Bayou Chat Noir's Cat People Halloween Hunt

By Klaus Bereznyak

There's still time to dive into the sights and sounds of the sweltering delta on the Bayou Chat Noir sims and participate in the Cat People hunt until the end of the month. At any time, these districts are worth wandering, but the hunt is the perfect opportunity to immerse in the swampy atmosphere and see some of the most atmospheric locations.

Bayou Chat Noir, is modeled after French Louisiana in the early 1900s. The personality of one of the notorious sim owners, SL impressario 'Kitty' (Vinje), looms at every turn and it is popular with former residents of the similarly themed St. John sims which closed in December 2017. Kitty's love Shack was a popular venue in the St. John community and has been transplanted here to continue business as usual.

The Cat People hunt is based on the story of the 1942 horror film directed by Jacques Torneur. It tells of a Serbian woman, Irena, who cannot keep the 'cat' part of her true nature hidden for long. Participants begin in the zoo, by the panther cage, to pick up the first clue. Each of the ten clues, obtained by clicking on a found object in the location, unfolds a little more of the story and tells you where to go and what to look for next. Local windlight and volume up is recommended for the best experience. If there's some slow loading, you can drop the draw distance without missing much, because it's fairly gloomy anyway.

I found most of the items relatively easy to find. The locations themselves take a little more exploration but can all be reached on foot and pretty much follow a linear route that doesn't involve any back tracking or teleporting.

The town and swamp is eerily lit for the season and decorated with pumpkins and lanterns and haunted by glowing wraiths. The hunt covers shops, and galleries as well as taking in the residential areas, a church, a graveyard and a hunted house where there is a 'forgotten room' to discover. The final clue unlocks the room full of prizes, five in all plus directions to a bonus prize that can be picked up at Kitty's bar. Not surprisingly, the prizes are cat themed and well worth while for the hour or so it will take to get around.

SLURL:
Bayou Chat Noir: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/BAYOU%20CHAT%20NOIR/164/203/21

Klaus Bereznyak

Studio 33 and Gee's Gallery

By Gemma Cleanslate

I love arriving at Art and Galley at Studio 33. The entry is set up similar to the LEA Welcome area . One can see all the artists that are exhibiting at the time. Studio 33 is a long established gallery, but I have not been here in a while to visit.  The main gallery is a delight to walk through. There are pieces by many artists of many different genres and styles. You will definitely see something to fall in love with.

The exhibit of the month is reached by teleport . Donna Giordano (Ohsoleomio Resident) is an artist in real-life and Second Life. Her lovely splashes of color really pop on the walls. Of her work she says in her bio,” My work is a mix of bright bold opaque strokes full of energy and soft, quiet, watery and translucent hues. Some simple, some complex. Layer upon layer, sometimes up to 20 layers or more of colors, textures and forms.

I love to experiment therefore I don't have one set style. No one ever knows what I might come up with next, including myself!”  I saw some lovely quiet subtle pieces among the vibrant ones.

Outside her gallery area is a large vibrating movement piece by Pol Jarvinen whose pieces I have seen in so many places and events. His picks on his profile is an art gallery in itself!  A visit to Studio 33 is always such a pleasure. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Rockcliffe%20Conservatory/212/64/22

I next dropped in at my friend, Gee (GeeJAnn Blackadder) ‘s Gallery, Active Interiors Garden in Mooter. It is a lovely building filled with art from Gee and also invited artists. The Gallery has been in Second Life since 2009. Gee has a great sense of humor and is very pithy with her sayings. Her greeter I found beautiful pieces both static and moving on the three floors.

 On the upper floor I found a sculpt that Gee had given me several years ago. I have it on my home roof patio. There it is.

The top floor holds the real-life art work of the artist ,Vandug Resident. The paintings of nature works, for the most part, are enchanting.

Outside the Gallery there is the Art Yard also filled with exhibits of invited artists. It is a refreshing place to relax as you view the the pieces on the wall.

I found Gee, Silvia Ametza and Kimble (kimblecoles Resident) working on a new venture... “evocative skits” according to Gee. They have been working on this since July. If you would like to see the skits come to http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mountain%20Falls/74/128/1502  Thursdays at 6am SL time.

To visit the Gallery and the Art Yard  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mooter/226/68/101 

Gemma Cleanslate

Musical Sculpture Gallery

By Gemma Cleanslate

What a wonderful find this gallery is! Musical Sculpture Gallery is small but a place to spend quality time if you enjoy interactive exhibits with no work involved by you. Just walk to the nearest sculpt and listen .

The piece begins tantalizing meditative music ... some call new age. Each sculpture has its own sound or music by Claus Gahrn (Nicolaus Skytower). The pieces are by some of the famous artists of Second Life. I saw several by Ub Yifi and Treacle Darlandes, B1nary (Binary Quandry), White Lebed and others . What a wonderful collaboration!

When I stood next to the “man with a horn" (in my mind) I enjoyed my shadow with the art in the window behind and the haunting call of the horn.. This will put you right next to the first sculpture. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hermione/133/53/305

While I was at the Music Sculpture Gallery I im’d Treacle Darlandes to tell her how lovely her pieces there were .

 When she answered she assumed that I was visiting her Walk of Art at the Lawst Paradise Gallery.
I had not been over there yet so took the landmark and off I went. Near the entrance there is a list of credits to those who inspired the work or helped with the installation.  What a spectacular exhibit I experienced. This is a combination of words .. music.. and art.

Move up the stairs to each level where there are exquisite pieces to view.

The stairs in the walk lead to very different words about life and love and enchanting art pieces that express the words . It is mystical experience , making your way to the top level .At each level I thought this one must be the apex... but no there was more..

Treacle had told me , “no camming!” . I promised , only to take a picture . I did the walk the way it should be done, reading, pausing to reflect and admiring it all and listen to the music. Don’t miss this one.!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lawst%20Paradise/200/234/2001

Gemma Cleanslate

Paula Cloudpainter: New Works at Visions of Beauty

By Klaus Bereznyak

Paula Cloudpainter is an avatar most well known for ... well ... painting clouds. And she does it very well. We covered her last exhibition in January. This month, Paula unveiled a whole new series of works in her space at the Visions of Beauty galleries.

In this inspiring exhibition, Paula continues to demonstrate that there is no end to the fascination and beauty of clouds. While her previous collection was themed around the meeting point of clouds and water, here she takes to the skies with her artists brush and her camera to show "The Meaning of Clouds", with all their moods and charm. The open-air space holds a series of ten art works in various media, and the interior gallery hosts eighteen real-life photographs.

What is the meaning of clouds? Who has not looked up at the sky and seen all kinds of familiar shapes and meanings sculpted in water vapor high above the earth? Being in this exhibition, the same kind of reverie sweeps over us as we are tempted indulge our imagination and seek meaning in the clouds. Paula's own words give a clue to her intentions in presenting this work but leave it open for us to discover something that speaks to us uniquely:

"My new work looks at how clouds can be a guide to our connection with the universe by encouraging us to live in the moment, embrace change and be as unique as each cloud is in the sky."

"The Meaning of Clouds" by Paula Cloudpainter is open over the coming months at Visions of Beauty and is well worth taking the time to visit. The Gallery complex holds rolling exhibitions by SL artists old and new so it's a great place to embark on a virtual art world tour and see what else is on display.

SLURL: https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Whinlatter/137/49/79 

Klaus Bereznyak

The Tarot Garden

By Gemma Cleanslate

The visiting artists are opening their sims at LEA for the season. I took a trip to visit the Tarot Garden installation of Secondhandtutti. What an amazing creation! Working with her team the land has been transformed to echo “  Niki de Saint Phalle’s esoteric sculpture garden based on the Tarot cards, located in Tuscany, Italy. This project started in the late seventies and ended when Niki passed away in 2002. “

 There is a long walk in the region to visit all the figures and structures made in mosaic form. This is very different art, transformative, and lots of fun. If you use or know Tarot this will be of great interest to you . I went to the web to read about the original artist Niki who seems to have had a very tortured life from her earliest childhood years but was very beautiful and very talented.

The Grand Opening of the sim was held on August 11. I missed the opening sorry to say but did get over to talk with tutti at the end. She was thanking Venus Adored for the particle display that brought her to tears with the beauty.

She spoke about her fascination with Niki and her art and her attachment to it all. “As an artist who does original and also transformative art, I found this project to be a walk on the mystical, for you see, I found myself talking to Niki as I made each build. No no not "talking" to her, but communing with her in the sense of, 'Why did you put that there Niki?'   'Why did you use that symbol Niki?'   'What did that mean to you Niki?' Niki said two invaluable things that I have held close to me as an artist.  The first was about her Tarot Garden. She said that it was her 'destiny to make a place where people can come and be happy: a garden of joy.' This motivated me to manifest her garden of joy into our virtual worlds on my own, while acknowledging the source but also putting it into a new dimension. “

 There will be events all month and on into the fall . Join the group to receive notice of events . One can go for a lecture, or a walking guided tour that will be held each Monday at 11:30 am SL time during August. There is a mini hunt going on to find Nomi and take a picture with her. Begin your visit here. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA17/13/244/21 


Gemma Cleanslate

Fractal Insanity and Rose Theater

By Gemma Cleanslate

I received a new Art Gallery Hud the other day and since I have not been to many galleries lately decided to take a look at some of those I have not visited before, or lately. My first visit was the Fractal Insanity where Millie Sharple has her works on display. Many love fractal art. I like it very much and you can certainly get your fill of it in this gallery.

Millie says of her art, “Although I have stretched myself and moved away from fractals somewhat, they are always an integral part of my art, along with my real-life photography.  In my new gallery, fractals are used in a totally different way and some of them are hardly recognisable.  Life is too short to stagnate in shallow waters, using the same tools repeatedly - we need to grow and develop! I love to experiment and the results bring me much pleasure and peace.”

 There are gorgeous pieces , rich and vibrant, both static and moving here. As soon as you land on at the entrance you feel the movement under you and all around. Walking through the extensive exhibit it is amazing to see all the varied patterns , especially the kalideiscope pieces that are almost mesmerizing. Pick up a gallery hud at the entrance.

 http://maps.secondlifecom/secondlife/Serena%20Montecito/220/162/30

I took a random TP off the art hud and went to an old favorite of mine, The Rose Theater Gallery. Here many Second Life artists are displayed in a magnificent setting. In the first room I admired the art of Sisi Biedermann whose works I have seen displayed in other galleries and is quite lovely and eclectic.

There are so many massive gallery rooms displaying beautiful art by many artists. The gallery has been chosen as the best gallery in Second Life for several years .

Upstairs in Gallery 7 I found the splashes of color art by Matt Thomson .

One can easily get lost in this extensive venue of halls and galleries and dining rooms. Have fun!

The decor everywhere is outstanding!  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Angel%20Manor/123/138/29

That gives you too very different types of galleries to visit among all the others offered on your hud.!

 Gemma Cleanslate

Andrea Jones' "Reflections of Darkness" Opens at National Museum of Caledon

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Sunday July 22, there was an opening party for a new exhibit at the National Museum of Caledon in the Caledon II sim : "Reflections of Darkness." As it turned out, while this was  Andrea Jones' exhibit, the artwork wasn't hers but rather the poetic verses tied to these dark (mostly) images of various artists. There was a notecard one could pick up at the entrance, as well as a sign on the wall, that explained how the exhibit came to be.

Welcome, Back in the early part of 2013 I was a heavy Facebook user and I was going through a rough time. I ended up spending several months where, as I came across different pictures posted on FB.  I saw stories in the pictures and crafted verses to go with them.

Some of the verses were a form of therapy and as such some are very dark. Some were written for friends on Fb and some as parts to their Wiccan pages. The verses are raw, placed here as they were originally posted so many years ago, good, bad, short or long. Many of the images here have the artists name on them. So credit is placed to them, the words are mine.

Due to the amount of material, It could take some time to go through so take your time. Enjoy.

Cynthia Farshore played the music for the event, which got some complements, "Thanks, trying to put in something for everyone." There were a couple songs from "The Phantom of the Opera," "Thriller," "Ghost Riders in the Sky," the theme music to "Ghostbusters," Ray Stevens' "Sittin Up With The Dead,""Monster Mash," and more.

People also complemented Amdrea for her verses, "... you did write some really good poetry to the pictures, Andrea." "It is true, Andrea, it is only having journeyed through loss and darkness that one truly appreciates the light." Talking to Andrea, she had a few things to say about the exhibit, "There are a few lighter pieces in the mix. The Facebook page was made for darkness though. A few friends are keeping it running. I only wrote for a few months."

Star (Astarynite Resident) is the owner of the museum. When I asked when the idea came about for the exhibit, she told me, "I think Andrea had three weeks to pull everything together." Andrea explained, "I stated importing the verses and pics from Facebook a couple of years ago. I built a museum to put them in, but did not finish pulling them all from outside Second Life. I spent  about three weeks, yes, finishing the material. Star's museum was already to go, so I did them for here. I have more material, but no pics to go with them. Wasn't really needed on the Facebook page"

When Cynthia started playing the theme music of "Dr. Who," that got Andrea thinking, "Hmmm, I had a piece about Dr. Who,. but I don't think I presented it. ... Ah, here it is. 'A Whovians Bad Night.'"

So I am a Whovian and sleep won't come
These rhymes these rhymes bounce off my ear drums.

Like the Master with the drum beat four
Drumming in my head with sledge hammer force

Beating and beating demanding release
Threatening to drive away my nights sleep

O Doctor O Doctor where have you gone
Inside the TARDIS is where peace will come

Inside the time nexus where time rages on
Sleep is possible because everything is gone

Here in the nexus the question is not asked
So silence can not fall like an axe.

Fixed time points must stay safe
So everything in time stays in place.

Alas the rhymes are at last fading
Like the wrath of a good man abating

So sleep is just around the corner
As the Vasta Nerada dances in my quarters

So asleep and dreaming must I be
Because Captain Jack just made a pass at me.

Another picture mentioned was "Sisters Mr. Spider."

Hello Mr Spider why are you there?
What are you doing on the wall over there?
Why are you hanging over fathers head?
He won't like it if he wakes and finds you there.

Mr. Spider why are you so large?
Do spiders grow that large in the yard?
Should father wake up he will try to take charge.
He will try to squish you for being so large.

Mother would probably let out a scream.
Awaking my brother who is pretty mean.
Mother would grab me and run until she ran out of steam.
Leaving father here to squish you to cream.

I think Mr. Spider you should come with me.
I was about to sit down with my dollies and have tea.
You can join us, as I have a cup already laid out for tea.
With as many arms you have, you can have as much as you need.

I think it would be best if we let them sleep.
Waking them now would cause a scene.
If you are hungry I have cookies with my tea with icing.
I think you will like them better than people sleeping.


One visitor commented, "I'm going to sleep with the lights on after seeing this spider over the bed picture." Andrea responded, "I have a spider human avatar, but it cleared the room last time I showed up in it. The DJ was frightened of spiders, she poofed. I left so she could come back." Cynthia commented, "While in the Nav,y a guy told me he was on the ship in his rack which are enclosed but for one side, he opened his eyes to see a spider about an inch and a half wide hanging right above his head which would have been only 8~12 inches." She soon played Jim Stafford's "Spiders and Snakes."

Another visitor commented, "The Great Beyond verse is my favorite so far!" This was a picture of a skeleton in an astronaut's suit. Andrea commented, "I was thinking of the early (Star Trek) Federation space flights when I wrote it, with a little 'Space Above and Beyond.'"

Space the Final Frontier
Where your corpse is preserved for all the years

In space no one can hear you scream
Outside your capsule all is quiet and serene

No more eyes, no more ears
Nothing left with for you to know fear

Through time and space you hurtle on
A silent witness to the great beyond

One picture looked like a big contrast with the others, a picture of puppies. What are puppies doing in a gallery full of ghoulish pictures? But a closer looked showed something wasn't quite right, especially with the title: "Demon Dogs."

We look so cute. But that is a disguise.
To see our true nature just look into our eyes

Still don't see what our disguises hide
Why you should run and hide

Come closer and we will show you why


Star has only had a few exhibits in the museum before this one, "Andrea's is my fifth show. I was hoping to have a miniature show of builders builds, but most builders it seems do not make small versions of their builds and many things in the build are already at their smallest size and can't be shrunk."

So what is Andrea planning next? She told me, "I'm working on a community build in the Steam Skye City region. The Island of the Circle. ... I'm trying to come up with a build for Burn 2 in October ... for the Caledon Oxbridge University October fundraiser." She would be doing a Halloween-themed build, "I'm going to build one big one like last year ... with maybe two dance areas."

As for Star's museum after Andrea's exhibit, "I will be looking for a show in September if anyone has photographs, writings, anything they would like to display for a month or so."

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Caledon%20II/164/52/23

Bixyl Shuftan