and the first one Mr. Montague did to see if scripted artwork was possible to do. In the foreground is the skyline of the city of Houston, USA with its skyscrapers and awesome buildings that make up the city centre of Houston. Behind the skyline of Houston are dark, angry thunder clouds blowing a gale over the city, highlighted by lightening strikes to the ground dazzling the viewer to its ferocious nature of this storm.

"Sunset Sailing" is a peaceful, brilliant orange sun sinking down into the horizon of an ocean, a silhouetted sail boat in the foreground sailing across the water, preparing for an evening of calm sailing. This piece is an Exclusive Limited Edition Series of 20 pieces that once sold will no longer be available for purchase except from an owner of "Sunset Sailing". Each piece has a Certificate of Authenticity both in the form of a notecard and texture so that tracing provence back to Elven Enchantment Art Gallery is an easy thing to do. All pieces are transferable, so you may purchase the artwork as a gift for your friends, loves, or a gift for a business partner a wonderful way to say, "Thanks." You may also resize the artwork without hurting the integrity of the moving elements or distorting the picture. All these pieces of artwork are for the art lover who wishes to have a beautiful piece of low prim, low lag moving art without taking up a lot of space and will fit nicely on any wall.

Elven Enchantment Museum and Art Gallery is honored to present Digital Knight Scripted Art Studio's grand opening on October 1 at 5-8 p.m., SLT. Mr. Montague will be on hand to answer your questions on his newer pieces and oversee a contest for a free piece of artwork called "Tall Ship". The contest will run until 7:30 p.m., SLT at which time the first person to correctly identify elements in "Tall Ship" will win a copy of "Tall Ship". Please IM Mr. Montague or Ms. Jewell for the complete details on the contest.

In addition to being able to purchase all Mr. Montague's current artwork, if you have a request for Custom or Exclusive artwork, you may leave a notecard in the suggestion box and Mr. Montague will be in touch with you to discuss what you would like completed. Custom work is artwork that will be resold in quantity at the Studio after your piece is completed. Exclusive artwork is one of a kind artwork and your piece will be the only one in existence in SL. Contact Mr. Montague for a quotation for both Custom and Exclusive work.

Scripting is an art in SL, and in the opinion this Curator, one that is unsung and unnoticed and for the most part taken for granted in our world. Personally, I have taken several scripting lessons and can admire some of the complexities that goes into creating a script from scratch. The language that makes up the art form of scripting has its basis in algebra. You must be able to correctly identify the commands and the order those commands to do something that the end results is something usable in Second Life. If you are like me, and hate math more advanced then the @sum on a spreadsheet then scripting will offer complexities that are truly mind boggling. My conclusion was leave the scripting to the unsung talents in SL and enjoy what they present to us in our world.

Friday, September 21, 2007

What is Second Life?

Has anyone ever told you to get a life? Hmm, I am sure if you are like me you have heard it at least once or maybe twice! Now you can get a Second Life!

Second Life is best described as a 3d Interactive Chat room. If you are familiar with chat in any shape such as Yahoo Messenger, MSN, Google, etc., then you understand that you type a line the the "chat box" and get a reply from whomever you are talking.

Now take the above description of a normal chat room and put it on steroids, then kick it up a notch and make it 3-d with your own Avatar (Avie as we call it In-World) dress yourself as a vampire, elf, drow, furry, human, dress yourself, go forth and chat!

We have IM's just like a chat room, except we can fly, teleport, make everything you can see in Second Life and some things you cannot like scripts that run in the background, we have houses with adult poseballs*) (trust me a good thing), dance clubs, museums, art galleries, communities, land to purchase, money to buy stuff, and you now have a souped up chat room of the likes that you have not yet seen!!

Guess what? Daddy Linden allows you to try out this world with a free account. Now a word of advice...You may choose your first name, but please, please do not put a number after your name...if your choice of first name is taken paired up with a last name provided by Daddy Linden, choose another last name or another first name. Log on and you have a new birthday...Happy Rezz Day! Mine is April 9, 2007, I grew up fast *)!

Lastly, remember that there are real people behind the avies you come into contact with, live, love and have fun.

If you decide to upgrade your account...tell Daddy Linden his favorite Sky Elf Atlantis Jewell sent you...and to IM me and let me know you are inworld and I will be very happy to give you a hug and Landmarks to get some awesome free stuff!

Carp Diem!

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Calendar of Events

Elven Enchantment is preparing for an exciting fall line up of parties, shows and exhibitions. The Calendar of Events are as follows:

September 1, 2007, Gala Opening Night of the Museum

October 1, 2007, Grand Opening of Digital Knight Scripted Art Studio, Magical Dreams, Odessa Astounding (232, 183, 21) Mature. Time: 5-8 p.m. SLT. Contest: "Tall Ship" Must be there to win!!

October 31, 2007, "Ookie, Spookie, and Groosome", Halloween Costume Party and CARP Maze! Come dressed in your most scary, sexy costume and view the Halloween canvasses that will be for viewing around the garden, along with a personal Exclusive Scripted Halloween art: Odd Couple form the personal collection of Atlantis Jewell. Truly disturbing SL images, sexy mermaids, and the Kiss of Death Series! Be prepared to have the Ebbie Jeebies scared out of you with all the spookie Halloween decor and be sure to only have your night view on so to completely enjoy this one of a kind experience. However this night is not for the faint of heart...there will be semi dressed or completely nekkid people playing the Museum's version of capture roll play of which there is a L$100 cover charge and participants are allowed to run amok through the maze and all levels of the museum!! All participants must wear an Elven Enchantment Poofer for ID before any play may happen between Predator and Prey!! Come, bring your friends, lets crash this sim for Halloween night!!

November 12-30, 2007, First Exhibition of Elven Enchantment, featuring the fantastic fractal art of Spiral Silverstar and the personal fractal collection of Atlantis Jewell. Mr. Silverstar is an artist who uses math and a very sharp artistic eye to combine spirals in lovely arrangements of color and design. Watch here for more information.

December 10-26, 2007, Photograph Art Exhibition featuring the personal photographs of Mr. Mello Bonetto, Maximus Barbosa, and other talented SL photographers. Watch here for more information.

December 31, 2007, "New Year's Party" Come dressed to the nines in your best formals and dance the night away, usher the New Year in with SL fireworks and champagne!! Contest: Best Dressed Formal Women/Men. Watch here for more details.

January 14-February 13, 2008, Theme: "Women of Beauty" Come enjoy the extensive BDSM collection of Patron Rhad McMillian, sketches of Dominique May, and other talented artiste celebrating the Beauty of Women in RL and SL.

February 14, 2008, "Happy Valentines Day Party!" To end our month long Exhibition of "Beauty of Women" we will have another formal party, best dressed in red Women and best dressed formal for Men, cause lets face it no guy wants to dress in complete red so, guys break out those handsome tailcoats and top hats and bring your SL love over for a dance, fireworks and a very romantic time at the Museum.

March 2008: "Sculpture" This will be our first exhibition of sculpture in SL, giving the Curator a chance to find some really fantastic pieces for your enjoyment. Contest: Best First Build. Watch here for more information on the contest.

Watch this blog for more information or IM Atlantis Jewell to join Elven Enchantment Museum and Art Gallery's Group for updates that are sent to group members automatically!!

Introducing Digital Knight Scripted Art Studio

Elven Enchantment Museum and Art Gallery is very proud to sponsor Digital Knight Scripted Art Studio, where the talented artiste Drathon Montague has set up his studio and is busy filling it with fantastic scripted art.

In addition to the pieces that are currently on view at the Museum, First Level West, Mr. Montague has added: "Dallas", "Tall Ship", "Lupine Dreams", "Cascade", and of course you may also purchase "Houston", "Lunar Month", and "Sunset Sailing".

Yes, "Sunset Sailing is an Exclusive Limited Edition Series from Elven Enchantment Museum and Art Gallery, however, there are very few pieces left to purchase in the series and wanted to also display it for the enjoyment of all visitors.

Mr. Montague accepts Custom and Exclusive requests. Custom work are requests that he is allowed to sell copies in the studio to anyone whose interested. Exclusive requests are one of a kind pieces and yours will be the only one in existence in SL!! (Elven Enchantment will want to add your name to a list of Exclusive Scripted Art Collectors so that upon occasion when the Museum has Scripted Art Exhibitions the Curator can call upon you for an On Lend for the event.) Prices are by quote from the Artiste.

Come to the Grand Opening on October 1 at 5:00-8:00 p.m., SLT and meet Mr. Montague, and enter the contest for a free copy of "Tall Ship". IM either Drathon Montague or Atlantis Jewell for a notecard for the rules and the LM for the studio.

Bring your friends and enjoy the best Scripted Art available in Second Life!!

A Place for SL Events That is Formal, but Not the Office

Elven Enchantment Museum and Art Gallery is a place of beauty it is also a place that may be rented if you have a special party, want to impress business associates, have a wedding, or have your wedding reception.

The Museum may be rented as only the grove, first level, or the entire Museum entirety. What are your renting in addition to the museum? You will need to fill out a notecard letting Atlantis Jewell know what your needs are such as: DJ, dance floor, dance poseballs, adult pavilions *), decorations for a seasonal party, table for a business meeting, hostesses for your event, etc.

The daily rates for the grove without shutting down the museum for minimum of a 3-hours rental is $2,500. Includes setting up the grove to your requirements, and shutting it down during your event to those who are not invited.

The daily rate for the first level is $5,500 for a minimum of 3-hour event. This includes meeting your requirements for your event, shutting down the First Level to other guests while allowing those guests to wander on other floors, and darkening the floor above for your event so incoming guests are not bothering you by walking on the floors.

The daily rate for the entire Museum is $10,500 and this includes shutting down the entire museum and grove to visitors except those on your invite lists, setting up the floors to meet your needs for your event for 24-hours.

All Museum rentals requires 100 percent down payment with one weeks notice of cancellation prior to the event to obtain a 75 percent refund, 25 percent non-refundable.

If you cancel with less then one week for your event the refunds rates are: 6-day notice 65 percent, 5-day notice 55 percent, 4-day notice 30 percent, 3-day notice 15 percent, and 1-2 days before the event only a 10 percent refund.

In world IM Atlantis Jewell to arrange your magical event at Elven Enchantment Museum and Art Gallery.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Personal Photograph Enhancement

Personal Photograph Enhancements are available from Elven Enchantment Art Gallery. The snapshots below are photographs that you can make more through tinkering with the photograph, making them canvas by either being fortunate to have a Perfect SL Photograph to Enhance or if your photos are like most of mine, you have a beautiful main element, but an absolute horrible background due to poseballs, see through body parts, or the true lack of gravity effects in SL.

In this blog post, I will walk you through how to evaluate your photographs for enhancement, teaching you to identify the caliber of enhancement needed to provide you with a fantastic picture for open display in your home.

The photograph above is a perfect SL photograph. Look at it closely there are no poseballs, no see through limbs and the clothes are not thrust through the avatar. Now look at the picture below it. It is the same photograph and the only difference is that this picture was turned into a canvas. The work to enhance this photograph was minimal and thus is considered a Picture Perfect Enhancement. Do you have photograph that is perfect and you would like it enhanced?

The base price for the Picture Perfect Enhancement with a plain black or brown frame, two prims is L$110, with a modifiable TV frame (that you can add other photographs to and rotate the pictures) L$160. The Gallery offers to animate photo frames featuring words of love, of which there is a list of 10 that you may choose from and the frame and animation cost for this L$250. You are not held back by the list of 10, but any phrase you wish on your photograph we can do, however it is a special commission price on English phrases not on the list and we also offer multilingual prices as well.


The photograph above is considered a Minor Edit compare the picture below as see if you can find the small change to this photograph. You guessed it it is the poseball that was removed and grass put into place where the ball had been.
This is a Minor Edit and should you choose this option for your Photograph Enhancement the price for this edit is L$210 for either a black or brown frame or you may choose a modifiable TV frame (which you may put other photographs in and rotate them) for L$260. The Gallery offers to animate photo frames featuring words of love, of which there is a list of 10 that you may choose from and the frame and animation cost for this L$350. You are not held back by the list of 10, but any phrase you wish on your photograph we can do, however it is a special commission price on English phrases not on the list and we also offer multilingual prices as well.

The next set of edits are Medium Edits and require much more time to remove the blemishes in the photographs. The editing time is between 45 minutes to 2-hours. An example is given for this edit above this paragraph. The only items that has remained the same was the main subjects kissing. The entire background was removed and another inserted as represented in the canvas.
The final product is a stunning canvass preserving the subject's romantic kiss and deleting the horrifying background of the picture. This Medium Edit base rate is L$510 with a black or brown frame or a or you may choose a modifiable TV frame (which you may put other photographs in and rotate them) for L$560. The Gallery offers to animate photo frames featuring words of love, of which there is a list of 10 that you may choose from and the frame and animation cost for this L$650. You are not held back by the list of 10, but any phrase you wish on your photograph we can do, however it is a special commission price on English phrases not on the list and we also offer multilingual prices as well.

This is an example of a Heavy Edit signifying 6 to 8 hours minimum of work. The subjects in this photograph are dancing at a SL club and it is a stark decor with lots of advertising. Many SL photographs suffer from this affliction, great focus on the subjects and a poor background for the photograph.

The photograph below is the final edit, which changes the background from a club scene to a lovely garden wall of ivy. The base price for this edit is L$810 and comes with a choice of a black or brown frame or for L$860 a modifiable TV frame that will rotate your pictures. The Gallery offers to animate photo frames featuring words of love, of which there is a list of 10 that you may choose from and the frame and animation cost for this L$950. You are not held back by the list of 10, but any phrase you wish on your photograph we can do, however it is a special commission price on English phrases not on the list and we also offer multilingual prices as well.

Our final offer for Photograph Enchantments are Portrait Extractions. These extractions are the most difficult of all photo editing techniques. You take the subject(s) from the original photograph and put them into a totally different photograph with a completely different background and blend the subject(s) and new background together. Below is a an example of this technique.

This is the original photograph of the subject, however, Elven Enchantment needed a publicity photograph and did not have time for formal photographs to be taken so solved the problem by extracting Mr. Drathon Montague, the Museum's Scripted Artiste, from this photograph and blending his likeness into the new picture below and adding the new background.

The new background is blue, purple, and black which matched his outfit better then the red room in the original snapshot. These types of extraction are on quote basis and will depend on the following: the current workload at the Gallery for other clients, the level of difficulty, and if we have to develop a new texture for a background for your extracted subject, and how many subjects are extracted.

A more detailed look at these photographs are available in the "Magic Revealed" section of the Third Level in the northeast, east, and southeast walls of the Art Gallery. There are detailed descriptions of the work that was done to enhance the photographs and a sample of the animated photograph textures are available for viewing as well. You may pick up your notecard giving you prices on the services discussed in this blog. IM Atlantis Jewell in world for your Photograph Enhancement needs.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Patrons

Elven Enchantment has been very fortunate in having Patrons and Supporters of the Museum that has gone a long way in its building, development, and art that is hung within its walls. Below is a list of the Museums Patrons and it is with thanks that I list them and their contributions to Elven Enchantment Museum and Art Gallery.

Mr. Dano Singh

Mr. Singh is my landlord. He has rented out the prims to me at lower price then he normally rents them. In addition to this, he has donated prims outright, given monetary contributions, taught me building techniques, come to the Museum at a moment's notice, passed along information to the SL media about the Museum, and has lent the Museum the beautiful photograph of "Twins" which may be viewed on the First Floor on the northwest wall. He has given me much encouragement and knowledge on how to run one's SL endeavors. Dano, my thanks for your patronage, kindness, and encouragement.

Ms. Chastity DeCuir

Ms. DeCuir is my lovely and loving wife, who has given me time away from her side to follow my dream of building this Museum. In addition to the gift of time, she has built several items for the museum, the donation box and the rotating artistic box on the Garden Level, southwest corner. She also donated time and help in the Museum's final phase of development prior to opening, helping with research on the Mello Bonetto Picasso's finding their names, and data details for proper identification. She also helped me with my advertising campaign for the Museum and arranged the live sculpture and dance balls that were available at the Gala Opening. Additionally, she has contributed monetary donations to the Museum, helping with the advertising costs for opening night. My love, I thank you, Atty.

Mr. Mello Bonetto

Mr. Bonetto has kindly lent his Personal Private Collection of Van Gogh and Picasso's to the Museum. These lovely pieces may be found on the Second Level, north and east walls. With the loaning of this collection, he helped me enlarge my collection of RL Masters and encouraged me to further purchase RL Master works of Rubens, Michelangelo, and Da Vinci.

His artistic talents can also be found in the lovely landscaping of the Museum's Gardens and Grove, a must see and a very romantic spot for proposing to your love or having your SL nuptials. Be SURE to set your view to Midnight as this is a viewing is not to be missed.

Ms. Pateagle Amat

Ms. Amat's patronage has come in various forms of donation of personal time, sculpture art, and ancient vases. The rotating spiral sculpture in the Grove is a On Lend from Ms. Amat and she has donated the ancient vases found on the First Level and is part of the element of this floor. Another donated items was the lovely Japanese letter sculpture that allowed me to have the live sculpture that was for viewing on opening night. She also IM'd me the week prior to the opening and volunteered to be put to work on whatever project that I needed working on, she helped identify all the Van Gogh canvasses with proper names and descriptions, which are a part of the Mello Bonetto Collection, she helped me send out invitations to the pre-opening events, and gave me emotional support by just being a fantastic friend...thanks my love!

Ms. Taranae Rhode

Ms. Rhode is also my wife and has gladly given up personal time with me allowing me to work on the Museum. In addition to this, Ms. Rhode is also Vice President of Public Relations and on formal occasions you may find her greeting you upon arrival. She also donated time in the final push to open the Museum on time, and is my official proofreader. Thanks for all your help my dear.

Ms. Magdalena Cazalet

Ms. Cazalet also gave up many hours of personal time with me, while she was my wife allowing me to work on the Museum during my log on times. Additionally, she has donated the beautiful Dragon feature fountain in the gardens. Ms. Cazalet also introduced me to blogging and inadvertently she started me on the path to building the Museum as it was the extraction for my first blog that began the Museum. She has also spent many hours lending a shoulder for me to moan on and an ear listening to all the stress of opening the Museum. Maggie, thanks my dear.

Ms. Marissa LeFabvre

Ms. LeFabvre spent many hours helping me with rebuilding the flooring of the Museum helping me free up prims, teaching me how to detail my work, and how to rotate textures to match the lines, and contours of existing textures. She also built my east and west stairwells, adding the fancy flooring to the stairwells on the Third Floor. Without your help Mari, my Museum would not be quite as beautiful, my sincere thanks.

Sir Malick

Sir Malick is my neighbor in Eunpyung and came over to view my building efforts while it was in the basic, unpolished stages. He kindly popped over to introduce him and his lovely partner and offered to help if he could. Several weeks later, I took him up on his offer and he mentored me on the building techniques of windows and two-way glass. The lovely widows on the First Level are a direct result of his tutoring. He also donated a lovely surprise on Patron's night, a gift of fireworks. He also allowed me to borrow the pyrotechnics's on opening night for the viewing pleasure of all my guests. We are also partnering in an endeavor that will boost the Gallery's offering of textures and pictures, but this will be discussed in another blog entry.

Mr. Pat Wunderland

Mr. Wunderland is a mentor through the introduction of Mr. Zaknafien Barbosa. Mr. Wunderland owns the lovely Blue Tattoo Dance Club, which he built himself. He kindly taught me precision building, also known as building by numbers, and how to attach a single texture to a single face of a prim. He also advised that I should always use .5 meter thickness to all walls and flooring. All his advice I took and the results have made the Museum the beautiful build that you may view today.

Mr. Zaknafien Barbosa

Mr. Barbosa was the first Patron to donate a photograph to the gallery along with his friend Ms. Valeria Pera. Mr. Barbosa's donation is the self-portrait that can be viewed from the entrance on the First Level. This donation was given when the crooked walls and sidewalks still existed. Thanks for your trust and belief that this Elf could make a go of that god-awful looking first try at building walls and floors!

Ms. Valeria Pera

Ms. Pera accompanied Mr. Barbosa to see my "progress" on the Museum on the day she too, donated a self-portrait, which may be seen on the First Level from the entrance. This photograph was the second donated piece that the Museum received. My thanks Val!


Ms. Ailenor Laval

Ms. Laval has lent to the Museum a lovely Monet which may be viewed on the Second Level of the Museum. However, the piece was originally labeled as a Van Gogh. Ms. Amat said she thought it was a Monet, but could not find conclusive proof of this on the Internet or in any in any of her personal art books. The Museum ran its first competition on this painting for proper identification. The competition began and ended on Patron's night when Ms. Marci Masala correctly identified the painting as Charles Monet's "Waterlillies" and provided concrete proof. In doing so, she won the Museum's first competition and L$2,000. Thanks both to Aile for the On Lend and to Marci for the identification of this lovely work of art.

Ms. Murron Rossini

Ms. Rossini is an accomplished artiste in her own right and is also a neighbor of mine in Eunypung. She is the creative genius behind Reality Designs. In the course of the final month of preparing for the opening, I had the opportunity to visit with her during one of my breaks from the work at the Museum and bemoaned that I did not have a script for my donation box. She gladly gave me the script she used for her donation box. Thank you Murr for the donation.

Mr. Wick Wylie

Mr. Wylie is an awesome scripter. He owns a night club in SL and he has a scripted avatar there that spins his tunes and playing the requests from his guests. Through a request from one of his regulars, Zaknafien Barbosa, he donated to the Museum a microphone that allows the wearer to shout, and look good while doing it. Thanks Mr. Wylie for the gift.

Ms. Dominique May

Ms. May is a talented SL creator and kindly donated the lamp post that is in the Garden beside the two benches that sit back to back. This gift was unexpected, however greatly appreciated, thank you.

Mr. Drathon Montague

Although listed last on this long list of patrons, his donation's to the Museum is not small nor has it gone unnoticed. Half-way through the building process, when my walls were finally straight he pops over the Museum with the lovely gift of the sidewalks that may be view upon arrival to the Museum. The paving stones say: "A single rose can be my garden, a single friend my whole world." In addition to this donation he also has donated several scripts to the Museum for the notecard box, a script to read the individual lines on a script, and support during the second to last week before the opening. This week was tumultuous for my SL family and his support during this time is deeply appreciated.

In addition to the mentioned donations above, he entrusted me with his scripted art during the very beginning of my build when confidence of my abilities of builder was definitely in question as he lent "Houston" and "Lunar Month" and at the time I had crooked walls and floors. For this trust, I am eternally grateful and from my heart, I say: "Thanks Drath!"

None of my Patrons have given any of their various donations with anything but in the spirit of SL community and giving a hand up to a new SL resident. They gave these donations without a thought of thanks or recognition. It gives me great pleasure to recognize each of you in this blog.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

History of Elven Enchantment Museum and Art Gallery

As with anything, there is a history to why something happened or was developed. It is especially true with Elven Enchantment. When I first logged onto the grid, I truly did not get how to take snapshots using our camera tools. My wife, Chastity taught me, but the pictures did not turn out well because it took me a while to master the ability to use my panning features of moving the camera. However, this Elf finally figured it out..and a shutterbug was born.

I will take pictures of anything and my passion was pictures of my wives in very intimate moments in our SL lives, which mattered not to anyone, as all enjoy taking and sharing pictures with each other.

At the time, my wife Maggie shared her blog with me and it really tickled my fancy and I began developing my personal bog, which is the background for my avatar, to share with my friends, however, I needed a decent picture to place on my blog. I had just purchased Photoshop and began playing with my snapshots. The very first picture was of "Early Days" and my wife Chastity took one look at it and exclaimed that it was a beautiful extraction and congrats as extractions were the hardest element to do in Photoshop.

Being one of my first pieces in Photoshop, I really had no idea what she was talking about but was tickled I had accidentally did something wonderful, from a professionals point of view and thus "Early Days" hung in our home and I began contemplating how I could combine my passion for SL pictures and Photoshop.

As I began perusing my snapshots in my photo album, I decided that correcting the SL bugs in the photographs with Photoshop and then displaying them would be fun. So using Photoshop, I did a few more pictures and then I discovered how to use the texturizing tool in Photoshop and I began canvassing all my photographs.

As the pictures were completed I would shyly show my wives my progress and obtain honest opinions of my work and with encouragement from Chas and Maggie I continued uploading and downloading and working on my canvasses.

In June 2007, we lived where the western part of the gallery is now and our property extended to corner where the sidewalk extends south towards the grove. Around the first of July we had decided to purchase beach front property on another sim and I bought out my wives interest in the property in Eunpyung. At the time, the landlord who owned the land sold it to Mr. Dano Singh who is the current landlord of all the land connected to the gallery.

Now I must confess, I spent several weeks building on OI, but had not built a thing on the mainland since Chastity and I came over, so I began some experimental building and my walls were crooked and sidewalks uneven. I began asking friends who they knew in SL that had built their own stuff to perfection. My friend Zaknafien Barbosa said he knew the owner of the Blue Tattoo and he built his entire club and his own home. Having been dancing there a time or two I knew the high quality of this build. So I asked Mr. Barbosa for an introduction to Mr. Pat Wunderland the owner of the club for a building lesson.

Mr. Wunderland showed me how to assign one face textures, build by numbers, and and to build with .5 of an meter of thickness for the walls. Back at the gallery I began reworking all my walls and floors. My, what a difference this 30 minute lesson had in my ability to build!

About at this same time I began suffering from lag. I could not receive incoming IMs or outgoing IM's nor could I teleport out of the Museum. I thought it was Daddy L and all residents know the name of that tune--rolling reboot of the sim. However, Daddy L was vindicated when I caught a glimpse of a phantom wall thrust into mine. I only discovered this when the phantom wall gobbled up my walls.

Thinking that I had built accidentally onto someones property, I turned on the view property lines option. My walls were indeed on my property, crooked, but on my property all the same. I IMd the owner of the property at the time and asked her to remove her phantom walls off my property. I was told if I took down my walls she'd take down hers. Recognizing this as blackmail as her land had become landlocked, I made a harassment report to Daddy L, who took care of the problem, but what he could not take care of was the 20 foot ugly wall my neighbor chose to hoist up on her side of the property. The real sad thing about this situation was if this neighbor had IMd me and explained her problem, I would have happily moved my entire museum down the property as at the time, my other neighbor on the south wall, had an ugly sign that I had to build around, however this didn't happen.

I hoisted up my walls higher so my visitors would not have to suffer the indignity of seeing that ugly wall. While this drama was happening, my landlord Dano was scouring the sim for more prim property as I was not prim conscience on this build because the more I built the grander my creative ideas became...I felt that prims should not be counted during the building or hinder the creative process. In the end Dano found me close to four thousand prims and linked them to the property.

In the meantime, I was purchasing art, speaking to artiste's, still learning to attention to the details on my build. In mid-July I met Marissa LeFabrve who is a talented builder and brilliant artiste. She taught me how to finish the edges. If you look at where the glass floors meet the marble floor, the .5 meter thickness under normal circumstances would not be marbled, but squished lines. Mari taught me how to rotate the texture on a prim and face repeats of the texture so the marble look extends down over the sides of the flooring. Mari also rebuilt my walls and floors so that I could free up my prims.

With two weeks to go, I called on my SL family and friends to help me with the final push to finish the gallery, my wife Taranae Rhode proofread my signs...ouch, without spell and grammar checks, which when you are in Photoshop you do not have the advantage of, well, I have discovered that I really have become a rotten speller, but I suppose working on this project late at night, blurry-eyed did not help either.

Chastity DeCuir and Pateagle Amat helped me with Internet research putting names and dates to the On Lend Collection of Van Goghs and Picassos. Chas, Pat, Tara sent out invitations to the various pre-gala events and to the opening night. Mr. Montague came though with scripts for my notecard dispensers, notecard rotations, and giving notecards and landmarks to someone who touches an object.

Without the help of these SL residents, Elven Enchantment Museum and Art Gallery would not have been finished for September 1, 2007, which was our gala night.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Artiste's and Their Art

Second Life is full of talented Artiste's who bring incredible beauty to our lives. The contributing artiste's to Elven Enchantment Museum and Art Gallery are divided up into several categories: Creator's, Art Contributor's, and Artiste.

The Creator's of art at the museum are as follows:

Atlantis Jewell: Designed and built Elven Enchantment Museum and Art Gallery and chose all the art on display on all levels of the Museum. Ms. Jewell also raided her personal snapshot collection and using Photoshop, redesigned the erotic art on the Garden Level and hung the canvas for the enjoyment of all visitor's and guests. Of all that was built in this museum, the hardest element was the aquarium and the placement of the water within the glass aquarium and putting sea life within it's confines.

Mello Bonetto: Designed and created the lovely gardens and grove. He had free creator's reign over the design and placement of all plant life in the garden. The major elements such as the fountains were found by Ms. Jewell. Mr. Bonetto also suggested putting the potted plants on the other levels to add green to the other floors.

Chastity DeCuir: Designed and built the rotating picture box found beside the bench on the southwest side of the Garden Level. The scripts was provided by Mr. Drathon Montague.

The following list is a complete list of all those who made something that is in the garden and grove:

Alberto Linden, Azrazael Maracas, Cattra Montagne, Christos Atlantis, Cierra Anatine, Dominique May, Elisandra Ree, Eric Linden, Fey Brightwillow, Charmaine Huber, Gene Replaceme, Higbee Protagon, Honeybaby Beac, Jemma Flora, Jesrad Seraph, Julia Hathor, Keith Extraordina, Khamon Fate, Ky Callahan, Laurenzo Allen, Liliana Bethune, Lion Ewry, Luna Bliss, Lyric Alexander, Mikey Fairlane, Nomasha Syaka, Olympia Rebus, Sarah Nerd, Siggy Romulus, Stardust Suncha, Siggy Romulus, Duntroon Donbur, Maggie Morgan, Michael Kolache, Starax Statoksy, and Liliana Bethune.

There are two creators above that must be mentioned for their creative brilliance and they are Julia Hathor who created the marble benches, dragon fountain, and flower floor fauna her attention to detail has made the Museum shine. Another creator of note is Duntroon Donbur who brought in the RL Masters into SL and whose beauty can be viewed on the Second Level.

The art Contributors are the SL Resident's whose artwork caught the fancy of Ms. Jewell, who purchased the art for the Museum and they are as follows:

Hamish Obzina--"Unicorn"

Charmaine Huber--"Lier", "Beloved", "Devotion", "Nude I", "Courbet 4"

Elisabeth Beurlin--"Planet Seattle" and three pottery pieces near the center stairs, First Level

There are several artiste's whose work shines in the gallery and they are as follows:

Drathon Montague is a talented SL scripter and has created Scripted Art that may be viewed in the Museum's First Level West. His creations include, but not limited to: "Lunar Month", "Houston", and "Sunset Sailing". Each work of art has moving pieces that may be seen when viewed.

"Lunar Month" is popular work of art. When viewed the moon cycles through its lunar phases that in RL take a whole month to perfect, but may be viewed here in two to three second intervals. This piece has 24 textures that cycle in and out beginning with a faint outline of the moon, fingernail, and gradually moves to full moon.

"Houston" reveals the city center of Houston, Texas USA and has a stormy, forked lightening affected background with moving stormy clouds.

"Sunset Sailing" is part of the Art Gallery's Exclusive Limited Edition Series of 20 that once sold will never be available to purchase again in SL unless you can talk an owner into parting with his or her original piece or art. This piece is a brilliant orange sun setting on the ocean horizon and a silhouette of a sailboat sailing across the horizon. The few remaining Exclusive Limited Editions may be found in the Art Gallery on the third floor.

Dominique May is a talented SL resident whose RL artwork is represented in the following pieces: "Love Hurts", which is a study in facial structure and pencil sketch. "Sorrow's Rose" is a picture of man gazing sorrowfully at a rose and this piece of art is in pointillism pen and ink drawing. "Renate @ 16" is a beautiful sketch of Ms. May's RL mother at 16. These sketches may be found on the east wall first level.

Ms. May has also two more pieces that may be found on the northwest wall of the Second Level next to "Sunset Sailing". These two pieces are also sketches and are as follows: "Collage of Faces and Emotions" and are sketched using a sketch board medium. "Polaroid's" is a study in multi-mediums including: pastel, pen, ink, and pencil and utilizing various technique's such as pointillism, posterization, and crosshatching.

The center element of the Second Floor is a Fairy Tale Castle designed and created by RacerX Gullwing. This is a mixed creation of a prim build and script. This lovely piece has a beautiful castle at its center and a village surrounding it. The elements change as the SL day progresses from sunrise to sunset and at sunset there are fireworks to be viewed at the Fairy Tale Castle. This piece was available to purchase during the Relay for Life held this past August.

In the Art Gallery you will find the Asian art of Shenn Coleman and the photography of Maxumus Barbosa. Mr. Colman's art features brilliant textures and color. Mr. Barbosa's photos are of his RL home of Bermuda.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Introducing Elven Enchantment Museum and Art Gallery

Elven Enchantment Museum and Art Gallery officially opened on September 1, 2007, at 5:00 p.m. SLT, however, the dedication of the Museum was officially done on the previous evening, August 31 and reads thus:

On this day 31 August 2007 Elven Enchantment Museum and Art Gallery is dedicated to my friends who have given unswerving support, love, and assistance during the last and final push to complete the museum and prepare it for opening night.

Chastity DeCuir
Taranae Rhode
Pateagle Amat
Drathon Montague
Mello Bonetto

With my entire heart, I say, “Thank you.”
Atlantis Jewell, Curator

There was a live sculpture, featuring SL subs and a beautiful light blue Japanese letter, at the entrance of the Gardens. The landscaping of these lovely gardens was done by Mello Bonetto. The art on the Garden Level is the erotic Art of Atlantis Jewell. Across from the landing point in the gardens is the grove.

On the First Level on the west side of the Museum is the Scripted Art of Drathon Montague. In Second Life, all items you see are either built or scripted to animate movement in-world. The Scripted Art featured in the Museum is "Lunar Month", "Houston", and "Sunset Sailing" in each piece of art there are elements that move and interact with the still textures bringing the art alive with movement and passion.

Another artiste featured on the northwest and eastern walls are the lovely sketches of Dominique May. These are RL sketches that she has done and they are lovely representations of pointillism.

In order to preserve the beauty of the Gardens, glass flooring was put in on the First, Second and Third Levels. On each of the levels of the Museum above the gardens has a feature element and on the First Level there are two distinct items that are not to be missed. The first centre element is the pottery, ancient vases, and wolf fountain. The second attraction are the big windows overlooking the Grove. The moving statuary, trees, and rainbows can be seen to advantage from this point in the Museum.

On the Second Level is the incredible Private Art Collection of Mello Bonetto who has kindly lent to the Museum his extensive Van Gogh and Picasso canvasses. Each canvas has been identified by its proper name and period in which the artistes rendered them complete. There are notecard dispensers that detail each painting in this collection. The Museum received an On Lend of a Monet from Ailenor Laval and purchased the paintings of Michelangelo, Rubens, and Da Vinci.

The center element is a scripted, eight prim build that is a Fairy Tale Castle and designed and built by RacerX Gullwing who made this work available for purchase and all proceeds during the Relay for Life was donated to charity.

On the Third level is the "Magic Revealed" and Art Gallery. The Art Gallery features Exclusive Limited Editions of "Sunset Sailing." This Exclusive Limited Edition is a 20 edition set and once gone will only be available if a SL resident puts his or her copy up for sale through the various networks available for this in-world. The Art Gallery also features the Asian art of Shenn Coleman and the photograph art of Maxumus Barbosa.

Come by and see this lovely Museum and purchase any artwork that you are interested in having in your home. Before you leave be sure to force your settings to midnight as this gives a whole new meaning and romance to the Museum.