Apropos nothing in particular, I’ve been hovering around the island home a lot of late recently, fiddling with bits and pieces in the grounds, playing with old and new landscaping kits – notably Alex Bader’s Animated River Building Kits, which were sent to me when launched, but which I’ve only recently got around to being able to put to good use (and found them to be exceptionally versatile in making streams, rivers and even coastal edges for islands) and taking photos of the results.
So, this being the case, I thought I’d be self-indulgent and bore you with some of the resultant shots 😀 .
The Studio Skye Animated River Building Kits allowed me to build a set of streams to help break up the island land, while also offering the perfect setting for another favourite of mine, the Chapel Ruins by Marcus Inkpen. A bridge built using elements of IvanBenjammin’s Wooden Walkways & Stairs set is used to span the main stream One of the things I like about Marcus’ Chapel Ruins is that they are easily customisable: with the use of plants from Happy Mood, Alex Bader, Cube Republic and others, they can be made into something of a garden space. It also forms a place for us to relax in, courtesy of a hammock, and the ideal place to display a sculpture by ArtemisGreece, an artist I’ve recently come to admire.Another mesh sculptor I’ve long admired is Ciottolina Xue. Her sculptures have adorned the gardens of all the homes I’ve had in Second Life since I first came across her work in 2015, and they are part of the current design as well, some free-standing and others combined with plant displays.Sasaya Kayo provides some excellent low-LI ground cover under the Happy Mood Brand, and also some interesting tree forms that can offer a nice twist on a given landscape (note the twisted trunk on the right). The board walk has been built using IvanBenjammin’s Wooden Walkways & Stairs set mentioned above. Private corners are always good to have, and a combination of Krystali Rabeni’s Love Eternal Folly (with the swing removed and replaced with a picnic set by Follow Us!) and gardened by a dragon, provides one of ours.Another tree I like is by AzaleaBluebell (seen at the centre of this image). A gift offered at a past Fantasy Faire, it’s a simple, effective design that resizes somewhat (LI allowing) and offers a nice amount of shade.Hammocks make a great place to play spot-the-shapes-in-the-clouds…
Anyway, for what it’s worth, that’s another glimpse of our little corner of SL and with it, I’ll return you to your regularly scheduled viewing 🙂 .
Enchanting Small Town is a homestead region design by Nataly Moonwall that opened earlier in the year, but which I’ve only recently managed to hop across to and see. For those seeking something of a urban setting for photography (albeit sans props, as there is no group available for rezzing rights), it could be a useful place to visit.
Step away from the stresses of life and chill in this realistic small town. A place to hang out & explore. Take great pictures. Beautiful, relaxing beach. Café, Playground, Jazz Club and more! Enjoy.
– Enchanting Small Town About Land description
Enchanting Small town, March 2021
Compact in size and easy to explore, the setting very much has a US West Coast vibe to it, set out as a waterfront location overlooking a sloping beach and backed by taller buildings and hills and suggest it could be part of a larger coastal setting.
The beach and the waterfront are the focal point, the latter comprising a main road that doubles as parking for the beach, being a dead end. Behind it sits a large, modern house that appears open to the public – although the sign on the main gates offers a stark warning to trespassers! The general design of the house, complete with infinity pool to the rear (which may have worked better facing the open sea), oozes wealth. But for me, it wasn’t the house – as excellently furnished as it is – that held my attention.
Enchanting Small town, March 2021
Bracketing it are two pedestrianised areas that caught my attention the most. One is fronted by what looks to be a recent development of boutique shops adjacent to a subway entrance and small newspaper kiosk. This area runs around to an older part of town with apartment houses and narrow streets that is fronted by a motel entrance.
The entire layout here suggests that at one time the waterfront road may have continued around to the motel, but the construction of the boutique shops prompted the broader pedestrianisation and the opening of the subway station entrance / exit.
Enchanting Small town, March 2021
The main entrance to the subway lies beyond the motel, where the West Coast feel starts to merge with a sense of the the other side of the United States: the signage for the station (and that over the smaller entrance / exit) would clearly be more at home in New York. While there may not be a station under the entrance, it points the way to the local jazz club, a cosy place that sits within a neighbourhood that again perhaps suggests New York than Santa Monica, further adding to the region’s mix of West Coast / East Coast vibe.
To the other side of the main house is a further pedestrian thoroughfare that leads to to a small recreational park. It is home to one of those small community supermarkets together with a bubble tea café for those needing some refreshment; it’s the kind of place someone might come to people watch, although it is currently more home to the local pigeons and doves.
Enchanting Small town, March 2021
Whilst most of the buildings in the region are façades, places like the café, the supermarket and jazz club, as well as the furnished house, add depth to the setting by providing places for people to go to and spend time within. Further depth is added by the inclusion of areas of the setting including props such as cars, etc., but which are not currently directly accessible, suggesting things could be moved around to present different areas to explore.
With the beach awaiting swimmers and sunbathers, a beach bar waiting to serve cocktails and opportunities for photography throughout, Enchanting Small Town makes for an easy, engaging visit.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 