Steelhead Art City: 2D Pieces

In addition to sculptures, we also had 2D pieces on display in the train station, a brownstone, and a warehouse. Here are my abstract textile pieces and portrait sketches...

Lunar's drawings...

Otenth's photos...

Myrtil Igaly's paintings...

Willow Leafstorm's photos...

...and Steelhead Resident kitteh's kitty art...

I want to thank all of the artists who participated and helped to create something special in the Town of Steelhead!!!!

Steelhead Art City: The Sculptures

I was very busy organizing something super-special for Steelhead: Steelhead Art City! About 20 artists contributed pieces that were on display in various locations in Steelhead from June 12-30. 

Here are some highlights from the sculptors...

TC Despres' kinetic pieces. He is one of my oldest friends in SL...

Another Caledonian friend--Autopilotpatty Poppy--contributed kinetic art. I loved the poppies!

Searra Weatherwax

Gloriana Maertens's beautiful light-filled sculptures...

Jimmy Branagh's area was filled with art and sculptures related to his adventures!

Steelhead Bohemians!

As part of Steelhead Art City, we threw an Artists Meet & Greet, where we got together and ended up talking about art techniques, works in progress and creative things. Willow popped through for a moment and after she left (from l. to r.) Jimmy Branagh, Phin, Stew Macpherson, Gloriana Maertens and I came up with the idea to create a group--the Steelhead Bohemians!

The Steelhead Bohemians are a group of creatives who will meet biweekly at 7 on Mondays in the Steelhead Library to informally talk about art, poetry, writing, and whatever pops into our heads. Hopefully in the future we will hold exhibits and presentations in Steelhead. The group is open for anyone to join and feel free to stop through!

A Visit to Haveit Neox's "City Inside Out"

Before it closes on June 30, I took a tip from that Atlas Obscura piece and made sure to visit Haveit Neox's art installation sim "City Inside Out"...

It captures the chaos and uncertainty and danger of being homeless. Folks were asked to contribute stories, which are posted throughout the sim...

This bench represents how extra arms are being put on public benches so that the homeless can't stretch out and lie down on them to rest...

 And these dogs remind us that animals are cast out from their homes and made homeless as well...

It was a very thought-provoking and well-done work. Visit it before it closes.

Raglan Shire ArtWalk!

The Raglan Shire ArtWalk is underway for the whole month of May. Covering multiple sims, you will find fantastic artwork--both 2D and 3D--throughout! karmagirl avro (SQUABBIT!) did a great job as the main coordinator and there are lots of events going on for the whole month. You can take a ride on the Hedgiepillar, which you can hop on and take an almost half-hour ride throughout the ArtWalk...

You can find some of my pieces there too! Here I am cruising by my work on a Hedgiepillar with Dizzy...

The Robots Perform

 The "Robots" came through to the Steelhead Town Meeting tonight...

 

And gave a great concert afterwards...

 Their sets are always like a performance art unto itself...

 Who doesn't like floating brains?

A Waste of Time?

A RL friend recently asked me "Don't you feel you are wasting your time playing video games in lieu of doing something creative instead?"

In addition to SL, I play Aion and also love console games (I have a 360 and a PS3) that I enjoy playing with my sister. I'll admit that we even wear matching headbands and have an absolute blast together! Call it family bonding with controllers in hand. That's not a waste of time to me.

My answer to my friend was that I enjoy it, it makes me happy and I'm good at it. I also told him that I suppose the time he spends watching lots of TV shows and movies and dissecting them to death online is time he could spend doing something creative as well, such as his own artwork. How is gaming different than any other hobby? Some folks like to read or scrapbook or make duck decoys. I like to wield a sword or run amok as a tiny bunny sometimes. Big deal. To each their own. I'm sure as hell not going to knock what brings someone joy.

If I wasn't doing anything creative at all in RL I could see the problem, but the funny thing is that I find inspiration from my gaming instead. It fires up my imagination and can help with a story or something I wish to draw. And my SL friends, for instance, have been just as supportive and encouraging of my RL creative endeavors and get on me if I slack.

Besides, as the artist Auguste Rodin once said: "Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely."

Striking SL7B Build

Just in case you may have found a lot of the SL7B to have been kind of a hodgepodge wasteland too, I found this beautiful provocative build. I have misplaced my notes on its title and artist, so if someone knows, could you let me know?

Shishen Guardians at the Shanghai Pagoda

I always have some Steelhead-related project going on like the manholes, for instance. If you stroll around Steelhead, you can see two different versions of them: leaping trout throughout most of Steelhead's sims and for Shanghai, it moon bridges.

Lunar asked me to do another project for Shanghai: A shishen/si shou guardian compass in the pagoda. If you visit the pagoda, which you can't miss, you can find it. The Chinese characters for "Shanghai" mark the very center of the sim. The shi shen are as follows: the "Black Warrior of the North" (which is a tortoise fighting with a snake), the Green Dragon of the East, the Red Bird of the South and the White Tiger of the West. I based them upon ancient tomb markers and created them with the "woodcut" look like the manholes. Go see it for yourself!

At the Artwalk

While roaming the ArtWalk, I came across these great sepia-toned photos by Lorimae Undercroft. Look! The Steelhead Shanghai pavilion!

Bunnying Down

Extrovirtual, which famously specializes in all things tiny, recently built a new shopping area open to other tiny creators in their sim (which is part of the Raglan sims). Here I am setting up my little E.Laval Tinies cart as Noramyr--one of Extrovirtual's founders and creators--helps...
Shady Fox (on the left) told me that Noramyr was super-tired after all of the building she had been doing to create it...And I got Lunar to bunneh down and come with me to the ArtWalk! OK, I love that artist's belt he has on...

Raglan Shire ArtWalk 2010

Over 100 artists have descended upon the sim of Raglan Shire to participate in its ArtWalk 2010! If you visit Raglan Shire until the end of May, you will find yourself surrounded by artwork of all types. You can find 2D works in Raglan and sculptures in its neighboring sim of Heron Shire. Also look out for the fantastic topiaries sprinkled throughout it...
Here I am (on the left) with organizer (and Lady Tigress) Teal Freenote, creator 1wuz Gray and Raglan's bunneh-in-chief Zayn Till...
There will also be live music events throughout the month as well. I was so excited about participating that I made sure I was there early to claim a hedge to hang my pencil sketches up on. You can visit them HERE and I hope you'll enjoy my pieces, as well as the other artists on display!

Elle's RL Across the Pond: Paris

Now that I'm all settled in again, I thought I'd share some pics from my recent trip overseas. The first time I went to Paris, I swore I wouldn't return. This time though, I came away loving it. I took a deep breath and went up into the Eiffel Tower. For me, mercifully, the very top level was closed. This is a view of the Champ de Mars...I think I enjoyed the overall collection at the Musée d'Orsay better than the Louvre's (*gasp*)...We got off at the Abbesses stop, which is one of only two Hector Guimard-designed Art Nouveau Metro stops with their original glass roofs. We also found out the hard way (and 285 steps later) that we had walked up the deepest stop in Paris...After wandering through the narrow streets of Montmartre with visions of artists dancing in my head, we made our way down the hill to Pigalle to see the famous Moulin Rouge. Given where we were, we all visited the Musee de l'Erotisme, which was actually really interesting...Not as ultra-exciting, but interesting in its own way, was the Grande Arche of La Défense, which was near our hotel. I had a great time in Paris, and yes, I did try escargot...

Sea Islands Paintings Exhibit

I attended a really lovely exhibit of paintings by Indea Vaher at the Bluffs Nature Preserve Center for the Arts. She was inspired by Gullah culture and the Sea Islands along coastal South Carolina and Georgia--an area I'm familiar with and love...
I quilt in RL, so I came away with the painting behind her entitled "Puppy in the Wash." To visit for yourself, click HERE.

Lunar's Tensai in Wonderland

While away in Toronto at a history symposium, I missed a big Steelhead event celebrating Tensai's birthday. For his wife, Lunar created a spectacular Escher-like "Tensai in Wonderland" build for the dance...
The blocks spell out the word "aishiteru", which means "I love you"...And you should have known the steelhead fishies would be there!

Bryn Oh's Immersiva

Dia had been telling me about artist Bryn Oh's Immersiva sim. I remember her steampunky creations from the Rezzable Garden and her installation at SLRFL last year and finally got a chance to go over and see it with Phin...As we stood in the water, I truly enjoyed the spare, yet detailed pieces...
The detail on some of them was incredible...
I loved the huge "Ferrisquito"...
But this one? With the seedlings that float away one by one on delicate strands? This one was my favorite of them all...