I gave me great pleasure to interview one of my favourite creators, Cheen Pitney, sculptor who also has a sense of humour.
BD: As one of the leading figures in the SL Sculptor scene, what is your RL background, art wise?
CP: Well, that's very nice of you to say but I am a relative new comer to the concept of digital 3d art. Having graduated from art school and spending my life covering the arts from murals to logos, from illustration to carved concrete sculptures, from map making to sign painting it was a pleasant surprise for me to find this new way of creating art ...... digital 3d building, what a treat.
BD: Your avatar name of Cheen Pitney, any significance to the 'other' Pitney, Gene?
CP: Ah, yes, .. to Runaway to another world, what a more fitting tribute than to the master crooner and besides isn't Cheen a cool name. Hardly anyone says Gesundheit .... anymore.
BD: I am impressed with the sheer scale of some of your works, especially the 'Crossed Swords'. How do you begin such a large work, the thought process etc. Do you sketch beforehand ?
CP: Crossed Swords is an extension of the Shattered Sword which was germinated by the ability here to freeze motion in space, as the shards of metal that are suspended in these pieces. Of course the smaller the components are the larger the piece must be and here in SL dimensions are virtually limitless. I have sketched ideas occasionally but, as all mediums do, the 3d SL engine and the prims determine the result to a great extent.
BD: Much of your work seems to be based on 'fantasy' ..unicorns etc. Where do you find inspiration?
CP: Well one of my favourite things is when a client comes up with a challenge for me and the fantasy/myth/legend realm is very popular in this as many other alternative universes. For myself I leave it up to the Muse that is with me at the moment.... and I like to play with forms. BD: What brought you into the SL world? and apart from sculpture, what is your favourite area in SL?
CP: Having read the spate of articles about SL I was reluctant at first to log on imagining that it would be all consuming, which of course it can be, hahahahah. As soon as I saw the fantastic things being created here by Starax, Stormy, Stella and a swarm of others it became obvious I had to learn to do this and luckily I turned out to be pretty adept at it... plus it's tons o' fun to travel around and see the crazy things folks dream up.
BD: I have asked this of other artists, but how to you feel the RL & SL art community can interact/evolve?
CP: Mmmm..... that's a toughie because RL art touches so many more senses than SL art can. Even though you shouldn't you know you could touch one of the silky marble sculptures in the Uffizi and if they let you close enough you could smell the stone and if you licked it, it would taste. Perhaps it's a matter of RL art and DIGITAL WORLD art .... as all oil paintings smell of oil, all digital art smells of ozone. On the technical side I think that SL is wonderful for promoting 2d artists from RL although once again it is a screen not a canvas.
BD: In SL, apart from your own work, what is your favourite piece of sculpture, and why?
CP: Some of the artist here have the ability to make a statement, show an emotion, evoke a feeling and one of my favourites of these is Stormy Roentgen and the piece I would choose is her sculpture titled "Scorned". Stormy is of course highly adept at jamming prims together and in this piece she virtually rips open her psyche to send the orange pain radiating to the universe in invisible screams of rage..... that's what I get out of it anyway, lol.
BD: Same question but this time in relation to RL.
CP: No doubt in RL my favourite piece of sculpture is the giant bronze canoe by Bill Reid in the Vancouver International Airport. I have been fascinated by west coast aboriginal art since I came to Canada and he is one of the best. The multitude of figures on this canoe and the interplay of forms and shapes keep me staring at this masterpiece for hours ... o , and Petel is good too, to say the least.
BD: Who, either living or dead, most inspires you, and again why?
CP: Van Gogh cause he was crazy and still lived brilliant art though never recognized in his own lifetime.
BD: Favourite place in RL & SL?
CP: SL - my build platform RL - my front porch or the Uffizi, hahahahah
BD: Music/film inspires many artists, is it the same for you?
CP: Music and film and the grocery store and the highway and the conversation at the next table and the taste of this chilli and the words you just said and the itch I must scratch.
BD: If you could have 6 guests to dinner, living or dead, who would they be and why?
CP: Well I'd like my dad to be there, only remember meeting him once when I was very young and the Beatles '65 vintage and of course Gene Pitney, then we could all have a jam session, what a hoot.
BD: Finally… If money was no object, what single piece of art would you buy, and the reasons?
CP: I would buy one of the magnificent marble pieces that grace the gallery of the Uffizi. Then I could touch it, sniff it and maybe even lick it.
BD: The mind boggles at that one.. Anyway Cheen , thank you so much for taking time out for this interview, I look forward to seeing your new creation.
I own many of Cheen's works, so pop over but you can see more at the location below. Do go and see this guy's work, a pure joy.
Cheen Pitney's Peacefools Sculpt, FurNation Vista (217,152,25)
From the pen of Baron DeSantis
