The Lost Gallery

 

 By Netera Landar

 

At the entrance, there was a candy booth, a grand piano inside a Christmas gazebo, and a walk-through Christmas tree. Strands of twinkling lights wrapped around light poles, tying the scenery together. 

The Lost Gallery is hosting its 3^rd Annual Holiday Exhibit, featuring over 20 artists in a whimsical landscape. The opening weekend celebration was on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 6 p.m. with entertainment by DJ Sam. On Sunday, Dec. 14, at 1 p.m., Sax Player Steve Who performed. The event runs through Saturday, Jan. 3.

An art exhibit and entertainment. That’s a perfect combination when hosting an event.  

The exhibit’s setting was beautiful and realistic. Photographs and paintings were showcased on easels along a long, snow-covered pathway. The work was easy to find and well organized. Each artist contributed three pieces for the exhibit. 

I teleported there early Saturday night before the contributors, organizers, and Lost Gallery’s supporters arrived. Harlo Jamison was already on the frozen pond dance floor, ready to greet people as they carefully stepped upon the ice. Harlo and Maggie Magenta are the event’s organizers. 

The exhibit’s setting was beautiful and realistic. Photographs and paintings were showcased on easels along a long, snow-covered pathway. The work was easy to find and well organized. Each artist contributed three pieces for the exhibit. Some provided bio statements, and a few offered gifts for the art patrons to take home. At the entrance, there was a candy booth, a grand piano inside a Christmas gazebo, and a walk-through Christmas tree. Strands of twinkling lights wrapped around light poles, tying the scene together. There’s even a Santa in a hot-air balloon.

Eager to know more about the gallery, I asked Harlo if Lost Gallery had a building for exhibits.

“The Lost Gallery is more of a concept than an actual building. Though we sometimes do use a building. We tend to move around the grid, sometimes doing art walks for other sims. Maggie and I both have our own small galleries, so Lost Gallery is a partnership more than anything else. The only thing permanent about Lost Gallery is that we always do a holiday exhibit!” said Harlo.

Asked who was involved in building the setting, Harlo replied, “I do the building…Maggie is our people person. I’m a slow builder…it took about 3 weeks for this one.”

Participating artists include:

Mikal Angello, DragonAngelvs, Michiel Bechir, Zia Brenner, Duraya, Prins Evergarden, Dante Helios, Johannes Huntsman, Georgie Iceghost, Harlo Jamison, Sparkly Mc Baubles, Maggie Magenta, Serena Marabana, Vixen Reigndeer, Alex Riverstone, Rosie Riverstone, Reign Rolfs, Doc Romano, Jamee Sandalwood, Giselle Seeker, Gayle Sweetwater, Kika Yongho, and Mary Zimmer.

 

DJ Sam and Aya Intikhab dancing together.

During the first entertainment session, DJ Sam played holiday music, and Aya was the hostess, while everyone skated or danced. Loved the sparkling lights beneath the ice and the giant snow globe. A few songs Sam played were, “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow” by Harry Connick, Jr.; “Almost Christmas” by Chris Isaak; “Christmas Lights” from Coldplay; “Come On Home for Christmas” by George Ezra; “Baby It’s Cold Outside” by Dean Martin; “Mistletoe and Holly” by Frank Sinatra; and “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” by Small Town Titans.

Everyone enjoyed dancing to the holiday music.

I asked two of the contributors about their work while they were dancing. I hated bothering them when they were having fun.

 

“I did a holiday photo and set it for just 10L, mostly as a gift,” said Vixen Reigndeer. “The other two are winter scenery and a hot chocolate stand…it’s all about the feeling the holidays bring.”

Mary Zimmer describing her work to GMetal Svartur. Left to right: Winter Refuge, Winter Sunset, Snowing While the Sun Shines. 

Mary Zimmer said her three photos are of Winter landscapes. “Winter Sunset is one of my most popular photos. They were taken a while ago, so the sims may not still be there. Snowing While the Sun Shines was taken at Blue Finch. Winter Sunset was taken at Echo Ridge.”

Serena Marabana’s Echoes of Snow, Snowdrops, where winter comes to rest. Pictured are a gazebo, a frozen pond, and a lighthouse.

Make sure you check out the exhibit before Jan. 3. Help support the contributors by purchasing their work.

Johannes Huntsman, Winterscapes 25, in blue tones, gives you the winter vibe. Johannes is the creator and owner of Kultivate Magazine and galleries.

Vixen Reigndeer's photography. I see adorable snowmen on the side of the road, frozen branches endangering a tree, and warming up with a cup of coffee.

Zia Branner’s Zale, Liberosis, and Cascade.

Gayle Sweetwater’s Winter’s Spring, Wandering Snowman, and Winter’s Winter watercolor paintings.

Giselle Seeker’s Through the Trees, Holiday cheer, and Arctic Sun. 

Holiday Candy booth and grand piano in a Christmas gazebo

Kika Yongho, Think, Early Bird, and Travel in Time.

Slurl: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Moran/78/193/53

Netera Landar 

 

R&N Photography And Art Gallery

 

 By Bixyl Shuftan

 

 

About a week ago, I attended the opening day party of an art and photo gallery exhibit. It was held by the staff of Club Lion for "R&N Photography / Art Gallery."

 

Nita (Huanita Wunderlich)  sent the invitation, "You're Invited to Party with us on Thursday 10th July.  - Start ⏰ 12 pm slt. We have some amazing photos to share with you. A collection of photos from both of us, from years of photography. Ricardo & Me open our New Photography and Art Gallery, also we Celebrate my RL Birthday. Looking forward to see you! ㋡ - I would be very Happy if you could make it ㋡ "

 

 I dropped by when Ricardo Avalira was performing on stage at 1PM.

 

 There were some gifts available.

 

Including a rideable pickle. 

 

 The exhibits were in two different rooms. One had the following sign, "All the photos in this gallery are my RL work. I have placed my work into these amazing frames, which will resize via a menu from small enough to place on your coffee table to large enough to cover the entire wall of your house. For this reason I have priced them all the same, even though they are displayed at different sizes."

 

 There were various examples of art. One could get a copy if desired, but that would cost about 100L.

 

 One wing had some mannequins (art?) and a few examples of sculpture.

 

 This included a colorful lion head which one guy made into a mask.. 

 

 You can get to the exhibit at: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Lions/47/32/3335     

 

 Bixyl Shuftan

 

Design

 

"My Greece, My Cats" by Slatan Dryke

 *
By Bixyl Shuftan

Last week, I was at the opening of an art exhibit by Slatan Dryke. I've known Slatan best for his support of the projects his partner iSkye Silverweb takes part in. But he's also an accomplished artist. This was the opening of a photography exhibit, "My Greece, My Cats."

On Sunday March 21, I dropped in at the Kultivate Art Gallery at Noon SL time, and there was a small crowd there. 

 Slatan and iSkye were there in tiny avatars, dinkie cats. dancing to the music. He and others happily greeted me, and invited me to get information from the sign about the exhibit. 

"My love of Greece goes back to when I traveled to Greece my first time more than 40 years ago," Slatan stated in one of the two cards I read, "I have had the great lucky, being Greece is one of my neighbor countries, to visit so many islands where the marrow of its culture and traditions did not change in centuries. Don't ask me about the most fashionable locations, because I have never been there. Ask me about a bunch of those small islands where the time runs slowly under the shade of a tamarisk tree. There are so many tiny jewels, often unknown to the touristic chains, where you can find your nook of joy, coming from the simplest daily things but overall from the feeling that you become part of the local community, that in some cases is not larger than 500 inhabitants."

"My long path to find what the Greeks call "Pyrinas" (Core) is finally ended some years ago when I visited for the first time the isle of Astypalaia. Love at the first sight ! In love with its rich history, the clear waters surrounded by an harsh nature, the fresh and tasty simple food, and the cats! Every Greek island has a colony of stray cats, and Astypalaia is no exception. They are the genuine freeholders, the custodians of the old city and the harbour, looking at you with that glance of indifference and mercy for that poor hooman, who wishes for the freedom that they will never have. Maybe this is the reason why everyone loves and cares for them !"

"Lovely material things help a lot, we know it, but what touched me from the very first days has been how the people there include you, not as a short time visitor but as someone who is part of them, always ready to share with you a pure straight smile, or a wave from an elder that sees you for the first time. Well this is my Pyrinas and now after many years spent there, they consider me a son of Astypalaia and I feel that deeply in my bones! With these images I wanted to share with you part of it, hoping that you can feel it."

Lyric Serendipity played some music for the people there. Later on, Jessie Janic would perform.

Vee Tammas Shocker (Veruca Tammas), whom I saw at a number of Second Life Birthday events, greeted people, She commented, "It's like 6 degrees of separation around SL. We all bump into each other now and then." iSkye mused, "And in SL perhaps there are only three degrees of separation." JaysinTaylor Resident, Lyric's announcer, mused, "I think in SL there are endless degrees of separation."

One visitor would comment of Slatan and his exhibit, "How cool Slatan....an cutting edge avatar who only uses old school photography tools!" Slatan responded, "And something called film, that someone does not know what it is, hehe."

Another notecard would say of Slatan he's from Italy, "Slatan loves Art in every form, but he is most fond of paintings and sculptures, following his classical education. Slatan is also a photographer in RL. ... His buildings, sculptures and photographies have been exhibited in Art Galleries and at a number of main SL events::  University of Western Australia (UWA), BURN2's, Santalarity, Burnal Equinox, Conception; SL Birthday, Raglan Shire's ArtWalk, Art in the Park, Emphatic Eccentricia, Seaside Gallery, Oxford @rts Gallery. Pop-Up Art, Cape Able Art Gallery, VWBPE (Virtual Worlds Best Practice in Education), Ethnographia, Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA), Kultivate Windlight Art Gallery, Holly Kay Art Park, Phoenix Artists Collaboration, Ani's Gallery, La Maison d'Aneli, Argentum Artem, ArtCare Gallery, International Photography Festival, One Billion Rising, Relay for Life, Rock your Rack, Second Life Endowment for The Arts (SLEA), and many others including collaborations with artists in Second Life and Educational Institutions in Real Life as EduNation and Dublin Institute of Technology."

One can see more of Slatan's pictures on his Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/22453297@N02/

To check out the exhibit, head here: https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Water%20Haven/28/110/31

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Kayly Iali’s Art At The Paris Metro Art Gallery

By Gemma Cleanslate

I made it to the opening party in Paris for the September opening in the gallery. The  delightful Tiny Maniac’s Band was hard at work playing their music and Keeba Tammas, a well known Second Life vocalist, was singing her songs . The party was well  under way when I arrived in the lovely courtyard. Everyone was in great form dancing along. I stopped there for a while to enjoy the music then stepped away into the gallery where Kayly Iali’s art is on display for the next month.

Kayly was at the door when I entered. She says of her work, "I am an alla prima painter. I paint still life, mostly fruits but my first love is portraits. I also had painted abstracts. I do calligraphy and bring my calligraphic skills into my abstracts.I started my art career back in 2009 after graduating from California State University at Sacramento in studio arts. Going back to school was a great way to keep one toe in art as my kids were growing up. Since then I have been jurored into a couple of major regional art competitions and sold paintings through Etsy.com . I came into SL in 2009 and started exhibiting in 2010. I had showings at Pirats, Space 4 Arts, and others.”   

Alla prima is a new term to me so I looked it up and it is wet-on-wet, or alla prima is a painting technique, used mostly in oil painting, in which layers of wet paint are applied to previously administered layers of wet paint. I am glad I did because it helped me see her paintings in a different light as I went through the gallery. Her love of painting fruit is evident as she explores the fruit from different viewpoints in her art. It is so interesting to see an artist who brings their art from real life into Second LIfe. I enjoy visits to galleries where I see this. I have seen Kayly’s art in other galleries passed through. I hope you will stop over to visit during the next month while the exhibit is up. 

Kayly mentioned she may start painting pumpkins soon.  Walking in the Paris region is always so interesting. Enjoy !  

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Paris%20Couture/129/26/22

Gemma Cleanslate 

Fuschia at Crimson

By Gemma Cleanslate

 

Fuschia Nightfire is a well known award winning machinima artist in sl. She is also a well known artist in real life, Nina Camplin of the UK. She specializes in trompe l’oeil, one of my favorite art forms . She "is interested in challenging the observer's perception of space and creating illusions of faked realities.“  Her work can be viewed on the web and you will find a notecard with all the directions to them.

I was invited to an opening of her new installation at Influence Art Community Sunday. It is delightful and well worth a visit. Be sure to get the folder at the entrance to the gallery which contains directions for media and some goodies to take with you. The media in this exhibit is a mixture of Second Life and real life. Her flashes of color, closeups brightness and subtleties are amazing as they flash across the screens and walls. 

 

Wolfie Moonshadow is featured in some  of the videos. Wolfie was present at the party and commented, “I have to say this is my most fav video we did Fuschia."  He also appears in his real life person in the particular video as well as his SL avatar. Fuschia said it took a year to convince him to do it.  The artist was performing on top of a TV wearing the media images as were the walls .   It was great fun. 

 

Be sure to get over there to visit while it is open . There are several interactive ways to join in the media while you are there . Look for the dance on TV and get into it! The first video you will see is the opening party.  This is total immersion! 

 

The curators of the exhibit are Yvan Slade and Lana Simondsen Eleonara and the designer is MacKena Soothsayer.  

 

 Many of her videos are on you tube . Take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib_LxjvRgKw

To get to the gallery  take this entrance http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Crimson%20Isle/128/128/21

 

Gemma Cleanslate

New Installation at LEA 26

By Gemma Cleanslate

I actually was able to attend an opening of a new installation in LEA 26. I have been missing so many openings lately it was a real treat! It was a fun party with live entertainment, songs by Luke Auster, danced to by an appreciative audience.  Soon after I arrived I was invited to TP to the ground for a dragon ride  installed by Judi Newell . What a great overview of the project. There is so much to investigate, touch everything  and find out what happens. This is a huge exhibit reaching high into the sky and under the water.  After the ride, which took me over the party area, I returned for the end of the party.  Monday I went back to investigate all that I had missed or not visited yet.There is so much to see and explore! 

I happened upon Lorin Tone who explained a lot to me. Since Madcow is absent from Second Life at this time, Lorin has done most of the building and the sounds. There are many parts of the exhibit that are  pieces they did together in the past which you may recognize from other exhibits but many that have not been seen before. 

One particular part is a section of Las Vegas and I asked Lorin about that...“Ah, we did a machinima with Chantal Harvey of Eric Whitacre's 'Godzilla Eats Las Vegas.' Whitacre came into SL and was interviewed, I met him there. Asked him if I could a SL version of the piece and he said sure.” It is : A Second Life version of Eric Whitacre's "Godzilla Eats Las Vegas," produced and directed by Chantal Harvey and Lorin Tone, featuring Madcow Cosmos, Lauren Weyland and Judi Newall (and a cast of dozens).” You can see it here. Cute and funny! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47ybl5JKPwU Las Vegas machinima, or you can view it at the Las Vegas set in the sim as part of your visit. 


The instruments all around the region on and ground and above need to touched and be sure to listen. Some are trampolines, which I found out as I bounced around (laughter). Lorin will be doing some performances and  demonstrations of the instruments and also discussing sound techniques in Second Life. While you are there don’t miss the singing whales, the harps, and try the evolution of a sandwich, and The Steam Dancefloor! There is so much!!

Start here near the dragon ride and grab a notecard at Welcome and Information . The dragon will help you recognize where you want to be and then you are on your own. Pick up some of the wonderful instruments as you move along.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA26/134/123/27

Gemma Cleanslate