Unknowingly You Support Us

Elemental Elf, Digital Art by Atlantis Jewell

This article is to praise, acknowledge, thank, and promote my good friends at  DeviantArt.com, where they have way cool stock photos that they share, royalty free, Photoshop brushes, and support of community.

These great artistes at DeviantArt.com unknowingly support Second Life artists by the offerings of quality royalty-free stock items!  Thanks gals and guys you all are the best.

The above photo would not have been possible without you!  I absolutely say two thumbs up for you all!

Mysterious Wave

By Cherry Magna

This month the Second Life Editor's Pick features Mysterious Wave by Cherry Magna. This is an immersive art sim that features the Mother Goddess and her powers of creation and from her flows all life, plant, animal and human.

This art installation is bigger then life! From the goddess grows a tree which gives, shelter, life, art, music, love, play and beauty. There are caged animals, free flying butterflies, and so much more! This sim is beautiful and worthy of the Editor's pick!

From the palm her the goddess's hand comes the moon and stars! Since are in interpreted through the viewer's own eyes, Cherry's artwork may mean something wholly different to you, but one will agree that this is a beautiful and artistically done up sim!

This sim is an absolute must see!

New Second Life Artwork

Skull Island, Digital Art by Atlantis Jewell

Join me as I begin a new journey in Second Life. As my loyal readers know, I have been traveling throughout Second Life reviewing art in SL and writing about my favorite galleries in this blog.  I have also done several sim reviews based on the amazing art in the builds. Along the way, I have collected hundreds of Second Life photographs; I have used them for this blog, posted them on Facebook, and on Flickr.com. However, I have been asking myself that to do with of the bulk of my not so perfect pictures!

All photographs are of scenery from Second Life, taken originally in my travels looking for the Picture Perfect Second Life pictures, which are hard to take! After taking 100 pictures and looking at the photographs 1 or 2 will make the final cut!

After taking a college course on Photoshop, my curve in learning the amazing way to enhance photographs has soared. Let's take the picture above, for an example. I have added a reflection to the water and gave it gentle waves, which were lacking in the original photograph!  If you don't believe me see the original photo below!

Grimm Shores

If you read my Best of Halloween Tour from October 2011 you may have seen this photograph! Isn't the difference amazing? Additionally, I have added sleet, snow, rain, thunderstorms, water, reflections, to the many photographs now available in my art gallery in Digital Art by Atlantis Jewell! 

Da Vinci Gardens - Before

In closing, I would like to leave you with a before and after pictures of my Fantasy Castle and I hope you will stop by and see the rest of my artwork!

Romantic Fantasy Castle, After

All artwork is placed on a lovely mahogany picture frame that is one prim and they are all mod/copy/NO TRANS. 

After you visit my art gallery, please come back and tell my readers your rating on my artwork:  one or two thumbs up or down! (I will publish them all.) Please state why you voted they way you have!

Enchanting Midalon

Midalon Love Garden

There are times in Second Life when you think you are going to find something, however, you find something quite different and so it was with Midalon. This sim is enchanting and bigger than life. It is best seen with the environment setting of midnight. 

The flora is gigantic and it makes even the tallest avatar feel small, but that is the idea because this sim is patterned from the movie, "Avatar." 

When you land for the first time, it looks normal, nothing special, however if you hike up to the top of the hill and take a left you will see a dragon you can hop on and ride to the Gardens of Midalon; where you will find every inconceivable plant in your imagination and then some you have not thought of as well.

The dragon leaves you on this level so that you can enjoy your exploration of the nooks and crannies, there are so many places to dance and to cuddle with your sweetie. The artwork in these plants is truly amazing and not to be missed.

Midalon Love Garden is two thumbs up! 

Relay for Life, in Second Life

The sim sponsored by the Peace Haven Communities

The opening ceremonies kicked off at 10 a.m., on the morning of July 14th, 2012. They honored those who have been fund raising over the last five or six months. This event is the biggest charity fund raisers in Second Life.

The honor lap for the survivors and caregivers opens the event! Watching the honor lap brought me to tears because I was remembering my late friends and family that have been victims of this disease and I stood along the side lines honoring those in my family who are still fighting. All Linden dollars raised throughout this entire event and today, will be turned into US dollars and given to the American Cancer Society.

The Relay for Life crosses 42 sims... the loop takes about 1.5 hours to walk or skate one loop! That does not count stopping to buy artwork, chat, or immerse your soul in the beauty around you! This is an opportunity to take fabulous photos of Second Life because after this day, these builds will be no more!

Be warned that sims, crash and you are blocked from coming onto the sim due to the capacity is full, however, eventually you will get onto the sims to walk the zombie track. The relay starts at morning and goes to dawn the next day, commemorating the struggle of survival. The morning signifies dawn of diagnose and the after noon about 2 p.m., is the time of treatment, evening is the time of struggle to overcome and the dawn of the next morning 24 hours after the relay begins is overcoming the disease!

We honor the victims of this disease and the survivors! Blessed Be! So log into Second Life and relay with us!  GO RELAY!

The Return

City of Lost Souls

The Return is set on the land set aside by the Linden Endowment for the Arts in Second Life. The creator is Marcus Inkpen and he represents society's return to spirituality. This topic means so many different things to everyone, so this author will take a stab at an interpretation.

The meaning of life what is it? The landing spot at this sim, gives you an idea. Life is about the path as well as the journey. There are choices to be made along the path. Life is no longer simple as it once was as represented by the empty, dilapidated cabin in the woods. Sometimes we get lost on our path as represented by the forest.

Sometimes we drown, metaphorically, on that pathway, until we meet someone who helps us along, loves us, or gives us a piece of invaluable advice. There may be times when we do not recognize the value of that advice until later.

We allow modern technology to cut us off from who we are and we have forgotten how to nurture our souls. The small empty building at the top of the hill represents this technology.  As we gain knowledge we have forgotten that some things must be taken by faith, otherwise, we loose sight that others matter and that they are souls too, maybe even more lost then we are.

Technology leads to spiritual death leaving us with nothing, but ash in our mouths as represented by the empty mausoleum of a castle, which is the main focus on the sim. Why empty? This represents our souls bereft of substance because we are robots to technology.

In the end, it is up the the individual how you are going to feed your soul, but whatever you do, do it! Our souls are important, feed it, reward it!

This is a not to be missed sim as it invokes thought, feelings, and self-exploration! Enjoy!

A Rare Moving Moment

It has been a pleasure to view the ice sculptures at the UTSA ArtSpace. Rebeca Bashly is an amazing artist and her work reflects her own "journey through [her] winter thoughts." All the artwork is made from white crystal.

All her sculptures explore the "parallels between the delicate and changing constitution of ice and of the female nature." She created "emotions allu[r]ing to the hazardous mind and hesitating soul." For me it was not until the final piece that the entire exhibition made sense.

This one piece makes my soul cry, it is beautiful and sad at the same time and it is called "Break & Enter." This is an absolute must see on the Highlights Gallery Tour!

The Beguiled: Art Gallery and Studio

Window of the Soul

There are times in life then the unexpected inspires us. So it was with The Beguiled: Art Gallery and Studio. This sim is laggy, but be patient as the artwork of Jilla Lamar is vibrant and beautiful. What was the most compelling, while waiting for the gallery to rez, were the views from the windows. This gallery has a soul, old and wise.

Jilla Lamar's artwork vibrates with passion, pathos, and enchantment. The vibrant use of colors in the pieces are wonderfully bright, drawing in the viewer to look, gaze and learn something new about themselves.

Most pieces are of Second Life and even recognizing where some of the pictures of the landscapes were taken! The artwork here indeed lives up it the gallery's name, The Beguiled.

Gazing Out, Gazing In

Real Art in an Unreal World

The Bridge, Ars Simularca

Ars Simularca is a part of NMC's SL Artist Showcase Island. The big names in Second Life art can be found here such as Sasun Steinbeck, Lea Supermarine, and Cherry Manga to name a few. This sim is best seen at the midnight settings, which is the sim's default setting!

There are interactive pieces of art that you can touch to change the settings, walk on and when you walk on in them like that big ball, the prims, change colors. There is a solar display where you can change the planets with an interactive HUD.

To say that this sim is big, huge is trite, it is awe inspiring, for example one of Lea Supermarine's sculpture's is a big square that is made from 200 tiny squares and connecting rods, it moves slowly and glows from within. There are not words to describe the majesty in these works of art.

The most amazing work of art is the three spheres that have moving pieces within and set to very calming and relaxing music. It's mesmerizing.

Ars Simularca sets next to NMC's Campus West, which is dedicated to some lovely artists and hosts some huge sculptures in the front of the Museum. The most amazing one is the Seraph, she is truly lovely.

These two sims are two thumbs up and not to be missed!

A True Second Life Treasure

Da Vinci Gardens, Second Life

There are times, when exploring for new Second Life treasures, that you are disappointed, but then there times that one is truly astounded by the creativity and the vision of the artists that put sims and architecture together for the masses to enjoy. There such a sim called, Da Vinci Gardens and there are many treasure then the obvious ones on the surface. Whether viewed during full day, sunrise, sunset, or midnight this beautiful place truly enchants.

The entire sim is a work of art. It's as if Ancient Greece and Rome meets Egypt and the Future all at once. There are 14 destinations to visit here which does not include what you see when you first teleport into the sim. There is Atlantis sunken under the water, which also includes a fish cemetery, which is eerie at best. There is a massive volcano roiling into the waters where the ruins of Atlantis lie.

Gothic Castle

There is an entrance to the volcano, be sure that you do not catch fire as you enter! You can tour the volcano and find the dragon's lair. On the surface, there is a lighthouse, tree house, a Tudor Castle, a Gothic Castle, and beaches to visit.

When you first visit this Isle, you will want to hop onto the bat and take a flying tour of the beautiful region! The tour drops you off in a cave and you can teleport to anywhere else on the Island. You can move around the different areas using dandelions, dragons, boats, bats, and mermaids, to name a few. Be aware of the haunted tomb in the Gothic Castle!

Enter the pyramids of Egypt, this is the best feature of the entire sim, first tour the area with the flying carpet to enjoy the beauty of the region, when you return to the front of the pyramid, you can move through the pyramid on the flying carpet or you can walk through it... I would suggest for those who hate snakes to either fly or use the flying carpet. This pyramid is full of traps to deter the unwary traveler into not finding the Pharaoh's treasure. The textures used in this build are amazing and the best Egyptian artwork ever encountered in Second Life.

Alien Gardens

After surviving the traps in the Pharaoh's tomb, adventure to the future by blasting off into space, dancing  in space, and seeing the stars, or go to Mars, visit the aliens, or take a ride on the galactic slide! This sim will take some time to see and enjoy. This is a very romantic place complete with a piano that one may play and a Roman bath!

There are tip jars all over the sim, please be sure to tip your hosts, as this type of artistic sim is very expensive to maintain and it is truly a Second Life Treasure.

Pandoria the Land of Space

Pandoria

There are many space sims in Second Life, however, Pandoria stands out from the rest. The creators of this sim have combined space with an Otherworldly look. There are big, dark moons and smaller, brighter moons. An  asteroid belt is between the Aurora Borealis and the main space rocks. There are twinkling white and gold stars floating in space.

The use of purples, steel blues, and stark white, tie in the lovely experience that is outer space on Pandoria. The creators use these colors to develop lovely, romantic spots for sitting, dancing, and space diving, which is quite a bit of fun! There are also spots to sit and meditate and enjoy the serenity of space. They have several plateaus where you can dance, soaking in the ambiance that is Pandoria. 

This part of space has been colonized and things grow, there are trees, flowers, grass, and water! There are pavilions where you can have a quite interlude with your SL sweetie! The combination of artistic flare and the romance of outer space, and Otherworldly qualities truly make this a lovely spot to visit! 

Relay for Life Charity Event

My absolute favorite charity event in Second Life is the Relay for Life, which raises Linden's for charity and the money is changed into Real Life money and donated on the behalf of all Second Life residents to the American Cancer Society to help find a cure for cancer.

There are many SL residents that participate and organize fundraisers, some of the most popular are concerts, games, and of course RacerX's Great Snail Races, the racers must pay a fee to race across about 15 sims and it's an absolute blast to watch. RacerX is a wonderful scripter who uses particles quite a bit. He participates in many events, but the year that I met him he made this Tiny Fairy Castle that was one prim, but it looked like many, many prims were used. The particles rotated through different scenes and ends with fireworks.

Sky Elf among the Sunflowers, Alurel

Many artists donate artwork and sculptures for silent auctions or outright purchase. This year, I had the opportunity to visit the Alurel sim that welcomes all fae characters and as a photographer had an absolutely beautiful time taking lots and lots of pictures. When you arrive, you teleport into their ballroom, which just  by itself is absolutely gorgeous and then exit to explore through the Elven drum circle. The sim although open to the public for exploration, however, it is home to SL residents who have chosen Alurel as their home, if you accidentally stumble across one of their homes while exploring and they are there apologize for disturbing their peace and leave.

This sim is an enchanting sim and the builds there a true works of art! Enjoy exploring Alurel!

Garden of Dreams

When I want a new place to visit, I check out the Destination Guide and sometimes, I can find some really wonderful spots. One such spot is the Garden of Dreams. It is beautiful and is a wonderful place for a romantic getaway.

Old Grandfather Time

The trees on the sim are huge, gargantuan is a better word to describe these golden-leafed trees. This sim is perpetually set in fall. There are little nooks for dancing with your love as well as a dance floor set on a beautiful ocean and the mountains in the distance.

Another truly remarkable piece of art are the huge logs that you see throughout the sim, they are about 10-15 feet in height and they are phantom and when you walk through the side of the trunk, you can see the beautiful background at the other end of the trunk and the sun streaming through the holes adds mystery and romance to your picture.

Tree trunk 

Throughout the sim you will see pink globes and if you "slip in" and sit you can touch the ball and it will give you a menu allowing you to choose where to visit, the realms of hell, cemetery, desert, and the beach to name a few. Once you are at your destination, zoom in on the circle that you are sitting within and suddenly it disappears giving you a great photo opportunity.  The sphere travels to many different places catering to a wide variety of tastes. A word of caution when you are done with the ride, the click "ground" because you want to return to the ground, not fall from the sky and splat on the ground below! And as you can imagine that is exactly what happened to me!

In Hell!

The Garden of Dreams is wonderfully romantic spot to bring your Second Life sweetie and romance him or her with lovely music and scenery. A must see along your SL travels!

Art Fun For Your Blog

I know that I have not blogged in quite a while, however that is due to my computer being fried, but I am working on setting up on my computer and will be back touring Second Life Museums and Art Galleries soon!

However, I have a fun website for you!  http://www.wordle.net/ and here is an example below!

My Wordle based on my last blog entry!

It takes the words from your blog entry, the most repeated word used in your entry will be the largest so now you know that I truly think that Second Life ART GALLERIES ARE indeed BEAUTIFUL! Now you can copy it to your clip board by using snip tool (search for it under the windows icon) and you can put it into PhotoShop and put your pictures from your blog behind your wordle and then save it as a jpeg and upload it to your blog!

Have fun!

Highlight Tour of Second Life Art Galleries, Part 3

Diorama at St@rt Gold Art Sculpture Gallery

I am back on the Tour and have found a gem of an art gallery:  St@rt Gold Art Sculpture Art Gallery.  The sculptures are bold, beautiful and original.  The Guardian Angel sculpture has music that reminds me of the Greek myths of the Siren's Song luring sailors ashore to wreck upon the shoals.

There is a wide variety of artwork including scripted fractals that move, which are beautiful. Following the trend of several other galleries there are matching floor mats and pottery with the artwork on them.  The gold sculptures are shown in a room that has rich red tapestries and carpets.  They range from a drum set to saxophones.

There are beautiful underwater ruins to explore and a walk through art gallery; my favorite presentation is the diorama of the solar system set above a glowing mountain range.

The best way to tour this beautiful gallery is to set your environment to midnight.  I give this gallery two thumbs up!

Gardens as viewed from the Royal Thai Gallery

Traditional Thai Art can be found at the Royal Thai Gallery.  If you enjoy Thai art this is the place to visit!  The Thai Buddha is displayed along with elephants, nagas (snakes), and carvings of Thailand's Epic Story.

Beautiful and peaceful gardens surround the gallery and do turn on your music options at this gallery it features wonderful classical selections to enjoy to further relax.

Greystone Manor is open to the public and is a wonderfully designed and appointed mansion displaying the beautiful Thai artwork as you would see it in Real Life! A definite must see!

This Gallery is virtually lag free and I give it two thumbs up!

Taking a break at the Two Shores Gallery of Fine Art 

Two Shores Gallery of Fine Art features the digital artwork of Mathilde Vhargon.  She designs a sculpture and then takes the patterns of her sculptures and uses a fractal filter and twists and turns them into a designs them into beautiful digital paintings!

Following the "Yellow Brick Road" in Ozland

Darker, digital artwork can be found in Ozland's Visiting Artist Exhibit!  This month's artist is Relay Caedmon.  His artwork is dark and skeletons can be found hiding within. Also featured at this gallery is a monthly piece of art and you are invited to write something about it in the form of a story, poem, or essay utilizing 500-1000 words.  The written art will be read in your own voice on one of the four Wednesday's of the month!  The writing must be PG and can be written in any genre, but must be about the picture that is chosen!

This is an unusual concept and if you are passionate about artwork and writing this is the spot to explore!

Old Second Life Art

Riding the Wasp at Svarga

There is art and old art in Second Life and the old art uses the original primitives only and it also has been in Second Life for many, many years!  Svarga translates as heaven and Svarga is a haven for newbies who don't wish to hang out at clubs while the get their Second Life feet.

The Svarga, that I revisited last night, is not the exact same sim that I saw when I first came into Second Life, as that sim closed and either reopened under new management or the original sim owner didn't include it's elevator to the stars when he put the sim back up! However, my trip back "home" to Svarga was a pilgrimage of mixed emotions.  This was a happy place and to come back to it by myself made me sad!

A Sky Elf hiding in the foliage

Svarga is a great example of the art of building in SL; using only the basic building blocks to make everything that you see from the trees, rocks, flowers, ponds, and sea, this Island represents the earliest of the sim building techniques in Second Life, there are no flexiprims, no mesh, and no sculpties.

There are however, brilliant examples of architecture, textures, and imagination! There is an old time cave, damaged Stargate, SL library, mediation room, particle effects, including moving flowers, light, fire, and fireflies, statuary, and an automated ride around the sim while you are told a short story of the Island.  There is a special building which features the original set of Elven drums.  There is a well that will tell your fortune if you make a wish and toss L$25 into it!

New skyline for Svarga using the Environmental editor

Although this sim celebrates old primitives, the pictures were taken with the new environmental editor for the sky and water, making it look like a new sim!  Most of the pictures were taken at night under a very romantic moon, but some of them were taken at night, morning, and under foggy skies.

As a photographer in search of the Picture Perfect Second Life, the environmental editor is addictive to use and makes you take a lot more pictures then you ever plan on.

Svarga is a photographers paradise and this reviewer gives it two thumbs up!

Dancing in Second Life

Dance like nobody's looking is a great piece of advice and in Second Life everyone can dance!  However, the magic in our dancing can be contributed to the talented Scripters who create poseballs, dance Heads Up Displays, (HUDs), and animations.

Dancing is a bit different in then in Real Life.  In order to animate our pixels you have to have a set of commands to move that pixel body!  Those commands are supplied by scripts and stuffed into poseballs.  The avie then hops on the poseball and dances.

Dancing using my Huddles HUD

Another set of instructions are put into a HUD and attaches to your computer screen and then you can animate your own avie and up to six other avatars with dances from your HUD!  

Additionally, the dance animations are made up of a series of movements some as small as putting your hands in the air or side stepping. These movements are created in an animation software, uploaded to Second Life, where you can purchase them and put them into your HUD.

Where do you go to dance?  Why any club in Second Life have dance floors, private homes, and whenever you get Ruthed!  

Although we are only pixels you can be surprised by the romance in dancing with your sweetie!  Enjoy your perfect dance moves!

Music

Music is the oldest art form; our Mothers and Fathers sang to us and maybe to each other, and we sing to our own children, and grand kids; we pay to attend concerts, operas, and enjoy free concerts in the park.

In Second Life, the first set of musical instruments that I saw were the Elven drum and wind instruments.  The first club that newbies went to was The Edge.  We enjoy concerts, theater, and ballets. 

Mankind Tracer performance at Sweet Whispers

You can find many types of music genres in Second Life and you might enjoy them and you may not.  There are DJs and live performers, such as Mankind Tracer and so many different types of clubs: women only and men only clubs, vampire and goth clubs, furry and "other" clubs, men and women clubs, strip clubs, dungeons, and casinos; and all have music.

There are clubs catering to jazz, easy listening, pop, steampunk, goth and death metal, rock-n-roll, classical, country western, country rock, opera, house, and much more in the clubs across Second Life.

Some clubs do not care what you wear, but places like Avalon, ladies must be in ball gowns and gents in suits, tuxedos or formal dress from yesteryear!

The most famous and the oldest rock club in Second Life is "The Edge" this club welcomes newbies and oldies alike to enjoy dancing and music.  The Edge closed for a while, but it's now reopened a great place to rock out with your friends!

Mankind Tracer - Live Performance

I had the privileged of seeing Mankind Tracer perform at Sweet Whispers he has a great voice and sang easy listening tunes both popular and his own music.  The performer links into the sims radio stream and performs live, singing and in Mankind's instance playing the guitar beautifully!  Mankind takes request, but you must choose something off his playlist, which is listed at the venue!

Mankind has performed for five years in Second Life and has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award 2011 for Outstanding Contributions to Second Life.

In real life, Mankind Tracer is Seth Regan and his music can be found on his website, Itunes, Amazon.com, etc.  He is music style is mellow and romantic.  His concert would be a great place to take your sweetie for a special night out on the town!

Music is part of our Second Life and thanks to the many venues that support live performers such as Sweet Whispers, everyone can enjoy great performances!

Author's Note:  Clubs filled with lots of people, are also full of lag, but it's so worth it!

Highlight Tour of Second Life Art Galleries, Part 2.5

The floor of the first floor at Crossworld Gallery

Crossworld Gallery

The next stop on my art tour is Crossworld Gallery and it lives up to its name by having over thirteen floors of Real Life and Second Life artwork. The Second Life fantasy artwork of Gee Noel is spectacular! 

Pixivore Allen display's her RL acrylic paintings of lush, vibrant flowers painted from her travels in Asia and Africa. At first, you think that the flowers are second life, but upon closer inspection, just fabulous paintings!  Kirle Adamski is a RL artist and uses watercolor as her medium and the colors and style are vibrant, abstract and lovely!  My new fantastic discovery is Sledge Roffo his artwork is called primigary and it's absolutely beautiful!  The colors are stunning and wonderful!  His artwork is located on the fifteenth floor!

Julia Gray uses people as part of her artwork blending them in as part of the scene, these brilliant paintings can be found on the forth floor and is an absolute treat to view!  Right around the corner from Julia are fantastic paintings of jungle animals in vibrant colors and majesty by Gamini Ratnavira.

The gallery itself is made up of floating spheres above the sim. The floors are styled differently giving them a distinct flavor to match the paintings and their artists.  One portion of the floor is clear allowing you a glimpse of that is below!  (My favorite type of floor!)

Art of Destiny, Crossworld Gallery

In my personal opinion, no art gallery is truly complete without beautiful, relaxing gardens.  My visitation to the Art of Destiny gardens were wonderful!  Your TP'ed facing two huge replicas of the "Lord of the Rings" statues on either side of the stream and so begins a great time of taking Picture Perfect Second Life photos!

Crossworld Gallery has a variety of artists using many different mediums such as:  oil, acrylic, watercolor, digital media, 3D, scripted/interactive, ink and pencil, stained glass, and photography to name a few.   There is also a wide use of styles such as:  contemporary, abstract, post-modern impressionism to list make a very short list.  This Gallery is not to be missed and get two thumbs up!

Author's Note:  This is a gallery virtually lag free!

Another Note from the Author:  This gallery closed on January 3, 2012.