Currently open at his Rill’Arts Gallery is In the Clouds, a series of stunning physical world images by Nils Urqhart of the French Alps either caught within, or against the backdrop of, cloud-laden skies.
Across just shy of thirty images, Nils paints a stunning portrait of the Alps – which forms one of the world’s stunning mountain ranging – that fully captures their intensely rugged, almost romantic, looks, and does so in a completely beguiling manner.
In the Clouds, Nils Urqhart
By presenting the Alps – slopes and peaks, capped by snow or naked – Nils has created a series of images that not only suggest the mountains are almost living, breathing entities, but that they are entirely otherworldly in their nature.
In the Clouds, Nils Urqhart
For example, in some, they seem to float as islands in the sky, breakers of clouds rolling against their flanks as they seem to float on a sea of white and grey. In others we are offered small glimpses of what life among mountains like this – to look out over forest coated rocky slopes whilst also overlooked in turn by the towering, stern presence of these huge rugged faces.
One of the fascinating elements of this exhibition from my perspective is the aforementioned sense of life given to the Alps through the sometimes rolling, roiling set of the clouds around them. In numerous shots, this play of cloud caught on turbulent winds colliding against the sides of the mountains not only looks like that vast ocean breaking upon the flanks of an island, but also the longs exhales of breath from the mountains themselves.
As always with Nils’ photography, this is a marvellous collection of images that are perfectly presented. Those taken by Nils’ work can also find it available for sale in the physical world through American Fine Arts.
Somewhere Else BKLYN, November 2019 – click any image for full size
Somewhere Else BKLYN is a region design that’s be getting a lot of attention of late, offering as it does one of the more unique settings for Second Life photography.
Designed by Littlesquaw and ToXxicShadow, it presents an urban setting (the name suggesting it might be drawn from Brooklyn, New York), looking across a narrow stretch of water (the East River) towards the shining towers and sky scrapers of a city’s beating heart.
Somewhere Else BKLYN, November 2019
The region – a Homestead – offers its own high-rise buildings, but these are dwarves in comparison to those across the water, and they are sa lot shabbier. They form what appears to be little more than a thoroughfare for traffic that is busily trying to get among, or coming from, the gleaming spires of the city. Two busy roads run into the scene from a single bridge that reaches out towards the city’s promise of wealth and (literally) high life, the occupants of the vehicles cramming them perhaps unaware of the place they are attempting to drive through and the fact that it has life of its own.
Perhaps they prefer not to dwell on thoughts of those living in this seedier setting that sits between plush office and outlying suburban home. Which is a shame, as there is the promise of life all around in the side streets and alleys here; even if it does form a mixed bag.
Somewhere Else BKLYN, November 2019
Down one street, for example, sits an oriental market, complete with open air food stands where meat sizzles on hotplates above naked flames and seafood broils in a broth. Elsewhere, a sign sitting atop a building, but at a distant eye-level from the roads here offers the promise of Little Italy, while flashing neon signs entice with offers of food or other distractions.
This is a place where art comes in the form of wall-covering graffiti and where age is always apparent – not just because of the grime and stains of automobile exhausts and decades of wear-and-tear on road surface, sidewalk and building, but also in the way old-style wooden advertising hoarding rub shoulders with their more modern electric counterparts.
Somewhere Else BKLYN, November 2019
It’s clear that this is also a place of commerce – the subway station is proof of that, the maw of its entrance busy with the hustle of people coming and going; but it’s also clear that this is a place past its prime and wanting a little TLC: refuse lays piled here and there, some of the streets are littered and uncared for while poverty is embodied in the lone waterfront sentinel of a bag lady’s shopping cart laden with the bric-a-bric of things she has acquired and which to her offer a meaning for life.
Packed with detail larger and small, and given life through the many characters to be found in its streets, Somewhere Else BKLYN offers an immersive environment (have your local sounds on) environment that is easy to explore and rich in opportunities of Second Life photographers.
Currently open at the Boston Town Hall is Colors, an exhibition by Callum Writer, an artist I’ve come to admire for the breadth and depth of her work.
Callum found her artistic inspiration through the snapshot capability in the Second Life viewer. From this, she has worked to expand her artistic ability and expression to incorporate techniques such as fractals, collage, abstract, and mixed-media approaches. In all of this, her ability to express emotion, harmony and life through the use of colour is clearly evident, as can very clearly be seen with this exhibition.
Located on the ground floor of the town hall building, the exhibition feature 15 marvellous pieces of Callum’s work. Each and every one of them is stunning in form, colour and expression, starting with Portrait de Femme, to the left of the front entrance to the hall, and proceeding around the space on both the walls and free-standing easels.
The creativity seen in these images is stunning, making any selection of individual pieces meaningless to a degree – although I admit to being drawn in particular She and Dancers 14, alongside the aforementioned Portrait de Femme, because of the manner in which they meld colour, light, movement and life. However, it is impossible not to be taken by each and every piece on display.
Pootling through some of the new Bellisseria continent regions by rail
It’s been a few months since I last wrote about Bellisseria, the Linden Homes continent. At that time, the trailers and campers selection of homes had just been deployed – and proven as popular as the Traditional homes and Houseboat ranges before them.
Since that time, as has been reported elsewhere, the continent has been expanded with a lot of new regions slotting into the southern side to fill out much of the “missing parts” when compared to the SSPE “test continent” used to initially develop Bellisseria’s layout.
These new regions have dropped into Bellisseria fairly close to where my houseboat is located, and I’ve tended to take the occasional look at them as things have been under development (see A little Culprit Moonwalking in Second Life, for example). However, as this a is quiet Monday, I decided to drop in to the regions at a time when I’m unlikely to get in the way of the Linden Department of Public Works (LPDW) as they continue to build-out the regions with everything from landscaping though flora and infrastructure to the Linden Homes themselves.
The new regions bring together a mix of Houseboats, Traditional houses and Trailers and Campers
The majority of the regions continue with the current themes of Traditional, Houseboat and Trailers and Campers homes. This means – on the surface – that the new regions could be dismissed as “more of the same”, but as my Monday trip through some of them – by rail and horse – shows that while they may contain the same types of houses, they have their own unique character and look.
Take, for example, the Bellisseria railway. While this was introduced with the release of the Trailers and Campers, the extension to the continent illustrates it in not to be restricted to regions containing these types of Linden Home – as has been hoped would be the case. Within the new regions, the tracks pass from “camping” regions into Traditional homes regions, and back into “camping” regions once more. Along the way the tracks also branch for what I think is the first time, presenting two potential rail routes through the regions, and one of the new Traditional homes regions has markings for what might be a more substantial station than seen elsewhere (or at least one directly served by road).
The new regions see the Bellisseria rail lines extend into Traditional house regions
Given the continued popularity of the Houseboat styles, it comes as no surprise that the coastal regions offer more moorings for houseboats – some of which have already been populated. But again in what might be an interesting turn where popularity is concerned, the new regions offer an extensive reach of the camping parcels along the coast, presenting people who like the Campers and Trailers with the opportunity to enjoy coastal living, rather than being restricted to just the banks of inland waterways and lakes.
The new regions also offer the first real “blending” of Camper and Trailer regions and Traditional House regions. Until now, the boundaries of the two have tended to be denoted by water. With these new regions, the two types of Linden homes draw together more naturally, sometimes with just low mounds between them, sometimes abutting almost seamlessly.
Trailers and Campers move to being along the coast with the new regions
There are perhaps one or two little things that it would be nice to see. The rail tracks for example run through the regions, passing Campers and Trailer and houses alike running over and under bridges and through deep cuttings; but there are are no tunnels – it would be nice to see one or two in the more hilly areas.
Similarly, while the Traditional house regions and the Trailer and Camper regions do more directly abut one another, the roads of the Traditional house regions and the tracks of the Camper and Trailer regions never actually come together; rather they each end abruptly with a stretch of grass between them, it would be nice to a a more natural joining, asphalt gradually giving way to a narrower, rutted track, for example. Or at least have a fence and (open) gate between them, rather than curbstones, footpath and pristine-looking grass.
La Digue, November 2019 – click any image for full size
La Digue (“the dam”?) is a recently opened Homestead region offering numerous opportunities for photography and – with a little care – exploration.
Designed by Sablina, famous for producing the likes of La Virevolte (see here, here and here), Ponto Cabina (see here and here) and Field of Dreams (see here), this is a region caught in the changing of the seasons, the trees a mix of summer green and the reds, golds and brown of autumn. Beneath them, the land is cut by two large water channels that feed multiple smaller, canal-like channels that divide-up the land into a series of small islands and one large “central” land mass that also forms the landing point.
La Digue, November 2019
A large gatehouse stands atop the latter, standing guard over the region and is large island and watching over the landing point as it sits on the shingle shore. Surrounded by a sea of sun-dried grass, the gatehouse is one of a number of buildings within the region that collectively give it – along with its name – a feel for northern France (although one of the buildings is admittedly Tuscan in design).
Small bridges connect some of the smaller islands one to another, but to reach others some wading through the shallow channels between them might be required. With corn stalks and cattle grazing, the islands further suggest a rural setting.
La Digue, November 2019
To the north, a sender finger of land points westward and then turns south along a broader stretch of coast to a small railway station (sans tracks) looking out to sea whilst caught under its own rain storm. This crrokes streacth of road and shoreline, coupled with the region’s name, brought to mind the long finger of La Digue du Braek, albeit without the sands on one side and the port of Dunkerque on the other. At the end of this the road, a bridge provides access to a small headland area where stands a lighthouse and work is apparently in progress building a sea wall.
However, what – for me – gives the region character is the broad north-to south channel that cuts through the region, separating the western run of road and its station from the rest of the region. This would appear to be a tidal run, given the dry stone wall supporting some of the land to one side. It is home to numerous wooden moorings alongside of which rowing boats sitting among the reeds and watery growths around the mooring piers.
La Digue, November 2019
This area in particular adds a huge amount of character to the region, rich in detail and photographic opportunity from pretty much any angle. Elsewhere throughout the landscape are further opportunities as well, but it tends to be the waterway that draws the eye and lens back to it again and again. The rowing boats, meanwhile offer numerous places for sitting and posing for photos or chatting.
More places to sit can be found across the region as well, from the little bar a short walk from the station, to benches and chairs, hay bales and more. Getting to some can be a bit of the aforementioned challenge, admittedly: some of the grass and other plants could do with being phantom – but this shouldn’t put people off exploring and wandering.
La Digue, November 2019
Sablina has a reputation for creating regions of beauty that capture landscapes in a most natural manner, and La Digue is further proof of this. It’s a place that invites wandering and spending time within it, the supplied sound scape rounding it out perfectly.
A region that has already caught the attention of photographers and artists, La Digue is not to be missed by Second Life travellers.
Open through until November 23rd 2019 at Ce Soir Arts, curated and operated by Mireille and Ǣon Jenvieve-Woodford, is the Mad Masquerade art exhibition, another opportunity to enjoy a wealth of art among the galleries and grounds of this Full region devoted to the arts in Second Life. I admit to getting to this review a little on the late side – the accompanying season of live and spoken word events has come to an end -, but this doesn’t lessen the value in visiting Ce Soir to enjoy the art on display.
This year’s event comprises some twenty-two 2D and 3D artists displaying their work, and if that sounds a lot to take in, then worry not; the fact that the entire region is given over to displaying art means the art is neatly split up over all of the ground-level space, offering plenty of opportunities to wander, relax and come across art quite unexpectedly within the grounds as well as the gallery buildings, so there’s never a feeling of being overwhelmed by the volume of art on offer.
Ce Soir Gallery – CybeleMoon
The featured artists at the exhibition comprise:
Cote de la Mer Gallery: Isabel Hermano, JudiLynn India, Larke Longmeadow, Xirana Oximoxi and Mathilde Vhargon.
Ivy Tower Galerie: Dolph Beornssen, Carlotta Caewlin, Paula Cloudpainter, Xanthe Firehawk, Secret Rage and Michael Romani.
Misty Glen Gallery: Carlotta Caewlin, Sophie Dunn, Mireille Jenvieve, Larke Longmeadow and Liam Saxony, together with a machinina by Terra Merhyem. Click the board outside the gallery space to obtain note card with the URL to the video on Vimeo.
Ce Soir Gallery – H0n2a-Resident
In addition, the following artists can be found throughout the grounds – just follow the paths and tracks, or go where your feet lead you: CybeleMoon, TaraAers, Terra Merhyem, H0n2a-Resident, Viktor Savior, Jojo Songlark, and Skyspinner Soulstar. As well as the featured artists, works by Bryn Oh, Russell Eponym, Garvie Garzo (and possibly others I may have missed) can be found in the region’s grounds.
Given this is an exhibition held around Halloween, some of the art offered focuses on the ghostly, with touches here and there of witches, but there is also a fabulous diversity of art from Second Life, from the physical world and from digital media that is a joy to view and experience.
Ce Soir Gallery – Skyspinner Soulstar
As well as the SLurls to the main exhibition spaces above, all of which are linked via path and track, allowing for easy exploration, a good place to start when visiting Ce Soir is the main landing point, particularly who may not have visited the region previously, and offered in the primary SLurl at the end of this piece. Details of all events at the region can be found through joining the region’s group or via the Ce Soir website.
Richly diverse, located throughout the fantasy inspired Ce Soir landscape, Mad Masquerade is a wonderful mix of art.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 