Interview With Xirana Oximoxi

 
By Kayly Iali

Xirana Oximoxi (Nuria Vives)is a mixed media artist though trained in classical realism, she explores all mediums; constantly learning new ways to express herself in different ways. She is one of many real life artists who brings her art into second life. Her work is exhibited in various venues in major galleries throughout Second Life. Exhibited are series of Xirana’s portraits, children’s books, and mixed media works that were produced.

Xirana works from photos as well as on location...it depends on the subject matter. With landscapes she would start sketching outside, then take a photo and finish the work in the studio. With abstracts, she allows the painting inspire her.

Xirana is inspired by the old masters, Munch, Pollock, Soutine, Picasso and especially Goya as well as Monet and Turner. Her greatest influence would be her grandfather who also was a painter and a photographer but had died when she was very young. Also, Xirana gets help from going to exhibits and reading art books.In Second Life her favorite artists are actually 3D artists such as Meilo Minotaur, Mistero Hifeng, and Rose Borchovski.

Xirana started to exhibit in Second Life just for fun by renting a small gallery. Then as she found herself exhibiting in more galleries it became a way to create more art. Some galleries have a policy to change exhibits every three months more or less.So,in Xirana’s own words, “... so, it was kind of a way to think, what can I exhibit next! (smile).... and it is a way to share what you do ... sometimes more people will visit your exhibit here than in real life.” She had found the pressure to change exhibits affected her real life art, too.Some of the galleries that are exhibiting Xirana’s art are The Galleries, La Maison D’Aneli, InterstellART and Artists United Gallery.More collections of her works can be found at Time Lost Art.

One of Xirana’s projects in Second Life as well as in real life are her children's books; she writes and illustrates them. A friend suggested that some of her drawings would be perfect for children's books. She researched in public domain for stories but ended up writing her own. A course in illustrated children’s book was a great help in getting started in writing and illustrating children’s books.

Aimed toward ages 5 to 7 years old, Xirana’s first story was about a little mouse and his adventures. One of the adventures was Minu exploring a river but accidentally falls in. To rescue himself he grabs a chair as it flowed down the river. Minu encounters an old man who takes Minu in to live with him.

Xirana has since then written 10 other stories including a family of hippos and a girl named Amanda. Xirana describes Amanda as a curious character, open to learn and willing to help friends. She had written and illustrated five other stories relating to her adventures.

In Second Life Xirana’s children’s books are in exhibit at The Galleries and her gallery in Jubata. At The Galleries, Georgiana (180, 109, 48), a 3D setup of her book “The Heroes in Face Masks” can be viewed. Delightful paper sculptures and collages of animals and little children dancing on papered ground. At her gallery at Jubata (131, 245, 99), there is a slideshow of “Amanda and the Ladybug.”

Xirana’s children books are available on Amazon (link) and her own website, http://mynicebooks.com (in which a donation can be made for a free downloadable book). Lots of her books are in some educational platforms in schools.

Xirana’s advice to new artists who wants to exhibit in Second Life is “My advice is that here all is possible...No worries about galleries, to create your own is very easy...”

To see more of Xirana Oximoxi’s art visit her website at http://nuriavives.com/. Xirana sells her works in her Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/NuriaVivesArt. In real life Xirana’s artworks can be found in Spain and France. Also noted is her fundraiser, “A Pencil for Ghana” at her blog (link).

Kayly Iali

Scenes From the Burnal Equinox

By Bixyl Shuftan

From Saturday March 24 to Sunday March 25, the "Burnal Equinox" event was held inworld. Held every year, it is a spinoff of the "Burn 2" event taking place in October, which is based on the yearly "Burning Man" festival in real life. Yours truly dropped by the get a few pictures.

The event took place in the Burning Man Deep Hole sim. At the entrance, one could pick up a translator.

Here was where one could get a link to the Facebook page, and grab a few freebies.

A schedule of events.

 There were a number of exhibits around.

 In this exhibit, "What Emotional Planet Are You?" one could sit on the planets.

There was a tribute to the recently deceased Stephen Hawking. Although a physicist and not an artist, he was a hero to many, including to at least one Burner.

At one point, I noticed some flames and activity.

 The Burners had set a structure afire, and were now dancing in it.

Skye Silverweb was among the Burners there.

A look at the sim from above during the burn.

I later came across the structure when it wasn't burning.

That was the Burnal Equinox for this year. Stay tuned in October for Burn2.

Bixyl Shuftan

The Story of Second Life, 1999 - 2017, At The LEA

By Gemma Cleanslate

Hi all. I am on my way back from a health hiatus, slowly. I got a chance to get over to LEA 25 to visit the spectacular exhibit put together by گиіρєя (Sniper Siemens). If you love to reminisce about the early days of second life and all the fun of learning , visiting the Ivory Tower, camping, crashing, this is the place to go. If you just got here and would like to find out about the early days and the massive changes since the beginning, who is who and where , this is the place to go. 

The installation is fun and interesting. When I arrived, after greeting Philip Linden, I took the train car, which wound all around, showing you historical parts of Second Life and when and how they came to be.

 

 

The history of the Ivory Tower is there.  That is where anyone can go and learn about prims and what to do with them to build. It is still relevant today regardless of mesh. Do you know the first name for Second Life? Do you know what 'primatars are’? I always wonder who the first resident was....now I know. The very first years were fraught with problems including financial being the most but to see what came out of it all amazes me still.

 

Read about Mrs Chung, the first real life millionaire from Second Life holdings. She is still here today, as you know with numerous  holdings. 

I finally got the real story behind the closing of the casinos. I have heard so many! 

 

 

The closing of camping was one of the saddest recollections of my memory. I was a huge fan of camping... sitting around in shops  or in the woods of a sim that wanted to show traffic. I met some good friends doing that and made lindens for shopping. There are many road marks along the way

  
Burning Life and Burn 2 are displayed.. so many memories as I was a Ranger there for several years. I  looked at the earliest maps and ,wow, what a difference today

 The Greenies house is depicted. What a great place that was to visit and hang out. Imagine more than a huge house where you could skitter along the floor while the cat , about 500 times your size watched with interest. We fished in the kitchen sink for prizes and Greenie avatars.I still have several  and get to wear them once in a while. The humans living there never caught on about the mischievous Greenies.

You can see the origin of the Linden Bears, and the beginning of the Linden dollar. This place will keep you busy for a few visits.It was so enlightening as to how and where Second Life really got started and the determination to keep it going. I asked Sniper why she did this region . Her answer is “ This is an old idea. I was Mentor LL in 2006. I've always helped users in SL and this sim I think is helpful to everyone.” I agree! You have until June 23 to visit and enjoy.http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA25/120/126/22

Gemma Cleanslate