An Artist Passes from Our Midst - Artistic Fimicoloud

The Passionate Redheads, a SL Relay for Life Team was reminded in a most personal way the importance of what they do when one of their members, Artistic "Fimi" Fimicoloud, Stephanie Koslow in real life, passed away on Monday afternoon having succumbed to cancer. Upon hearing the news of her passing, members of the team, her friends and admirers of her art gathered at Park Galleries of Art to remember and honor her life, first and second. The outpouring of love and sympathy of the mourners has left a memorial scene complete with flowers, poems, candles and pictures of Fimi.
After arriving at the memorial site I paid my respects to her memory and then found her gallery. While sitting and admiring her work, I scanned around the space and came across this quote from an article written about her in the Poughkeepsie Journal on January 7, 2007:
Seeking solace from the fears that surrounded me, I began to paint - not the fears inside me, but my joy for the landscape I so loved. Flowing from some deep-seated force within me, out it poured - color, light and energy - not mourning what I'd lost, but celebrating the gift I'd been given.
I couldn't help but smile thinking of a woman I'd not met, seemingly not afraid of what life had dealt her and using it to share with us her passion for living and the visions she saw reflected in her art. One could see in her paintings the vivid colors of the Hudson Valley landscape she loved. A note card that came with a picture of yellow tulips I bought, told me that in each of her paintings, "I've tucked a small pink breast cancer ribbon into each painting which people love hunting for."
A bit later I spoke with a member of her RFL Team Members, Daaneth Kivioq who was at the at the memorial when I returned from the gallery. I introduced myself and offered my condolences. "Thank you Nazz, she will be missed." He replied then continued: "We are, in her honor, putting up special donation kiosks until the end of the SL RFL halfway there fair, on Sunday June 1st. Let me pass you a note with the SLURL's. All donations to these kiosks will be matched 1 for 1, up to 100,000 L."
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Southern%20Colorado/163/55/26http://slurl.com/secondlife/Park/235/43/79

I also spoke with another of Fimi's RFL team members and fellow artist Tricia Aferdita who had this to say of Fimi's passing in an announcement to her Cetus Art District Group: "This week, the SL art world lost one of its bright stars... The little pink fox who was known as Fimi … She was an amazing artist, kind person and beautiful soul. She will be missed."
In remembrance, a friend of Fimi's, Angel Enoch has written the following:
Fimi - Her Royal Pinkness
When I built Park Galleries of Art in Park Region...I advertised for artists wanting an inexpensive place to show their work. One of the creatures who showed up was a little pink fox...Artistic Fimicoloud.
She was brash, bold...right in my face. Even though two other people had appeared wanting the empty gallery before her, I had to give it to the little pink fox who announced loudly to all she was a breast cancer survivor, a real life artist also. Before I knew what was happening to me, Park Galleries was full of little party-happy furries and our first DJ party was the best that ever happened!
After some time, I felt Park had become quiet … and I felt it was time to end the galleries there.Fimi was so upset! I didn't realize that she was so attached to the little space, and she begged me to sell it to her. With Fimi at the helm, Park became alive again. It was the life within her that gave it a new spark...it blossomed, most of the artists who were there previously stayed on.
I feared it would become a museum instead of a gallery, with nothing new ever happening, but she proved me wrong again and again. May it always be so....and now that I've learned Miss Fimi is comfortable making her transition to another world....I know there is something in Park that will live on. Someone with that spark of life touches everything, and you find yourself in love with them and everything they do in spite of yourself. : )

And now every time I see a pink furry tail I'll think of Fimi!

By Nazz Lane

Interview with Kim Gottlieb Walker

Recently a friend sent me an invite to a photography exhibit (Career Retrospective) in the Woodstock Sim by RL photographer Kim Gottlieb-Walker..

As soon as things began to rezz I realized I recognized some of the pictures I was seeing on the walls. kim was present for the openining and I asked her if she would like to do this interview.. she graciously agreed . I then toured her permanent exhibit at her gallery in Push XI http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plush%20Xi/212/29/23.

I finally caught up with her at the park on the roof of her gallery. (Which incidentally is a a great place for dates...very romantic animations).

Delinda Dyrssen: Second Life. What brought you here?
KimLenswomanPhotographer Writer: My husband, who is a marketing genius (named one of the 50 smartest people in Hollywood by Entertainment Weekly) told me about SL...and since reggae, for example, is generally more popular around the world than in the USA, I decided to see if I could display and market some of my reggae photos here. So I did a search in world under reggae and found Destroy, Inc...a reggae headshop, custom dreadlocks store...and went there to find out if the owners might like to offer a few of my photos for sale and at first they were wary, wanted to know about copyright issues, etc...which I was very pleased about...and I directed them to my website and emailed them from my website to verify my identity and my ownership of the photos I'd taken and I said, so will you display a few? They said no...we will build you a GALLERY! So my first gallery here was built by Tom Eagle and Wullie Craig at Destroy Inc. After several months, I decided to buy the land adjacent to their store and build a gallery big enough to display much more of my work.

DD: I see this tree we are sitting in was created by you. You've caught the SL building bug?

KW: LOL...actually, I only built the trunk...I purchased the climbing branches. But I do all my own "framing" LOL. I may learn to do more...I'd love to have a "hippie" shop with clothes more appropriate to the late 60s and early 70s available here.

DD: That would be awesome .. especially since a good portion of the demographic in SL would remember the late 60's and 70's. Lets talk about the woman behind the avatar. Your currently showing you career retrospective exhibit in Woodstock Sim. Your professional career started in the 60's and is still going strong. How did you get into photography in the first place?

KW: When I left to go to Berkeley for my freshman year of college, my mother gave me her little fixed lens camera to take along. That was the year of the Free Speech Movement...and I photographed Joan Baez singing to a crowd of striking students. I was a psychology major at first...but rat psychology wasn't really my calling and I took the only film class offered there at that time and loved it so I decided to transfer to UCLA to try their motion picture major and ended up graduating there and being a teaching assistant in the film department. While there, I started shooting 35 mm film with an old Pentax and working on the light show for a traveling rock club (the head of the lightshow was one of my teachers from UCLA) and "The Doors" performed there regularly. I began to shoot for the Free Press and other "underground" papers...concerts, interviews including the interview with Jimi Hendrix out by the pool at a motel on the Sunset Strip. Those portraits were done when I was 20.
DD: You did a lot of work in Jamaica photographing reggae artists. As a matter of fact I read somewhere on the Internet that many of the most famous reggae album covers where from photographs you took. Can you tell me about that?

KW: I met my husband over the formation of Music World Magazine...a free publication which lasted a year and featured people no one had heard of on the cover, like Tom Waits and Rick Wakeman and Jesse Colin Young...and when it folded, my husband went to work first for United Artists Records and then as the head of publicity for Island Records in the U.S. so I went to Jamaica to photograph many of the musicians who had never been off the Island. I photographed Bob Marley for People Magazine as well. My favorite of the Wailers was Peter Tosh...such a sweet man. I was relieved when Bunny Wailer allowed me to photograph him, because I had heard a story that once a photographer had asked to photograph him and he said "I don't let Dead Men take my Pictcha" and the man died a few weeks later. So I figured I would be around for awhile. When Bob Marley was in Los Angeles, I shot the cover of High Times magazine that became one of their most popular , ever. One of my favorite photos is from during that session, where Bob is laughing with my 2 1/2 year old son, Orion, who thought of himself as a Rasta. Orion had learned to read before he turned 3 so he could read the liner notes on Reggae albums! 20 some years later, I shot the production stills for Orion's feature film (that he wrote and directed) "Dean Quixote" It's a wonderful film...but has no distributor. sort of a cross between Woody Allen and David Lynch

DD: It sounds like some of your talent was passed on to your son! While touring your gallery I ran across a room about The Cinematographers Guild . What is your involvement with them?

KW: I joined the International Cinematographers Guild in 1980...having gotten my days on John Carpenters film Escape from NY...I now am the elected representative of the 300 professional still photographers who work on movies and TV in the USA.

DD: Yes you did a lot of work in Television and Film in the US.. Tell me about how you got into shooting TV/Movie stills and the Guild?

KW: My next door neighbor, briefly, was Robert Mitchum's daughter, who was a still photographer for movies...and she had been asked to shoot a little low budget musical/comedy, but she was not going to be available...so she asked the producer/director to look at my portfolio...and he hired me to do the film. It was an awful movie...starring Lane Caudell, Wolfman Jack and Deborah Raffin...I don't think it was ever released...but the script supervisor on it was Debra Hill...who went on to produce and co-write Halloween with John Carpenter...and THAT was really my first feature film. After a few films together, when they knew Escape from NY would be a union film, they signed a contract with me to do it, so the union had to honor the contract and I got my 30 days required to join.

DD: Fascinating how a film that was never released can still lead to such a great career. I'm about out of time so one final question. What do you love about SL?

KK: First of all, I LOVE having an avatar that looks like me 35 years and 20 pounds ago...LOL. SL is also a wonderful way to display my photos from throughout my career to people of all ages from all over the world. I literally have 100s of photos on display in my gallery...with some permanent and some changing exhibits. Like the photos from Comic-Con I shoot each year in San Diego, CA. It will be a good forum during the upcoming presidential election in The US...gotta get all the US citizens to register to vote! We need some MAJOR changes and if we get an honest vote count, it will happen this year.

I could talk to Kim for hours about her experiences in photography but I couldnt put it all here.If you would like to know more about Kim you can go to http://www.lenswoman.com/

By Delinda Dyrssen

An Extraordainary Artist

Sometimes a wasted trip is never really wasted. While hanging around a favourite club in SL ;a pure Paparazzi moment happened. Standing just to my left was the artist Cienega Soon.
The artist is currently December's Featured Artist at the Avatrait Gallery in SL. Her work is a high definition mix of still life and popart/modernism. But what makes it so unusual is that it's all SL based.
Cienega Soon's 27 pieces are displayed for another week on the main floor of the gallery, and can be found on the upper levels as well all season long.
Her latest showing is from her series of children's books that have just been launched in rl. Once again all the artwork in them were created in sl.
When she is not expressing herself in this way, she is working for Looking Glass Magazine as a Music Journalist, as well as running her own gallery.

The book is called An Extraordainary Day and follows the adventures of a Raven and his friends.



Photos of the artist and her work taken by reporter Dashwood Dayafter

Buzz at Woodhaven Park

As reported by Dashwood Dayafter


Alias Art World is still new, but don't let that fool you. This group of galleries is hip, hot, and full of talent. Owner Dixie Barbosa is proof of that. The artist was the center of the buzz yesterday as his first exhibit opened (Prize Islands Art Exhibit at Woodhaven Park)
As you wander between the rows of photography you can't help but feel the emotion that he has managed to capture. This collection of rl photos were all shot while Mr. Barbosa was traveling between 2005 and 2007.
As you can tell from a few of his pieces, there is almost no additional work done to his photos. What you see is what you get, whether it is a scene of a older woman peeking out of her house in the middle of the day or a live band performing on stage, Mr.Barbosa has given you his personal eye view as real and raw as the moment it happened.

Mr. Barbosa is from Holland and does freelance work of his photography in rl.
You can find his gallery in sl in Alias it is shop number 7
and the Woodhaven Park exhibit is running for till the end of the month plus of course you can see it daily here as he also works as a reporter and photographer for SL-Newspaper.com!

Photographer Tonius Alderson Exhibition

A notecard invitation from a friend popped open when I logged into SL and I scanned the text, "Photographic Art Exhibit Upstairs Art Gallery @ MarillaAnne's Place ".
Hmmmmm, this sounds interesting I thought and quickly read through the rest of the note and then did a quick search on LM's.
I sent an IM before TP'ing, letting her know I was on the way.
The owner MarillaAnne Slade greeted me on my arrival,
"How nice to see you again Nazz, so glad you could come over", she said smiling, "I do hope you enjoy the exhibit".
I thanked her and asked, "Tell me about the exhibit?"
Slade replied, "It's an exhibition of original photographs by Tonius Alderson.
I'll be hosting it through November 5th." We took turns on the teleport and she was waiting in the upstairs gallery for me,
"Let me know when you've rezzed." She said as the pictures on the walls and objects in the gallery came into focus.
"That is a great picture of a ballerina!" I exclaimed, "It reminds me of a Degas exhibit I saw in RL".
The dancer in a white dress was in a spin, her skirt twirling as she did; the photo capturing the graceful movement and gave one an impression of motion.
"THANK YOU … DEGAS … That is the name I'd been trying to think of!" she said excitedly, "This collection Tonius is sharing with us is titled "Dance Essence". This is but one of eleven pieces on exhibit."
I studied the picture for a few minutes, impressed by the image of grace and movement.
"Have you looked at the face?" MarillaAnne asked. I zoomed in using my camera control and studied it, the face was blurred somewhat at first but one could see an outline of it.
"I'm looking at it now" I said.
"Tell me what do you see?" She asked.
I told her of my impressions.
She laughed, "You must be one of those "practical men", look again and ask yourself about her appearance, feel yourself drawn to the beauty and be intrigued by it. Think of the season and ask yourself. Is a spirit joining the moment? Is the spirit escaping from the body? Or perhaps, they were only spirits from the beginning?"
I zoomed in again and studied it for a few minutes before telling her that I did appreciate what she had hoped for me to see, but, "I think I may be too much of a "practical man"." I told her. She laughed and said, "Maybe so Mr. Lane ... Maybe so."
We strolled through the gallery and chatting and viewing the images, returning to our starting point, I made an observation.
"The essence of dance is motion, and his work captures that very well." I stated.
"Honestly Nazz, there is more to dance then just the movement of the ballerina. There are feelings being evoked by the movement." MarillaAnne said, "Let that practical side of your mind go for a few moments and feel it. While you do that I have a kiosk to put out."
While she turned her attention on that task, I focused mine back to the dancer, studying her for several minutes. I realized that she had been right as my mind pictured not the image in front of me, but of the ballerina preparing for her spin, her mind focusing not on the movement but as an expression of how she felt. As her body begin to twirl, her face reflected a lovely smile, her eyes shining brightly as she spun. She felt the eyes of her audience on her, my eyes watching her gracefully twirl and she felt compelled to arch her back slightly, allowing us to see her lithe body more fully as she finished the movement.
Having told Marilla of my impressions, she smiled and replied, "I'm happy you were able to not only see the ballerina, but to feel it as well Nazz. That is what she wanted and what Tonuis wanted when he captured her image".
"I would really like to chat with Tonius, do you think that would be possible?" I asked.
Slade replied that she thought he would welcome the opportunity as he was new to SL, but I could check with him and she gave me his e-mail address.
"His RL home is in Italy, with the time difference he generally comes in world your very early morning hours. I suggest you leave him an IM as well." She said.
I thanked her once again for the invitation. "My pleasure Nazz, it's always wonderful to see you. Good luck with the story" she said.
With that I returned to my office and prepared a list of questions that I then sent via e-mail along with a notecard dropped into his inventory.
Having finished my work, I decided to return to the gallery, MarillaAnne had logged off for her dinner so I was alone. I clicked on the picture and realized I could purchase a copy, which I eagerly did, knowing that a dear friend would relish having it for her home. When it showed in my inventory, I called up her profile and dragged it over. A few minutes later she IM'ed me, "Oh my God Nazz! It is lovely. Thank you so much for thinking of me." I smiled, happy that she liked it, I replied and we discussed the essence of dance and the events of our day.

Later I was fortunate to have had Tonius respond to my e-mail interview questions.
They and his replies follow:
Nazz: Is photography your RL profession?
Tonius: No, I'm involved in something completely different but photography is my biggest passion since the early 80's, when I bought my first SLR camera. Photography is a passion that needs time and also - for me, at least - expensive but I'm really happy to spend my time with my Canon's bodies and lenses whenever is possible.
Nazz: Have you exhibited your work in RL?
Tonius: Yes, I've already exhibited my pictures twice, in Sorrento (south Italy), during the "Sorrento Jazz Festival", in 2006 and 2007, as "official photographer" of the event (I've shot pictures of Goran Bregovic, Ray Mantilla, Gloria Gaynor, and many other artists). Some of my works were purchased used for commercial and advertising purposes. I was also one of the "official photographers" of the Sorrento football team during 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 seasons (third division) and some of my pictures have been used by national newspapers inside their sport sections.
Nazz: Had you exhibited in SL previously?
Tonius: No, never before because I just got my SL account (September 2007). I have to thanks Ms. Marilla Slade for giving me the chance to exhibit my pictures and to Mr. Mag Greggan, a photographer as well, which was very important to introduce me into SL and allows me to know Ms. Slade.
Nazz: Do you have plans for more exhibitions? Will it be the same or different works?
Tonius: Yes, I'm planning other exhibitions with Mr. Mag Greggan's help and hope to organize them as soon as possible. My favorite subjects are dance and music events, landscapes, animals and wildlife and reportage but I think I'm going to exhibit these works again because I love long exposures, their ethereal effects and the way they let our imagination playing a decisive role.
Nazz: Where were the photos taken? Did you know the subjects?
Tonius: Some of the photos were taken few years ago at a Raffaella Pandolfi's Dance Show; others (HomoSax and Jazz Solo) at a live jazz events in Italy. I did not know the subjects and most important, none of them posed for me.
Nazz: Do you have a web site where my readers can go to and see your other work?
Tonius: Yes, I have a web site but it is under construction right now.
I hope to let you know about it as soon as possible.

by Nazz Lane

Zanara Zenovka: Inside The Artist

Baron DeSantis: Firstly, could you tell me a bit about your artistic background?

Zanara Zenovka: I've been painting for about 15 years now. Originally started with watercolour, then moved onto acrylics for working on canvas. Have done classes in most media - drawing, sculpture etc. Watercolour is still my first love though - even with acrylics I often use a watercolour technique anyway. People say watercolour is harder, but I like the discipline it demands, and also the surprises it offers in the process of mixing of water and pigment on paper. Photography is something I've always done and enjoyed, although never in a particularly artistic capacity. Just taking photos for my own pleasure, capturing scenes I might like to paint etc. SL photography has been my first photographic work I've taken public ;)

BD: Your RL paintings are totally different from your photographic work, why is that?

ZZ: Well it's a different medium so you're going to be creating different things, but to be honest I can see the continuity between the two. In both I tend to reproduce images that have caught my eye in life, so it depends where I am at the time - capturing images that appeal to me, or express a mood I'm in at the time. In RL that's most often nature - beaches, plants, flowers, nudes; in SL it's my avatar. Comparing my SL photos with my paintings I see a continuation of the same aesthetic. I'm drawn to strong colours and shapes with an emphasis on curves and strong lines.This probably comes from painting - I love the sweep of a wet brush on paper, the sensual feeling of painting a strong curved line - a drooping leaf, a flower petal, the waterline of a beach, the curve of a woman's hip - there's something organically satisfying about recreating the shapes and proportions that are part of nature. I see my SL photography as an extension of my RL painting of nudes - I love finding angles of the body that are visually interesting, or project a certain mood or idea. In SL one also has the benefit of a tireless, uncomplaining model, a flexible point-of-view and some wonderful clothing and settings to provide themes and further inspiration.

BD: What gave you the idea for the exhibition 'Laced'?

ZZ: I like to treat an exhibition as a work of art in itself, especially when in a single room.For this show I wanted to use strong, clear images in a limited palate, with some black and white, and just a few flashes of colour, with a view to exploring themes around power, and the complexities and contradictions therein. Does a tightly laced corset restrict your breathing or strengthen your back? The answer, obviously, is both.

BD: Some of the pictures are reminiscent of 'Sex' by Madonna, did this have any influence?

ZZ: Well I'm a woman who's been around for the past 20 so of course Madonna has been an influence in general. Although it's been at least 10 years since I've seen the book, I guess there are obvious thematic similarities, although Madonna wasn't the first to publish photographs of female nudes or bondage. However I am a great admirer of the works of Helmut Newton and Robert Mapplethorpe whose influence can be seen in 'Sex' as well, so there's certainly a lot of common ground.

BD: Most of the pictures have the face of the subject hidden or turned away, was this deliberate and if so why?

ZZ: Hmm there are probably a few reasons for this. Like many SL photographers I first started out doing long shots of the whole avatar, and over time I've zoomed in more to focus on detail. Unless you're needing to show a whole setting to create some story or mood, I find simple images more powerful. Also in SL there can be a lot of annoying crap in backgrounds, and a tighter focus excludes that. But also the inclusion of a face can detract from more interesting images in a picture. Human beings are automatically drawn to look at other human faces first, and then the facial expression sets the tone for the rest of the image. Sometime they're better left out. Also the facial expressions in SL just aren't very good yet, and the very nature of taking stills of 3D rendered avatars means that you're often dealing with imperfect images - the more complicated areas of the body such as face, hands and hair are hard to get right (as in RL painting). Half my "composition" is actually a matter of cutting out borked elbows, badly aligned clothing, mutant feet, etc. Getting the perfect lighting on the body can make the face look horrible, etc. So because of both practical limitations of the medium and also my own aesthetic I often choose to keep them separate. If I include a face it tends to be as the main focus of the picture.

BD: I ask this of everyone I interview, but who or what has had the biggest influence in your life?

ZZ: Oh the answer to that would change every day – you never really know what's been an influence 'til you see it in action. But the first thing that popped into my head was that famous quote from Martha Graham about how one should never judge one's artistic output, but just accept that you have a duty to channel your inspiration into some form and set it loose in the world.

BD: Who is your favourite artist in RL, and why?

ZZ: Oh god - horrible, horrible question :) Don't make me choose just one! In Western art I'm most drawn to the first half of the 20th century - that whole period from Impressionism to Abstract Expressionism is so exciting. Picasso I love for his sense of shape and style and the sheer audacity of his work at the time. Dali for his immaculate technique and vision and stunning sense of colour. Frida Kahlo's work has always resonated with me since I first saw it – she's a personal inspiration. Van Gogh for colour and technique and sheer passion. Brett Whitley's work I adore for his colour and style and how he captured the Australian light and sense of space. I like a lot of Australian Aboriginal art for the colours and design, but mostly because learning to understand it requires you to change the way you conceptualise the world. Gabriella Possum Nungarrayi's work is probably my favourite. And I'll always have a soft spot for Michelangelo for sheer, awe-inspiring beauty, even if his women did look like bricklayers with boobs. :)

BD: Again, a favourite question of mine… If you could own just one RL 'masterpiece' what would it be and why?

ZZ: To be honest, I don't think any great works of art should be individually owned, unless they are on display to the public. As long as I can go to a gallery to see something I'm happy, I don't need to possess it.

BD: 'Lush' uses what I call 'Matisse' blue & white. Is this coincidental?

ZZ: Oh I do love that famous Matisse blue nude, so it was probably an unconscious influence, if not deliberate. I think that, as an artist, everything you see enters your mind to be stored away long enough for you to forget where it came from so that when you finally use it you think it's your own idea :) From what I remember I started that painting just using the blue for the under-painting and liked the way it looked and kept going. I don't often start a painting with a definite idea of how it want it to look at the end - I'm happy to enjoy the journey and keep the destination as a surprise.

BD: You have a Flickr site, how has that been received by visitors?

ZZ: Oh the response to my work on Flickr has been fabulous. I originally started a Flickr site as a way of maintaining an online catalogue of my work, but it's also turned out to be a great creative stimulus. There's quite a community of SL photographers on Flickr who provide encouragement, inspiration and friendly competition for each other, and also exchange information such as Photoshop techniques. Until recently I hadn't done much in the way of post-production on my photos, apart from a bit of cropping and lighting adjustment, but I'm now starting to use some of the more creative tools in Photoshop, which I find incredibly satisfying, being able to exert a painter's degree of creative control over a photo image.

BD: Apart from displaying your art, what else do you use SL for?

ZZ: Oh the art and photography in SL was a relatively late development. I just came here to check it out and explore, and spent my first month here playing poker (ah the good old days :) It varies. Sometimes its a purely social space for me; other times I get focused on photography and building and become quite solitary. And I always like exploring, which then usually leads to more photography, and meeting new people, and the cycle continues. I rarely know what I'm going to be doing in SL from day to day - I just see where my whims take me. It's like travelling without the tedious bits. :)

BD: Yes, I do that quite a lot too. One last question, your favourite place in RL and SL?

ZZ: Anywhere I haven't been before. :)

BD: Thank you so much for your time, it's been a real pleasure talking with you, and I look forward to your next exhibition.

For Zanara's SL photo collection visit
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zanara/

To see her work within SL visit
Oculus Enterprises, Oculus Enterprises, amsterdams (109, 134, 302)

My interview with Barone DeCuir

I love Kevin's art (Barone DeCuir in secondlife), I don't know why it appeals to me but it does. I had a chance to ask him a few questions and thought i would share his views with you on second life and art:

DV. How did you first discover Secondlife and how has it affected your art?
BD. First heard about SL on the television and thought it looked like fun, so decided to check it out. As to affecting my art, I don't really think it has any effect as such, but it has given me the opportunity to display my art in a more life like environment, instead of the flat 2d space of a website. Having said that, I am amazed by some of the things people are doing in SL, paintings, sculptures etc. so maybe it does affect me, in the back of my mind.
DV. Why did secondlife appeal to you?
BD. It is a great way to meet and interact with other people from all over the world, people that I would never meet in RL because of distance etc. Another reason was to show my work and gauge the reactions of 'visitors' to the galleries. Being new to computers I have tried to utilize them as much as possible, hence the websites, web cam and SL itself.
DV. What have you found to be the most rewarding thing about SL?
BD. Being able to do the things that I would like to do in RL, but am unable to, like planting an avenue of pink trees beside our own gallery (laugh), and of course seeing my painting in the SL Newspaper foyer.
DV. Do you find people generally respond well to your art and does it bother you if they don't?
BD. I have had quite a few people comment on it, all good so far. I welcome any response to my work but few actually do bother to make comments, wish more people would, haha
I was amazed when I saw that the newspaper had bought a painting from me, a real morale booster, thank you. If people don't like my art, they haven't said so, but then everyone's taste is different so it wouldn't be a major problem. I paint for myself really, rather than for other people so if they like it, that's great, a bonus. If they don't , well never mind. You can't please everyone (smile). My work is about the experience of painting them, rather than creating to please.
DV. Have you found other like minded artists in secondlife that have helped you?
BD. We have visited loads of galleries and purchased work from other artists to show in the Repost Galleries, that is what it is about, sharing and showing work, encouraging others to see the wide range of talents available within SL. There are many, many artists showing their work and making it available for others to buy. You just don't get that in RL, not to the extent that it happens in SL anyway. You don't have to be a 'name' in SL, everyone has the same opportunity to exhibit, regardless of background or training. That's the great thing about SL. As to having been helped by other artists? Not really, but on my first day in SL, a nice lady gave me plants for my little plot of land lol. To be honest I am not fantastic on the computer so generally I just hop about, visiting different places or sit in the gallery to talk to anyone that might visit, plus look after the dog, (laugh).
I personally discovered Kevins art while redecorating the office and needing something original to hang on the wall. We have since added a few more and you are welcome to come to the office to see them, or you can see them at the Repost gallery or Kevins website here.