Six days of Sky Gardens in Second Life

Sky Gardens, Filling the Cauldron – click any image for full size

Update: the Sky Gardens will remain at Holly Kai Park for the next couple of weeks. If you would like to visit them, touch the teleport “mirror” at the Holl Kai Park welcome gazebo and select “2” from the menu, then touch the beam. The winning gardens are numbered “1” for the overall winner and “2” for the joint runners-up.

ccI’ve written a lot over the last couple of weeks about Filling the Cauldron. This is primarily for two reasons. The first is that I’ve been one of the prime movers of the whole thing; the second, and more important reason, I believe in the cause – Elicio Ember is a very special person and a dear friend. Hence why I hope many of you will drop by the event between now an Sunday, April 9th, 2017 – but I’d like to give you another reason to do so. Well, NINE reasons, actually.

As a part of the run-up to the event, we put out a challenge for people to consider designing a garden featuring Elicio’s plants and creations. Nine people rose to the challenge, and their work is extraordinary, offering exotic, other-worldly realms nestled together which, because of their location on an overhead platform, we’ve called the Sky Gardens.

Sky Gardens, Filling the Cauldron

The nine designers who rose to the challenge are: Abinathra, Chic Aeon, Sweetgwendoline Bailey, Kzru Bruhl, Oscelot Haalan, Alliah Jewell, Opal Lei, Letty Luckstone and Eclair Martinek. All of them have produced the most amazing and beautiful designs  which we’ve set under a sky we hope shows them to their best and reflects Elicio’s use of purple in his work. This should set automatically on Firestorm, otherwise flick over to “[TOR] SCIFI – Purple wisps & egg yolk” if you are using a viewer which does not support parcel windlights (just reset to region default after a visit).

Each gardener had an area of 45 metres on the side, and a land impact allowance of 450 with which to let their creative juices flow. In addition, Alliah Jewell provided some surrounding landscaping and paths to lead visitors around the gardens, and placed some seating areas. One of Elicio’s gazebos finished off the setting, presenting people with another place to sit, offering a soothing environment in which to enjoy the gardens.

Sky Gardens, Filling the Cauldron

It would be easy to think that given the focus in on one creator’s items (although elements from other designers was permitted, as long as the focus was on Elicio’s work), all of these gardens would have a common look and feel. However, this is far from the case. All nine gardens are individual and uniquely beautiful, each one demonstrating a personal interpretation of the fantastic, mythological riches of Elicio’s creations, bringing them very much to life.

The gardens range from the simple elegance and tranquillity offered by gentle waters supporting exotic orchids and reflective bubbles drift on a gentle breeze, through the heart of Amazonian-like rain forests, where waters tumbles down rocks into shimmering pools, parakeets in bright plumage circle overhead; or where a path winds upwards through verdant undergrowth to reveal a temple-like structure hidden within the trees; to mystical places where sphere turn their rune-faced surfaces to visitors or the skeleton of a great beast rests.

Sky Gardens, Filling the Cauldron

Such is the depth of creativity shown with these gardens that I do urge you to pay a visit. Yes, you can also contribute to Filling the Cauldron if you so wish; but in this instance – and I know Elicio agrees – witnessing the creative vision embodied in these designs helps to bring each to life, and pays tribute to the gardeners for all of their work in bringing these garden scenes to us. And believe me, their beauty makes them more than worth the visit. I’d truly love to have them remain at Holly Kai park for people to visit and enjoy well into the future.

But they will soon be passing into the west. Filling the Cauldron draws to a close on Sunday, April 9th. But, should you visit, you can help to ensure one of the gardens will be reborn at another place and time later in the year, as one of these designs will – with your help – be selected for display at the upcoming 2017 Home and Garden Exhibition. You can read more on this at the Filling the Cauldron Gardens in the Sky page.

Sky Gardens, Filling the Cauldron

So, do please pay the Sky Gardens a visit; they will only bloom for a short time.

SLurl and Links

• FTC Sky Gardens (Holly Kai Estate, rated: Moderate)
• Gardens in the Sky – Filling the Cauldron