Alex Bader is a name in Second Life synonymous with some of the best landscaping kits and texture sets available for use in-world (his work also being available to other platforms as well). For my part, he is one of the two landscape and plant creators who are pretty much my go-to names in Second Life when it comes to landscaping, either at home or on behalf of friends (the other being Cube Republic).
However, what many among Alex’s friends and customers may not know – and I count myself as being in both categories – is that Alex is a skilled and high-regarded graphics artist and landscape painter in the physical world. As a graphics artist, his work has won international design awards and his clients have included the Scottish Ballet, Glasgow School of Art, the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Citizens Theatre, Glasgow Art Fair, Glasgow Jazz Festival and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
From the above list of clients, it is probably obvious that Alex hails from Scotland, where he became inspired by his father’s watercolour landscapes and love of the Scottish countryside. This stirred his own interest in and passion for both the Scottish countryside and expressing its beauty in art through both photography and painting, as well as contributing to his involvement in 3D graphics design.
I spend a lot of time enjoying the landscape, whether walking the dog through forest and on beaches or cycling in the hills and woodland of Scotland. So it’s almost inevitable that I feel the need to communicate the impact this has on me. Whether through photography, design or painting – the result is always the same process of observation, discovery and expression.
– Alex Bader, discussing his passion for art
As an artist, Alex has seen his images and paintings exhibited across Scotland, each piece finely crafted and exquisitely capturing scenes and places in all of their allure and elegance. Whilst his father worked in watercolours, Alex has come to prefer oils for his art, painting out of his studio rather than in the field, using reference images and sketches of the location he intends to reproduce on canvas. His work also ranges form expressive realism, rich in detail and beautifully representative of a subject, through to more abstracted landscapes.
In painting, my main aim is to convey the rich textural detail of the landscape using loose, expressive brushwork while remaining true to the colour and values of nature. Through this combination, I hope to engage the audience on multiple levels – to draw the viewer in to the scene with a real sense of place while exciting the eye artistically.
– Alex Bader, discussing his passion for art
All of this is now available for Second Life residents to appreciate for themselves, as Alex has opened an in-world gallery where limited edition digital copies of his physical world landscape art can be admired and purchased. Situated in one of Alex’s own building designs – The White Loft Skybox Interior Space (I should mention I am also a fan of Alex’s buildings, owning both his Beach House and Forest Cabin, both of which I regard as superb) – the gallery is a clean, no-nonsense space perfect for displaying art.
Pictures are displayed framed and sized to a realistic scale for home display in-world, with each piece limited to just 10 copies. As a particular piece is sold out, I understand Alex plans to replace it with another on the same limited edition basis. Given that each image is limited in number, purchases are not made through the displayed copy of a painting; instead, payment is made by clicking on one of white sales cubes located under each painting. As purchases are made, cubes turn from white to red and reduce in size, making it very easy to see how many copies of a given painting remain available.
Nor are people limited to just having Alex’s paintings in-world; the original oil paintings can also be purchased in the physical world as a part of a cross-over exhibition”. All of the originals are available via a dedicated part of the Studio Skye website, also called Landscapes by Alex. As with the limited digital copies, each painting is individually priced – and this price includes international shipping costs (all painting sold unframed for ease of shipping).
Whether seen in-world or on-line, Alex’s paintings are a delight to behold, and will grace any home, physical or virtual, so do please be sure to hop along and see for yourself.
Related Links
- Landscapes by Alex in-world store (Skye Elgol, rated General)
- Landscapes by Alex on-line
- Landscapes by Alex physical world gallery shop
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 