ArtFest reflection

Well the year is almost over, and along with that will come the end of ArtFest as well.
Once again the artists have been fantastic, one artist even created a machinima to go with their artwork:
sandhya2's ArtFest II machinima

I will post pictures of some the works soon, and in the mean time we prepare for New Years Eve, a day early.  A day early so that hopefully more people can attend, and we avoid the congestion and lag of the meaning that will be on the following day (plus for myself and Attica it will be NY's anyway lol as we are in Australia).

So here is hoping, that the coming year is much better than the last one, and may we continue to help others in whatever small ways we can.

ArtFest pictures

Well ArtFest II is looking good, over a dozen artists have moved in and there is still room for plenty more.  I have finally gotten around to uploading (with prodding from some people), pictures from the original ArtFest.  So now you can see what the last was like and how it compares.
Pictures of first ArtFest

It has begun

Well have had the VIP night at Feast and the Pride March in rl, so now it is shows and fun all the way.Feast runs until the 27th of November, and we are doing the same in sl, although we will be tapering it off in the second week when ArtFest starts up.
Artfest will start on the 19th of November and run until the 19th of December.

Art at Feast

Below is the first 15 pages of the book I have made of the artwork I did for Feast 2011 (November 12 to 27).  The artwork in the exhibition and in the book, started out in sl, and were expanded upon.  Here is the link to the exhibition in the real world at Feast , my work is part of the 'Coming together' exhibit.

My friend and I usually celebrate Feast in sl, and this year we are going to feature arts even more as we are launching straight into ArtFest II from this event.  So come on in, have some fun, and admire what the wonderful artists can do for chariety.

My book

Looking into the Darkness by Huntress | Make Your Own Book

Halloween

While we don't really celebrate halloween in Australia, it is a pretty big deal in the US, so what the hell, our sim has slipped into perpetual night, the occasional howl of a wolf carries out over the cool air, and the fog hides many a creepy crawly.
Your path can lead you through dense forest, full of watching eyes and hidden traps.  Or it can lead you to the fun off the fair and a haunted house, play, dance, have a rest.... permanent rest.

September, time for the Royal Adelaide Show, and my friend Attica really wanted to go.  Like me thought she just wasn't well enough for something so taxing.  The solution?  Bring it in to sl.
So I set about trying to surprise my friend, not easy since most of the stuff I would need to outfit was stuff she made, and I had a VERY short time line to work with.  Well I didn't manage to keep it secret, but I did manage to get off and running in a couple of days, complete with getting things listed in the Destination Guide.

Plenty of people have zapped in and out,
bringing their friends, and walked all about.
They've jumped on some rides, and juggled some balls,
dunked a mermaid after answering her calls,
and after watching the fireworks flash and bang,
they decide for the next day, to bring the rest of their gang.



It has been fun, much like ArtFest it will be a shame to see it go, but all things change and the next project is already under way.  For a little while though I have the added memories created by my friend NicoleX, who created a wonderful video piece:

Someone has a birthday coming.....

Yep it is nearly that time again, SL's 8th birthday, while the actual event is not until June, the chance to get a spot to build in comes much earlier and can be quite a competition to get. So my friend and I are now on the lookout for announcements on when the areas are open. We have already seen a picture of the sims map, so the rest can not be far off.

Now if we manage to get a spot, what do we build?.....

You came, you saw, and you listened

Well the judges had a hard task with all the great works, but they made some great choices. The concert had a slightly rocky start due to a couple of griefers, but once they were kicked, a great time was had by all, listening to the great voices of Strum Diesel, Thunderfoot Lorefield, and Dusty Smythe.
We were featured in online magazines, various blogs, we were top of the search system, and even got listed on the sl Facebook site (wow, talk about being busy, at some points we were getting one person arrive at the platform every 2 minutes).
Everyone dragged their friends along to look around, have a ride on Fred, the zip line, and a fly around on the bunny's (we even had a bunny race which was a great laugh).

Of course with all the fun there was still the fundraising, and the water drops grew ever rounder as time went on. While I of course wanted the moon and the stars, we at least reached up into the clouds and I know in these hards times, that people gave all that they could.

The Judged Winners

No more building

Well building phase ends at Midnight on the 20th, but most have been finished a good while now. This means the next phase can begin, the judged voting. And what a task is that going to be, there is so many good pieces, it is going to be very hard to choose between them.
Popular voting still continues, so get over there show some charitable generousity.

And here are the other great supporters

Donators of prizes, givers of things we need to make other things work, and performers giving up their precious time. Thankyou, you are what makes the world go round.

Alesia Barbosa
Alicia Stella
Aruba DeCuir
Attica Bekkers
DragonLady Majestic
Ginette Pinazzo
Korgi Lerwick
Lilith Heart
Mayfly Cyberstar
Neeks Moonshadow
Strum Diesel
Thunderfoot Lorefield
Winter Thorn

Check out the artists

Below is a list of the artists taking part in ArtFest come and see their wonderful work:

Adrianne Torrance Alesia Barbosa Alizarin Goldflak Aloisio Congrejo Asmita Duranjaya Attica Bekkers Belinda51 Unplugged Billy Laffer borges19 Oh Fuschia Nightfire Giovanna Cerise Gleman Jun Huntress Catteneo

Jiran Lane Lagu Indigo Louly Loon Mare Brown mayfly Cyberstar Moeuhane Sandalwood Molina Rhode Neeks Moonshadow Nema Galicia oona Eiren Penelope Parx Pixie Tungl Rebeca Bashly

Sandhya Patel Scottius Polke Shangreloo Kuhn Sheba Blitz Silene Christen Solkide Aver Stardove Spirit Tani Thor Tegan Jenvieve Thor Effingham Ub Yifu

ArtFest looking great

Things are looking really good now, art, art, everywhere art, and it is good art too.
This is a picture of the landing platform, it also has
- the portal down to the underwater garden where you can take a ride on Fred
- the Bazarr where you can shop for a few things
- the cafe area to sit and chat in
- the dance area
- posters and information you can grab
- items currently up for auction that you can bid on
- concert area for the singers when there is a show on
but wait, there's more..
it also leads off to the islands to go and see all the great works

ok, most sculpture spots on the sim are now occupied, lots of wonderful works are lready out there and the general feel of the place is open warm and friendly. For those that want to donate their money themselves there is a webpage for ArtFest set up through the Red Cross here:

http://www.redcrossfundraising.org.au/ArtFest

ArtFest competition details

An entire (mature) sim is being devoted to this competition, each category will have two forms of judging, that done by actual secret judges, and the popular vote where people show their appreciation for the works by donating lindons to the donation box with it (remember this is a fundraiser).

CATERGORIES:
SL snapshots and manipulated SL pictures
RL photos
RL artworks and picture manipulations
Sculpture, 3D art
Anything not covered by others, poetry, writing, performance, whatever.

COMPETITION DATES:
Already started - can join anytime up to end date as long as spots still available.
End building - midnight Sun feb 20th
Presentation and Concert - Mon Feb 28th
Final close - Sun Mar 6th

Singers and DJ's are welcome to fill the sim with music when there are no conflicting events, show your talents and you never know who may hear and want to book you for future shows.

Artists whether in the competition or not, are welcome to sell their items in the bazaar, but must agree to a profit split from all sales where at least 50% goes to charity.

This is the chance for all creative people to show what they have, jump on board now.

Poster for ArtFest fundraiser

ArtFest for Flood Victims

So of course I tend to never stop, so now that the work part with Artmaze is done and it opens shortly to everyone, I have drowned myself in a new project.

This time, much like my hunts, I have decided to run my own thing and make it a mammoth task (why go small when you can dive in and totally drown yourself). And no, as I wrote that bit I did not even think about the connection to this event and if it was an appropriate saying.

So the next big thing is a huge fundraiser for the flood victims around the world. And I say around the world, as even though I am in Australia, and the floods in Queensland are devistating everyone, there are other current floods that are just as bad or worse. So this event is for Australia, Brazil, and Sri lanka. I don't know about anyone else, but when I see footage of a dead elephant stuck up in a tree from where the water had carried it, people sitting on their roofs with no other sign there is a house beneath them under the muddy water, or hear of all the people swept away or buried, my heart aches.

I can't do a heck of a lot, but I know I can pull something together that people will enjoy and hopefully it will help raise a little money for a good cause. The money raised will go to the Red Cross, since they are one of the few organisations I know of that work all around the world helping out in disaster zones, without religious overtones. With the current problems around right now I encourage all to donate to some group that you know is helping in some way.

ArtMaze

Well I have been busy building a section of the Artmaze, which I have found an interesting concept. Each artist picks a spot that has a number (usually 3) of set points where you must connect your piece to those of fellow artists, to create one really big maze. The whole thing goes across 4 sims and there is an amazing array of talent.

https://sites.google.com/site/artmazeinsecondlife/

My video (no sound, not the greatest, but hey give me a break it is the first ever one I did)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrRZaanzXRQ

In my section, I have the 'normal' pretty pictures gallery section, and then I have the you can bypass this, warning this can hit hard, section. The warning is there for a very good reason, I have seen how it can effect others. This time my exhibit has a physical and a mental path, and below is a bit of writing that goes with each and may give an idea of what might be within.

Physical:

A single gene in a beautiful, complex double helix, is turned on instead of off.
A slip, a fall, a stupid dive into murky waters that did not at the time run deep.
A slam into a fellow player, or worse into a car driving home from the game.
An act of terror, or the flesh tearing results of being sent to yet another useless war.

Whether a fast impact or a disease slowly creeping, the outcome is still the same.
A body is no longer a vehical, it becomes a cage, holding tight, refusing to let go.


Mental:

A quiet child, keeps to themselves, mature beyond their years, never a problem.
A teen grows into a man and suddenly has extra friends whispering in their ear.
Drugs, legal or not, caused side effects that lasted long after the chemicals left.
Unwanted attention or extreme disasters, cause a quiet retreat that never ends.

There does not need to be physical barriers to shut out the world.
The is no need for locks, wire, guards, to contain a person.

Fears, phobias, depression, effectively lock some people in.
Others follow in the footsteps of their elders, or simply have bad wiring.
The brain, resilient, adaptive, complex, yet oh so delicate.
Mapped out, yet still a mystery, experiments inconclusive.