Limoncello News – Edition 12

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Next Saturday, April 3rd, is the opening party for the first ART UNBOUND pop up exhibition – Mirages on the Mother Road.

The party will run from 6pm to 10pm SLT. Our partner Infinite Productions has lined up a great programme of music so come along and dance the evening away in the desert surrounded by art.

There's no dress code, but biker chic or Breaking Bad might be the way to go! It's an art event in the Great American West, so feel free to use your imagination. 

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If you haven't received an invitation by the usual channels just IM Dave, Fen or Cate Infinity. The show runs from April 3rd to the 23rd but is open for previews now.

By the way, if you hold a Bellisserian passport, there's a stamp terminal at the pop up location. It will only be in place for three weeks so don't miss it! We will have a terminal at each ART UNBOUND pop up show, so you can collect a series of these limited edition stamps.

When each show is officially open, we'll also hand out (NO COPY/TRANSFER) postcards from it for you to collect and trade.

Time	Musician	New art by:
6:00 pm	Lady Zenaida	Cate Infinity, Gamma Infinity, Esta Republic
7:00 pm	DJ Yo Yo Burckhardt	Art on loan from LG collection by:
8:00 pm	Manx Wharton	Uleria Caramel, Harry Cover, Kraven Klees, Morlita Quan and Thus Yootz.
9:00 pm	Maximillion Kleene

 

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MOLLY BLOOM: AN SL RETROSPECTIVE

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We continue our series of retrospectives of work by artists no longer active in SL. From April 1st to June 30th we are exhibiting a selection of works by Molly Bloom (mollybloom100) in the Jishnu Room at the Main Galley in Sirinial. All the featured artworks are on loan from the collection of JMB Balogh. Thank you, Jo for sharing them with us. 

Molly is an American RL artist, brought up as "a Navy Brat" and living in Japan with her family when she was very young. In RL she had "a fairly high-powered corporate career",  worked as a Holistic Health Educator and was also "an award-winning glass artist".  She was  active on the SL art scene for many years, with her own gallery at Angelic Isles. She had shows at The Rose Theatre and Gallery, the Paris Metro Gallery and elsewhere. The last of her projects promoted in SL was actually on OpenSim in 2016 and it may be that's where she has now gone. There are no more recent images than 2016 on  her Flickr Page.

In an interview with Jami Mills of Rez Magazine in December 2013, she said

Living in the US, we are still under a vast Puritan ethic and my art rebels against social conventions. The beauty of being an artist is that you can easily substantiate rebellion against current paradigms... Laughter, sex and deep thought are by far the healthiest activities we have as humans. Every time we participate, it allows for a richer life. Sex and laughter together is a double whammy of endorphin rush. 

In a 2015 interview, again with Jami Mills, she asked (on the subject of SL itself);

Why on earth would you come in here to be beige when you can be all the colors of fantasy?

That attitude is reflected in Molly's work, which is bold, sexy and witty. Her SL profile says "Maturity is highly overrated, especially in SL". She certainly seems to have had a lot of fun here, while enhancing others' lives with exuberant creativity. We regret that we don't have any of her artworks in our permanent collection but hope you enjoy this chance to look back at her SL career. 

MEMORIAL AT ANGEL'S REST

Chuck Clip's Janus Gallery is one of our favourites. Chuck has dedicated a newly-acquired piece by artist Sharni Azalee as a memorial in SL. He writes;

Whether you have lost someone recently or years ago, to cancer, heart attack, illness, hilariously ironic accident, or any other reason, and wish them to be memorialized, simply submit their name to me via a notecard placed in the drop box just outside the memorial. I will place a candle with that name in hover text above the candle. There is no fee, no requirement other than telling me what name you wish to be displayed. 

It's a typically kind, generous gesture by Chuck. Dave visited to enter the name of his late wife who died of cancer in 2011. Why not go there and apply for a memorial to someone you loved, taking in the art while you are there?

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ACQUISITIONS

On the 9th floor of the LG Tower you will find Ordinary Angels #3, by Awesome Fallen. We bought it from her superb exhibition of the same name, currently showing at the Dixmix Gallery. Fenella is pictured here chatting with art blogger Frank Atisso at the show. Even with his advice, it was hard to choose just one piece from such an engaging, thought-provoking show to represent both the show and Awesome in our collection.

You should hurry over there soonest to see all the works we regretted not purchasing before it closes! 

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ARTIST IN FOCUS

On the Top Deck of the AS Limoncello, Traci Ultsch features both as artist and model. Three of her art works are also to be found on the Fourth Floor of the LG Tower. She was recently interviewed by Frank Atisso over at Art Korner, the SL art blog he publishes with Praesto Ibsen. Ostensibly the interview is about her current exhibition at Nitroglobus Gallery, but it goes more deeply into her background and process that we usually have space for here so please take a look!

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PROGRESS ON THE NEW AIRSHIP

Our mesh expert has finished other tasks he was working on and has begun the Airship Limoncello rebuild. We'll keep you informed of progress.

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ELSEWHERE ON THE ARTY GRID

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The RL Photo Festival 2021 opens on March 30th at midnight SLT. The opening reception is on March 31st at 1 pm SLT. Fenella has entered five portraits this year so had access in advance. We can tell you that (modestly excluding Fenella's own humble efforts) there is some excellent work to be seen and enjoyed. The Festival is organised by Nils Urqhart of  at the Helvellyn Gallery and is well worth your time for a visit. By way of a teaser, if not a spoiler, here is Fen with her photos.

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Until next week, Limoncello Friends, stay arty!

Limoncello News – Edition 11

NEW ACQUISITIONS

We should have visited Nym Nogah's exhibition at The Galleries sooner, but luckily made it just as it was being taken down. We bought her piece called Dreamer – now on display on the 6th Floor at the LG Tower. She kindly agreed to resize it for us as the small domestic version we bought looked a little out of place. We think you will agree it looks magnificent at scale. On the 5th Floor, we've added The Mer Woman, by VanessaJane66. Also on the 5th Floor of the LG Tower is another mermaid statue; Siren, by Eric Bloodrose and on the 8th Floor is yet another one, Mermaid 01, by LetsFire. 

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We've opened the 10th Floor of the LG Tower for the first time and dedicated it entirely to statues. One is of Poseidon and the entrance to the floor is flanked by guardian mermaids so yes, if you think there's something fishy about this week's purchases, you are detecting Finella's influence! 

So far, all but one of the statues on the new floor are by the same sculptor; Diiar Vader Shippe. She trades on Marketplace as D'STOPIAN. Her store has a category called Art; in which she doesn't include these statues. She lists them instead under Home & Garden but they're every bit as attractive as many by creators with more pretensions.

Perhaps because of her humility ("...but it's art!" is an excuse for many infelicities) she executes them deftly to have low Land Impact. A floor of such sculptures in the pre-mesh era would not have been possible. Even now, many SL artists – confident perhaps that the importance of their work justifies the cost – scorn vulgar prim economy. As a humble seller of decor items, Diiar doesn't allow herself that luxury. Of itself, we don't think a regard for economy of execution makes an object less worthy to be art, any more than ruthlessly editing one's writing to use only les mots justes, would make it less worthy to be literature!

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The pieces featured are Sad Ladies versions 1,2 & 3 (sold separately but which we have grouped so as to console each other), Regal Mermaid (placed in mirrored versions to guard the entrance to the new sculpture floor), Angel and Poseidon. We hope you enjoy them. Do bear in mind that if (like us) you keep your draw-distance low so as to zip around SL laglessly, they may leap out as you approach them because of their LOD. Try not to be startled!

The final new addition is the only sculpture on the 10th Floor of the LG Gallery that isn't by Diiar. It's Dual Color (Feb21), by Phenix Rexen. We have one of Phenix's amazing statues on the Airship Limoncello already but we couldn't resist this one because one of the models was good friend of the gallery, Vaneeesa Blaylock. She's beautiful. It's beautiful. And watch this space for upcoming news of a special exhibition involving Vaneeesa. 

ELSEWHERE ON THE ARTY GRID

ART UNBOUND

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New art enterprise Infinite Productions proposed a joint venture to us, which we were delighted to accept. We will jointly organise and stage a series of pop up events in unlikely, edgy (dare we say un-arty?) locations; taking the fine arts to places angels fear to tread. Above are some slides explaining the concept. The same slides are on screens in-world in the lobby of the LG Tower and at the Limoncello News office.

The series is called ART UNBOUND. You may have noticed signs around the gallery where items have been removed to feature in the first event. It's called MIRAGES ON THE MOTHER ROAD and will run from April 3-24 at a desert location in the Mother Road regions. It features new art as well as those items on loan from our permanent collection.

The opening party will be a four hour music marathon from 6-10 pm SLT on April 3rd and you will get an invitation via the same channel you received your link to this week's magazine. We hope you'll join us to get this new venture off to  great start. Mother Road is a desert region with a rough vibe so – while you'll be welcome whatever you wear – you might like to think biker! We look forward to seeing you all. 

GALLERY PHOTOGRAPHS BY PINK CLARITY

Pink Clarity took some super photographs around the gallery and kindly gave us permission to share them here. Pink has a long attachment to Second Life, mostly on the creative side, and her photography is part of that. She says;

My work is just a small effort to show the real beauty of SL, to represent the talented people who created the properties and sims I enjoyed and express my deep appreciation to them. I used to do my work for personal amusement but now have taken a step further by joining several exhibitions.

Her work can be seen at the Azimuth30 Studio & Gallery and on her Flickr photo stream. She has kindly agreed to let us use one of her images for the sign at our offices in Campbell Coast. 

Pink Clarity's photos of our galleries

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AIRSHIP LIMONCELLO

We have entered into a contract to rebuild the Airship Limoncello in mesh. We will take the opportunity to redecorate the old girl but, while we may replace some old textures with modern ones, we promise she will clearly remain our beloved historic home. What's more, we have bought exclusive rights to the new build so (unlike the LG Tower, which anyone can buy and use) the AS Limoncello II will be unique to us.

Fenella, who is a connoisseur of mesh clothes, had the idea of approaching an SL couturier. Her thinking was that our airship is no more complicated (if rather bigger) than a mesh shoe! The couturier referred her to one of her mesh expert friends and within the hour the contract was signed. If you see men at work aboard taking measurements, now you know what's going on!

We are not sure yet how many prims this will save , but are confident it will allow us to fill the LG Tower's 15 floors with art, and perhaps add a few more levels too. To go to its maximum height of 30 storeys would take all the savings and more, but another five floors might well be possible, which is a lot of gallery space. We will keep you up-to-date with the build as it progresses.

Dave's RL wife is delighted that her budgetary rules on our SL tier have led to creative thinking about prim economy. As any poet will tell you, it's the constraints that make the art!

FENELLA'S BELLISSERIAN QUEST

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The BBB inaugural Linden Location Stamp Rally took place last Friday. It was a tour to collect the six new Bellisseria Passport stamps available for the first time at public locations in Bellisseria. The route was the one Fenella was involved in testing for the Bellisserian Bureau of Bureaucracy (BBB), and which she wrote about in special Limoncello News supplements One, Two and Three.

It was all just fun but we hope it brought us new readers who will stick with us for the art! The picture to the left is of the special sample passport issued for the purposes of the tour, with all six stamps collected. 

The event was a great success and the BBB will issue more passports as a result. We enjoy collecting the stamps ourselves and hope more visitors will come to collect the three stamps we issue at the gallery – and now a fourth at the Limoncello News office on Campbell Coast. We hope they enjoy the art while they're getting their passports stamped and come back soon, often and with all their friends!

As a Bellisserian institution, the BBB is – like our gallery – strictly non-commercial. Role-playing bureaucracy to make the SL experience more real is something its staff do for fun. Not only can you get a passport, they'll issue you with a Bellisserian driving licence and licence plates for your car!

Finally, here's a picture of a page from Fenella's passport bearing the new Limoncello News stamp. As soon as you have collected the new stamps around Bellisseria be sure to come and pick one up. You're hearing about it three days before the weekly notecard goes out from the BBB announcing new locations, so hurry and be among the first to get it!

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ARTIST IN FOCUS

Aruba DeCuir

Images © 2021 Aruba DeCuir - click to enlarge

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Aruba DeCuir's work Spring Etching, March 2013 features in our main gallery in Bellisseria and her African Sunrise is on the lower deck of the Airship Limoncello over mainland. She has her own gallery at Village de Verfeuille and has been a presence in SL art for some time.

She was born and lives in Europe and describes her work like this; 

I paint - in SL with a computer. I 'torture' digital photographs or scans, alter old prints and assemble it all as collages. I also do 'digital etchings' - by which I mean I try to make them look and feel like etchings. 

I use sculpts and mesh in 3D works. I apply letters and numbers to my works - mostly they don't refer to anything special. I pick up inspiration from many sources, I read a lot and I enjoy poetry - some say they sense spirituality in my works but I am not religious as such

Aruba's personality shines through all her works. We enjoy those in our collection and visit her gallery regularly to see what she's been up to. Stop by and take a look yourself. You won't be disappointed. Especially if you're lucky enough to bump into Aruba herself and have a stimulating conversation. She is a passionate lady of trenchant views so have your wits about you! 

Until next week, Limoncello Friends, stay arty!

BBB Gazette – Fenella's Bellisserian Quest; From Millers Pond to completion

Our editor, Fenella, is a new member of the Bellisserian Bureau of Bureaucracy. She is road testing a tour the BBB (in cooperation with the Lindens and Moles) is developing around the sights and landmarks of Bellisseria. The quest is to collect stamps from each location  for the Bellisserian Passport. 

After a restful night, I struck camp in the early light and launched my little boat again from the dock at Millers Pond. I had two more stamps to collect and most of my travel would be on water. The guide-notecard advised me to rez a small boat as there were many low bridges to pass before I reached the sea, but I decided to continue with my little Bandit 22 LTE racing boat; shipping the mast when necessary. She has a nice turn of speed and I knew there were some nautical miles to cover. 

I shipped anchor and sailed North under the first bridge of the day. 

Happily the World Map was working well for once and I could plan my route. Along the river, out to sea, North to the Bellisseria Fairgrounds and back South to Picards Wharf. I sailed gently North and then East through Oldridge, Wolfboro and Evard (under all the promised bridges and perhaps a couple more) until I was among the houseboats in Guppy. I headed out to sea and sailed North-East through Ancoraggio and Bellisseria Bay to Whiskey Bay and the fairgrounds' dock. Most Bellisserians will have visited there as it's a favourite location for our continent's big events. It's also one of my favourite places to practice landings in my helicopter!

Pictures along the way

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After so long in the boat, I was happy to stretch my legs. After a short walk, I found the stamp terminal near a rocky outcrop. The instructions were clear enough and now I had five stamps in my passport. Just one more to go!

Returning to the dock I ignored the water taxi to the mainland and launched my sailboat again, heading West, South-West and then South through Bellisseria Bay, Ancoraggio, Guppy, Wobbly and Stiff Drink (who names these places?!) to a a tall, thin, somewhat Freudian rock protruding from the sea at Picards Wharf. This (so the notecard told me) marked the end of the quest. 

I found the rock and moored my boat. Now it all became a bit more challenging, at least for non-Merfolk! As the guide-notecard put it: 

One way or another you are going to get wet now. If you are brave put on the supplied adventure gear. Alternatively if you have scuba or snorkel gear, put it on. Merfolks ignore all the above. Worst case scenario take a deep breath and hold your nose.

It was time for a magical transformation as Fenella became FINella and swam down to the sea bed. Among the ruins of another house built by the Moles on poor foundations, I found the entrance to an underwater cave. All the guide-notecard had to say was;

Walk into the cave and try to find the stamp terminal. The Merfolk maintain this terminal and it might not be pristine after all this time in the water. So no disrespect to the Merfolk but it might not be so easy to find. This is the last stamp, did you think we'd make it easy? Get the stamp and you've completed the quest! Explore deeper into the caverns and grottoes if you are brave enough, but be warned some never return!

The Moles had placed a terminal where it would sink and rust, yet were trying blame us Merfolk (for obvious reasons not famed as electricians) for its poor condition! I ignored the insult and swam around until I found it.

I must give credit to my BBB colleagues for their workmanship. The screen was flickering but somehow, though it didn't look too great, it worked! I had myself a "Mermaid Grotto" stamp. We citizens of the sea need no passports to our own places, but I just laughed at the idea. We won't begrudge any legger who makes it safely to and from those caves the pleasure of a bureaucratic reward! 

Since I got my passport when I moved to Bellisseria last year, I have enjoyed collecting the BBB's stamps. All Limoncello Art Gallery locations have stamp terminals and as a Bellisserian institution (our Main Gallery is over Dave's, houseboat) we are happy to fly the flag at our mainland annexe too.

More art galleries, clubs, GTFO depots and docks, starships, Tardises and other destinations around the grid (the locations don't have to be in Bellisseria though you must be a Bellisserian to have the passport) should have terminals. They are one more reason for people to visit your location. What's not to like?

I would argue that they make particular sense for art galleries because the urge to collect is something their owners and their visitors have in common!

Unlike most bureaucracies, we have a talented designer on our staff and will craft your stamp for you, based on your logo or your requirements. We at the Limoncello Gallery liked the BBB's design for our stamp so much that with permission we adopted it as our logo.

This little quest was a particularly fun way to add to my collection of stamps however. Apart from the Mermaid Grotto at the end, the instructions were clear and the terminals easy enough to find. When the route opens officially later today, I recommend you try it – if you have a Bellissarian passport.

And if you don't, but are entitled to one, why don't you head over to the BBB and fill out the form? Of course there's a form; we're bureaucrats!  We're not very good at bureaucratic delay though, so you may be pleasantly surprised by how soon it arrives.

The route officially opens at 12 noon SLT today when the BBB inaugural Linden Location Stamp Rally begins. Pick up your travel trunk now with all the kit you need (including a boat, adventure clothing and a route map HUD) at the BBB Office. Open it in readiness but don't rez anything until the Rally begins!

Enjoy your explorations and come home safely.

BBB Gazette – Fenella's Bellisserian Quest: from Campwich to Millers Pond

Our editor, Fenella, is a new member of the Bellisserian Bureau of Bureaucracy. She is road testing a tour the BBB (in cooperation with the Lindens and Moles) is developing around the sights and landmarks of Bellisseria. The quest is to collect stamps from each location  for the Bellisserian Passport. 

My journey began at one of my favourite spots  – Campwich Lodge – where I collected the first of the unique stamps. I am always puzzled why more events on the Linden Continent aren't held in this beautiful building - available as a public space for Bellisseria residents to use. 

Following the instructions provided to me, I headed to the nearby jetty and launched my sailboat at the rez zone. If you don't have a boat of your own, one is provided for the quest (along with other equipment) so don't worry. Sailing under the bridge at Porthole, I headed East along the river and out to sea before turning North towards Light of Aurelia.

Passing under the bridge between the lighthouse island and the mainland I reached Puffin Head and the entrance to the Panamole Canal. At only 750 metres, it's shorter than its 82 kilometre counterpart in RL; the Panama Canal. However it's only slightly narrower and while the RL canal costs a minimum of $800 for even the smallest boat to pass, the SL version is free of charge. Many people (well OK, some Moles) think this makes it far superior!

As soon as I entered the Donovan region, I disembarked and continued on foot. The directions in the draft notecard went a bit wrong at this point and I noted some corrections to send back to the office. Soon enough though, I found the nearby bridge over the Canal and collected my second stamp. 

Sailing and Riding through Bellisseria

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Millbank – why?

From here the instructions recommended a wearable vehicle, so I mounted my trusty steed Shadowfax atop the bridge and headed North to the crossroads. Following the instructions led me to the road into Kirbee and on to Millbank, where I picked up the third stamp. I am not quite sure what wonder of Bellisseria it celebrates though. Appropriately, the stamp is a big fat question mark!

I rode across Millbank's parkland. There's a railway under construction and various animals grazing including goats and (surprisingly) camels! I took the road North-East to Miller's Pond where, on a dock, I collected my fourth and final stamp for today.

There's a rez zone by the jetty for taking boats onto the water, but I dutifully followed the notecard guide's suggestion instead. I took one of the nearby rubber rings and paddled out to discover – shall we politely say – one of  the Moles' less successful builds.

It was time to make camp and rest before continuing the quest.

To be continued...

Limoncello News – Edition 10

AN OFFICE ON THE CAMPBELL COAST

Fenella outside her new office

We have a new location in SL (as always, please click the picture to enlarge it). It's not a gallery but an office for the Limoncello News in the beautiful Scottish region of Campbell Coast.

Owl Dragonash manages the artists' village there; a neighbourhood of galleries run by the artists themselves. It's new, but is already one of our favourite art destinations so we are happy to be represented there.

Please stop by to say hello (and take a look at Nessie through our window). If you have "copy" or photographs for us to feature, please IM Fenella, drop her a notecard or email her at [email protected].

FENELLA'S NEW JOB

As if editing the Limoncello News was not enough work, Fenella has joined the BBB – the Bellisserian Bureau of Bureaucracy. Her first job as an apparatchik (oh how RL friends would laugh at the very idea!)  is to test a route around the Linden Continent's sights and attractions which people will soon be able to follow to collect stamps in the Bellisserian passport issued by the BBB. You can read more about this project here and Fenella's reports from her tour of the route will follow shortly.

NEW ACQUISITIONS

Second Life is not one world but many. It's made from all our imaginations and features everything from the dark through the magical to the prosaic or even vulgar. Fenella recently started to research the merfolk of SL with a view to giving a mer-curious friend a nice tail as a gift. As is her nature, she soon got caught up in it herself! It's an immersive (!) and fascinating other world under the Linden Seas. There are spectacular builds that most leggers never find. Certainly, in our fourteen years in SL, we had no idea they were there.

"Finella" in her new home

Among the sunken ships and flooded ruins of Fenella's new home in Haven of Mermaids, there's an undersea dance club, bars, a shopping mall and – yes – an art gallery! Bryn Oh's statue of a mermaid is at the centre of it. Fenella loved it and was keen to acquire our own copy. It's only available as part of a Gacha that involves getting random halves of two mythical creatures and combining them, but we asked Bryn and she kindly donated one to us. We have given it pride of place in the lobby of the LG Tower.

Fenella admiring Bryn Oh's "Mythical Creature: Mermaid"

We also bought two pieces by Bryn called Flutter and Flutter holding hand, which now stand under Mistero Hifeng's clock sculpture in the courtyard of the LG Tower. We think they make an intriguing little scene; vulnerable and touching. It made us think of the Kindertransport, but it's in the nature of art that it may say something quite different to you. Let us know what you think in the comments.

Continuing the watery theme, on the Fifth Floor of the LG Tower is Ancient Water World, by Michelle (Aquarius Lowtide). On the Sixth Floor are two new sculptures, both by Artemis Greece. They are Attraction and Venus. We admire Artemis's low-key, modest approach to her SL creations, which she markets as decor not art. We beg to differ. In addition to Bryn Oh's piece, we also have another new sculpture in the lobby of the LG Tower – No escape from the grid man, by Cherry Manga. We have long been thinking of adding one of Cherry's works to the collection so this was a perfect birthday gift to Dave from his friend Lisa. Thank you, Lisa! Dave's RL birthday is tomorrow, by the way. He missed being born on St. Patrick's day by minutes.

Finally, we invested at long last in our first piece by well-known and well-loved SL artist Bamboo Barnes. Her painting called Life now hangs on the 5th Floor of the LG Tower. 

ELSEWHERE ON THE ARTY GRID AND LIMONCELLO ARTIST IN FOCUS

One of the first artists to feature in our collection was Elin Egoyan, who owns the Galeria Arte Colorido in SL. In RL she is Marijke Pel and her website is here. Her "Different Paths, One Destination" has been giving us pleasure since our founder bought it for the walls of his then SL home back in the early days. It now hangs on the ground floor of the Main Gallery in Bellisseria. Elin writes of herself; 

My artistic life started about 35 years ago with a pencil, soft pastel crayon and my fingers as tools. Finally after a long time ignoring my desire to draw (teenagers are busy with far more ‘important’ things of course:)) I gave in and,… was lost! I really got the hang of it!

Of her long-standing second life, she says; 

One of my main goals was to have my own gallery and show what I made in RL.  I found so much satisfaction in being creative in more ways SL offers. The landscaping, the building,… the drive to make creations better and better. So many ideas are whirling in my head.

She features in Elsewhere on the Arty Grid as well as being this week's Artist in Focus because she has an exhibition in progress from March 14 to April 14 at the ArtCare Gallery. It's called Call to Nature and we recommend it to you. We like her work as much as we ever did and we are glad to have one of her pieces in our collection. 

Elin Egoyan

Elin's piece in our collection and an overview of her "Call to Nature" exhibition at ArtCare (click for full-sized images)

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SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS

We are coming to the end of "Roni Revisited: A Ronda Saunders Retrospective" at the Jishnu Room of the Main Gallery. Roni destroyed her inventory when she left Second Life, so some of these pieces are rarely seen now and you should really take the chance to visit before they disappear into their owner's inventory. The exhibition finishes at the end of March. "To Infinity and Beyond" – our exhibition of Cate Infinity's work – continues until the end of April and "Abstracts", by Kisma Reidling runs until the end of May. "In my Mood" by Eylinea Seabird has no fixed end date. The directory board teleports at all our locations will take you to any of them.

Until next week, Limoncello Friends, Happy Saint Patrick's Day and stay arty!

Special Supplement - Fenella's Bellisserian Bureaucratic Quest

Bel from the Bellisserian Bureau of Bureaucracy sent out the following notice to the BBB team last Monday. 

Fenella Allen, of Limoncello Gallery, who is also connected to both the BBB and Campbell Coast has joyfully become part of our team! Please welcome her just as joyfully. Fenella blogs at "Limoncello News" and is doing a run of our test route and will blog her adventures. Bjoyful will then link the blog to her bloggers and for her Campbell Coast people to share. I am so happy to have her!  Welcome Fenella! 

Thus began an unexpected new phase in my SL career; one in which I wander around with the tag "Bureaucrat" over my head! In truth, I am happily volunteering to help develop and promote the Bellisseria passport, from which I have personally had a lot of fun. I have written about it here before and there are terminals in each of our gallery locations to apply stamps to Bellisserians' passports when they visit. I think other art galleries would do well to apply for them too, as the "collector's mentality" is something a lot of their visitors share with their owners!

Fen with her "bureaucrat" tag (click to enlarge picture)

In an exciting new development, the Lindens have signed up to the idea. Patch Linden talked about it in his interview at the RFL Home & Garden Expo 2021. The whole interview is here and you can find the mention of BBB at 28 minutes in. 

Public features around Bellisseria built by the Moles and owned by the Lindens will soon have passport terminals so you can collect stamps there too. My job for the BBB is to test out the route people follow to collect these special stamps and to write about my journey here at the Limoncello News. 

Look out for more in future editions and in the meantime, Limoncello Friends, as ever, stay arty! 

Limoncello News – Edition 9

LG TOWER NOW 15 STOREYS

We have known for some time we can't realise our goals without rehousing the collection to save prims. Dave is keeping a promise to his RL wife about his SL tier, so we can't buy more land! Unless a benefactor will buy land in Nanga and deed it to our group, prim-saving is the key to our future. Each prim we save from gallery infrastructure makes room for another artwork. We are in talks with a mesh expert who may save us prims by rebuilding the Airship Limoncello but that will take time and can’t be guaranteed. In the meantime we are running out of space and must act

We've added five floors to the LG Tower. It now has fourteen levels of gallery space plus one floor for events. While we treasure the Airship Limoncello, our home since 2007, we are not sentimental about her smaller sister ship – the Amaretto.

Its land impact is greater than the five new storeys of the tower. When a friend recently said that our crowded exhibits do the art no favours, her comment sealed its fate. Decommissioning our most cramped gallery space has aesthetic as well as economic benefits!

Take a last look at the Amaretto, because she is heading for the scrapyard (aka Dave's inventory) this week. She's already empty but we will keep her aloft for a few days to give Bellisseria Passport holders a last chance to collect her stamp – soon to become a rarity!

The works from our permanent collection can now be found on Floors 8 and 9. Sisi Biedermann has kindly moved the artworks from her private collection on loan to us to the 7th Floor of the LG Tower. We have updated the catalogue so just click one of the information boards to get the latest copy.

A last look at the Amaretto

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NEW ACQUISITIONS

On Floor 6 of the LG Tower, you will find several new works. The first is by Uleria Caramel – an artist whose work featured heavily in last week's edition – and is called "Indian Summer". Next you will find "Seaside Mansion" by Carey Chenault – a deceptively simple, charming landscape.

A glimpse of some new acquisitions

Then there is "BAROCK 08", by Caly Applewhyte. It's a really striking image from Caly's exhibition last year at DixMix Gallery. We also have two images by Alex Riverstone, called "Another Pretty Face" and "Buddha." Dave met Alex last week and discovered he was a tenant when Nanga (where our mainland annexe is) was a rental sim. We hope he will visit to see his works exhibited where his apartment used to be. Finally there is "Reflections on Old Metal" - by Thus Yootz – a piece Dave has owned for a while, but has had on display in his home. This adds to our growing collection of Thus's work. We think she's a great talent.

On the 7th Floor of the LG Tower, in addition to the works moved down from the Amaretto, you'll find "Windy Faraway 1", by Ambre Singh. In the grounds outside the LG Tower, you'll find "Silver Huntress", by Kannel Arai – a huge statue, which long stood in the park of Castle Nanga and now stands among its ruins.

GALLERIES OF SL NETWORK

Have you noticed the "Galleries of SL" kiosks on the wall at our main gallery in Bellisseria and on the top deck of the Airship "Limoncello" in Nanga? If you follow SL art you will probably have seen them all over the grid. Sasun Steinbeck created the system on 5th January 2006 and maintains the database they are based on "for the benefit of the wonderful galleries, artists and art lovers in Second Life." The boards and kiosks give out a HUD to take visitors from gallery to gallery. We regularly use it to find new galleries and tour all the old ones to see what's new. We always rate and re-rate the galleries we visit to help keep the system useful to the grid's art lovers. The list is also online and there's even a map to show you (when Linden Labs get the World Map working again) where all the galleries are.

It's a great system and a perfect example of the generosity that makes the SL art world so good. It's all given freely as a service to art. It does demonstrate the power of Sasun's commercial KioskNet system for SL businesses so we hope it at least generates some sales!

When you use it, please remember to rate the galleries you visit and leave a helpful or encouraging comment.

ELSEWHERE ON THE ARTY GRID

Now showing at DixMix Gallery

Dave and I are petrolheads (gearheads in US English) and specifically Ferraristi. We rarely get involved with anything automotive in Second Life though. It's a good simulator for sailing but not for driving so here we content ourselves with naming our fleet of SL sail boats "Speranza" – the name of Dave's RL car!

I was therefore surprised and delighted by one of the current exhibitions at the DixMix Gallery – "Roll Hoop" by Key Monk. It features his superb automotive images displayed alongside models of sports and racing cars.  It made me long even more for an early end to lockdown so I can get out onto the RL roads again. I have really missed all the motorsport events I usually attend in RL that were cancelled during the pandemic.

"Roll Hoop" opened on February 20th and will run to March 27th.  It's great - go take a look. Thanks to Violet Boa of DixMix Gallery for providing the image above.

Roll Hoop at the DixMix Gallery

 LIMONCELLO ARTIST IN FOCUS

One of the first artists in our collection was Shadowtime Writer. Our founder, LastDitch Writer, met her on her first day in Second Life and they got into conversation for no better reason than their shared SL surname. Learning she was an artist (RL artist Rebecca Shadrich) he encouraged her to upload some of her works, slapped them on prims for her and exhibited them in the original gallery. In RL, Rebecca's work has featured in the Statesville Record & Landmark, Art On The Green, Signal Hill Gallery, and at numerous Native American events.

Shadowtime Writer's work at the main gallery in Bellisseria

Based in the foothills of North Carolina, she uses bold colors, sharp contrast, and a deep spiritual connection in her landscapes and symbolic art work. You can see several of her paintings in our Main Gallery in Bellisseria and you can buy her work in real life here. 

SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS

You can reach any of the current special exhibitions from our Directory Boards around the galleries, or from the SLURLs in the sidebar to this site. We have four excellent shows, featuring Ronda Saunders, Eylinea Seabird, Cate Infinity and Kisma Reidling. 

"Abstracts", by Kisma Reidling

Until next week, Limoncello Friends, stay arty!

Limoncello News – Edition 8

NEW ACQUISITIONS

It's another bumper week for new additions to our collection at the Limoncello Gallery! They are all interesting pieces and we hope you like them. There are three new artworks on floor 4 of the LG Tower. They are "Where I am?", by Xia Cheng, "real style is never right or wrong...", by IrisSweet and "Halo win", by Selen Minotaur. We already have two other works by Xia Cheng in the collection but these are our first by Iris and Selen. 

Down in the courtyard in front of the LG Tower, you will find an enormous sculpture called "The Wood Man", by Nabrej Aabye.

Other new acquisitions this week open up Floor 6 of the LG Tower for the first time. There, you'll find "LOOK" from the Faces Collection by LikaCameo, "Revolution of Spheres", by Nabrej Aabye, "N. 124", by Ernst Maven, "When the sky is crying", by Sofi (Bachi Cheng), "Jolie Moly", by Leigh Quartz and "Ten Tall Tales Tersely told" by Talullah Winterwolf. Also a group of four paintings by Uleria Caramel called "Grid Goes On", "Fielding", "Spiral Moment" and "Diamondy".

Finally, we have added a striking group of three paintings by RL artist Michelle Villarreal (Aquarius Lowtide in SL). They are "Star King", "Galactic Voyage" and "Ancient Water World". 

TIME AND RELATIVE DIMENSIONS IN SPACE

There is an active "Doctor Who" community in Second Life; fans of the longest-running sci-fi show in world television. First broadcast by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1963, its hero is the Doctor – a fugitive "time lord" in a stolen time machine called a TARDIS. It is supposed to be able to change its appearance so as to be inconspicuous wherever and whenever it lands but the "chameleon circuit" in the one in the show is broken. The low budget children's show it was meant to be couldn't afford lots of different Tardises, so it is stuck in the shape of a police telephone box from the days before they had radios. Why that shape? Because the BBC had a police box in the studio back then from a discontinued cop show!

Dimensional transcendence and the chameleon circuit

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In Second Life competing companies make Tardises and their owners use them to navigate the grid. Their "chameleon circuits" work so they DO appear in many different forms. The Tardis is "dimensionally transcendent" – bigger on the inside than the outside. Part of the fun of the show is discovering endless new rooms inside! In SL this works by having the  "interior" in a sky box and rezzing an exterior at the destination when it lands. SL Time Lords emerge from the box, having TP'ed in from their "interior". Owners can set up public rezzers other Time Lords can use, so there's a network of destinations to visit – including several around our gallery. You may occasionally see a Tardis landed. If it is one of ours, it will be unlocked and you are welcome to visit (hold your cursor down on the interior image and accept the TP to "enter"). Be warned that other visiting Time Lords may not be so hospitable as us! If you would like a tour, or if you would like Tardises to be able to land at your gallery or other destination just IM Time Lords Dave or Fenella or use the email link in the sidebar.

SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS

You can reach any of the current special exhibitions from our Directory Boards around the galleries, or from the SLURLs in the sidebar to this site. We have four super shows, featuring Ronda Saunders, Eylinea Seabird, Cate Infinity and Kisma Reidling. If you haven't visited yet, you really should. Bring a friend and make a day of it!

Enjoy your SLives and until next week, Limoncello Friends, stay arty!