ART - ENERGY FOR YOUR SPIRIT

FEED YOUR SPIRIT WITH LIGHT AND ENERGY THROUGH ART 
AT
THE LIFE EXHIBITION

Alchemy ( Alchemy9 ) Abye creates art because she feels the work is her destiny. Prompted by an irrepressible urge to follow her spiritual path creating what she refers to as Spirit Art. As Alchemy explains Art is always subjectively in the eye of the beholder. In the case of her work, she feels it is energy made into art channeled by spirit guides through her. 

These spirit guides send messages for many. Her belief is that individuals are drawn to a piece of her work, and view what it is they are intended to. Not all are intended to see beyond what is painted on the canvas. For others the images may change in their perception as they focus upon them she tells me. Some may feel totally drawn to a particular work as it is in their that a message lies in wait for them. 

Ultimately she hopes that if nothing more all can leave with these messages of “Life”, being hope, faith, and love... as well as a fulfillment of positive thought and emotion. Perhaps reflecting on deeper levels of awareness than before. Alchemy’s mindset is that “The Life Exhibition” is a rather apt title for her work.

In her own word it is all about life. Perhaps not conventionally as life is recognized,  rather on all levels of awareness. Second Life seems to be one of them, won't you join us in viewing this marvelous exhibit of color and canvas which captures the essence of the soul? 

The Life Exhibition Premieres Today at - La Galeria Mexico

        Ometeotl SIM

    1:00PM SLT

Come and show your support for this and all of our artists as they rely on support from their local communities to continue enriching our Second Lives.

FATEeyes

Another quick post since we're in magazine prep frenzy, but when Strawberry Singh, one of my favorite bloggers (and I think one of nearly everyone's favorite bloggers), shared a preview of FATEeyes last night, I knew I had to have them. They are, quite possibly, the last eyes I will ever purchase and you know how much I love eyes. You can customize every part of these eyes from the pupil to the sclera. Also, each eye can be designed to look completely different making heterochromia an easy and stunning fashion statement! Just look at this small example of what FATEeyes can do:

There's an option for every RP or outfit out there!

I can't even begin to describe everything this innovation in mesh eyes does, however, Strawberry was wonderful enough to make us a YouTube video and it is able to demonstrate what still photos can't about makes these eyes worth every Linden and more.

Wrapping Paper: Hedo's Giordan

Gay men haven't earned the reputation of being fashionable by hiding in the safe shadows of any closet. As we've come out, we've brought the fab with us, using scarves, bags, and accessories to add flair to our outfits, rather than sticking to the safe and expected three-piece suit. In Second Life, however, gay men sometimes forget to seek out the individuality offered by a forum where we can wear wings and actually fly. Instead, we seek out a "three-piece suit" of a different type (and with just one piece): the jock strap.

I'm not saying that jock straps aren't sexy. They certainly are, which is why they've all but become the uniform of club-going gay men in SL. What I am saying is that clothing is like the wrapping paper that keeps our presents covered so that anticipation can build until that sweet day when we can rip the covering off and see what sweet gifts have been concealed inside. Revealing that gift is incredibly exciting when you've spent some time wondering about the specifics of its shape, size, and power. It's the joy of this anticipation that we want to bring to you with our Wrapping Paper series. Join us as we show you how adding clothing instead of taking it off to the bare jock strap minimum can make you sexier and more desirable than you ever imagined.

Our first installment of Wrapping Paper focuses on the sexy Hedo Fashion design, Giordan:

Don't blend in, stand out with straps, buckles, leather and feathers.

Noob Beautiful

Older Second Life residents still cringe when they recall how they looked when they first arrived on the grid, with bad hair, clothes that looked like they were applied with a paintbrush, and the ubiquitous duck walk.

And this isn't even the worst of the early appearances.

SL Drag Race

There's a lot of variety in SL for gay men: there are clubs, beaches, bath houses, and whole residential communities, far more locations than you'd find in any large RL city. There is, however, a distinct lack of at least one aspect of gay life in SL: drag queens.  I love drag queens: the first gay people I ever knew were drag queens, and I've always regarded them with a mixture of awe and fear. Their relative absence in SL has always been a bit of mystery to me.

Happily, Francois Muircastle has seen his way clear to correct that deficit by organizing the first SL Drag Race. Based on the reality TV show hosted by Ru Paul, contestants will compete for the top prize as decided by a panel of judges. The results will be recorded and will be viewable at http://blip.tv/SLDragRace.

Francois is seeking sponsors for prizes and contestants to audition, so get in touch with him in-world or visit the SL Drag Race website for more information.  http://sldragrace.webs.com/ Do you have what it takes to be Second Life's top drag queen?

Blithe SL Magazine, April 1, 2012

Open publication

Menswear Fashion Week 2012

All the best for men, all in one place? It's true. Stop by the Menswear Fashion Week sim and rest assured that every store you enter will cater to your male styling needs. Anything a man needs to fill his inventory has been gathered to make shopping a dream.

In addition to shopping, Menswear Fashion Week offers a variety of runway shows, demonstrating the designs of talented creators across the grid. Earlier, Aleida's runway show displayed the new male releases of a talented designer who has been creating gorgeous feminine fashion since 2009.

Aleida's designs brighten up the runway.

Orange isn't really a color that appeals to my fashion sensibilities, but the sexy Edmilson Blazer in orange by Aleida challenges my preconceptions; not only can orange be worn well, it's sexy.

When Creativity and Mesh Mix

Mesh takes artistic expression to surreal new levels.

One of the best things in Second Life, in my opinion, is the expansive creativity that colors the grid. With only the tools provided by Linden Labs and impressive imaginations, creators bring us objects to enhance our world and beautiful sims to explore. An example of the creativity inworld is Art Screamer's "spirit", a sculptural installation viewable in SL now through the end of the month. Claudia222 Jewell is the mind behind this amazing, multi-faceted mesh exhibit, and says she only started working with 3D rendering in January of 2011.

Mesh, Part 2: The Controversy

I fell in love with mesh hair at first sight (or first wear). Done right, mesh hair has beautiful shape, fabulous textures and the added function of moving with the avatar, rather than poking through the shoulders. This is an example of rigged mesh. Creations that are rigged are designed to flex and bend as the avatar moves, so it works well for hair and clothing, adding to the clothing options in Second Life.

Dragon Mesh Hair from Wasabi Pills

Wasabi Pills's Dragon Mesh Hair (and other mesh styles) demonstrates how mesh hair wears and moves. See that curve in the hair? While the lower part of the wig stays still, the rest of the hair moves as the head moves. This eliminates the hair-through-the-body problem that comes with prim and flexi hair.

My SL Chores

I never have to dust my house in SL, and hallelujah for that. I don’t have to launder or dry clean my pixel wardrobe or polish my pixel boots, and I’m pretty happy about that too. It’s impossible to leave socks lying around, bills strewn across the kitchen table, or dirty dishes piled in the sink, and those are just a few of the ways that SL is superior to RL. (Also, teleport anyone?) But just because we aren’t burdened with the same chores that we have to complete in RL doesn’t mean that there’s no work to be done.

Cleaning inventory is probably the SL chore that we all do most often, and like everything else in SL, there are different ways of tackling that task. Some people tidy up as they go along, deleting notecards and landmarks and the boxes that their clothes came in as soon as they’ve looked at them. These are the Efficiency Experts, who know exactly what they have in every folder and can produce it in the blink of an eye. They often have shockingly low inventory counts, keeping the contents lean by deleting items as they introduce new ones. At the opposite end of the spectrum are the Hoarders, who let things pile up until it becomes unbearable. I’ve known people who became so overwhelmed by the contents of their inventory that they simply abandoned it all together, jumping ship to a new av with a new empty inventory rather than wading through the thousands of folders, objects, animations and gestures.

Attack Of The 7'9" Slider Queens!!

I have an unusual thought to share, today. Contrary to what some people might say, more is NOT always better. More ants do not make a better picnic. More chefs do not make a kitchen run smoothly. Nobody, other than Christopher Walken, actually says something needs more cowbell.

and nobody ever says 'this clown needs more fangs'.

Yet, somehow, when one goes to a gay club in SL, one sees... them. They're all 7 foot 9 inches tall (aka: 100 on the height slider in 'Edit Appearance'), all have shoulders out to there, hips in to here. Pecs you could lose Arnold Schwarzenegger in between, an ass you could bounce a manhole cover off of. A jawline like one of those flying things from Avatar.

I am teh sexxorz, no?

... they are. The Slider Queens.

Now, what do I mean by a slider queen? I got taken to a haute couture in SL event a long while ago, and there was NO arguing that every woman there was beautiful... but they looked VERY different from each other. Raven-tressed beauties with upturned noses, pointed chins on blondes with spikey Susan Powter hairdos, redheaded women who were shorter by a head than anyone else in the room.

But when I looked at the male models who were there, they seemed to mostly be wearing the same skin, the same hair (though some were blonde and others brunette- occasionally even black), and even the same shape. Only the clothes differed.

I found myself wondering- what causes this? Are men just lazier about their look? Is there a simpler ideal for what men SHOULD look like than there is for women, in modern society? Or was it perhaps that in the fashion world, the disparity between the sexes produces bias in what we see and think of ourselves? A friend's theory was that men are simply inclined to a less specific image of what an ideal man looks like, while women personalize beauty due to how society makes them interact with it. I'm not sure I agree with this theory, but it does seem like it should be mentioned here.

Sometimes, I get cynical and think that all the men look the same because there are only four good designers of shapes, skins or hair for men, and when one of them comes up with something good, the other three fall all over each other to imitate it (full disclosure: I KNOW VERY WELL there are more than four good designers working to produce things for men, that was me being cynical!).

Now think about this for a second, Gentle Reader: while I'm sure we all agree that- to pick two actors who are often side by side- Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are both handsome guys, you wouldn't confuse one with the other in a million years, would you? One's taller, the other's shorter; one's blonde, the other's brunette; one's got a rounder face, the other's face is more square... but they're both handsome guys. And neither one looks like Johnny Depp, or Leonardo DiCaprio, or...

Sure, in the RL fashion industry there's a fair bit of sameness- a lot of buffed models, a lot of girly ones- but why does it seem that a lot of gay guys in SL look almost identical?

My theory is that it's probably simply what's easiest. If you're buying a new suit, you pay less to buy one off the rack, but one off the rack is never going to fit you as exactly as one you had tailored... which cost a lot more money.

I've always been a great advocate of the DIY school of fashion, in SL. I'll buy a shape or outfit that looks good to me, by all means- but it will get a serious tweaking before I wear it out in public. Why are so many men OK with looking exactly identical, when ducking into the appearance menu and raising or lowering the tip of your nose can produce a thoroughly different face? I've never understood this- then again, I recently put on the first shape I bought (saved on my initial rez), and was startled by how completely different I look now. I've gone from the Terminator to Dana Ashbrook, by way of David Bowie, Gabriel Byrne, Brian Molko and Tom Sturridge, in 50 easy and tiny steps!

Part of what I find eyerolling about this, by the way, crops up when visiting the gay cruising hangouts in SL. Yes, I do pop up at such places from time to time. Yes, I even talk to people there. I even go home with them sometimes... but I do often find myself thinking 'they all... look... the same...' This, then, is the Slider Queen: a guy who maximizes (or minimizes) sliders according to some ideal of masculine beauty that would not only be very hard to attain in the real world, but would not be particularly stable either in not snapping under the weight of the rest of it, or in keeping from constantly wrestling with illness.

When I visit places full of guys cruising for sex, everybody has shoulders All The Way Out To There, a waist All The Way In To That, with a belly Way The Heck In To Here, and a crotch So Bulbous It Looks Like A Root Vegetable. Not everybody's a muscle queen. Not everybody's an ass man. Hell, if everybody was both of those, Elton John wouldn't be married, would he.
It just seems so strange to me that women strive to be unique- and men seem content to look identical. So a challenge to you, guys: save a copy of your shape (tack something like "[unmodified]" onto the end of the name, so you can find it again later if you screw up) and see what you think if you broaden your nose. Or make your eyes bigger, chin broader, shoulders narrower... You're allowed to make mistakes- it's how you learn, and if you DO screw up? That's why you saved it with '[unmodified]' on the end- so you can find it and go back to something that was NOT screwed up. Everybody screws it up from time to time.

Bet somebody wishes he could easily re-set that chin slider

While SL is an environment that lets you explore without barriers- where you can meet people you never would've met in RL, talk about anything you like- it's also an environment that allows you to explore physical asthetics and appearances in ways that it's hard to do, in the real world, without lots, and LOTS, of plastic surgery. You should make the most of it, and make your avatar nobody else's avatar!