Art To Go Opening!

This just in from Kelly Yap:

Opening for the Art To Go Exhibition I

Sunday August 24th
3-5pm.

DJ CHECKERS will be spinning some traveling TUNES!
VOTING for the Art To Go Art Contest will begin!
PARADE at 5pm from the gallery with anyone in a vehicle participating....let's see how many vehicles we can get in a line and how far we can go on this funky Linden road!

GUEST ARTISTS are Nayeli Writer, Eeyore Ogg, MarieAnn Roogus,Sycho Kidd and Holly Loll
RESIDENT ARTISTS are LawnDart Curtiss, Drumstick Ah, Inkspots Voom, Exosius Woolley, Jankasse Broome, Grandaddy Republic, Kato Salyut, Sonia Stardust and Gillylou Messmer

Be there or be oh so square!

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If SL Pottery Is A Lottery, We Hit The Jackpot

Tonight's article consists of three quick stops in at SL's established pottery stores.

I first arrived at Pottery Pavilion at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bietschhorn/208/232/36. My first action was to await the popping of several dozens sculpted prims, thanks to my low-grade eMachine. I first thought I was in the middle of some sort of pod invasion, but everything shaped up beautifully. Two tiers of color-sorted pottery presented themselves nicely, but the show-stealer here was not the pottery but the stunning water temple, lavishly and perfectly decorated with Egyptian textures. Many times I've seen people come close to realistic texturing in SL, but I can definitely say that this place is a triumph and a marvel.

Pottery Pavilion also sells a neat 39-prim Mushroom/palette-swap Tree House for L$300, a 157-prim giant birdhouse for 450L, and a 92-prim tree stump home for L$350. Unfortunately, it's a case of too little, too late; with an impressive 9088m and a traffic of just 8, and the owner not online since July 31 and a L$100000 price tag hovering over the property, the Pavilion's glory days are coming to an end.

For a Mexican flair, El Refugio (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kochoomo/137/105/58) is where it's at. Located both in Kochomoo and JC Anvil's Bungalow Zone, El Refugio features vibrant designs with many sun and moon motifs, flowers, birds, fish, and Mexican abstracts. Pinatas, plaques, wall art, fountains, wrought iron lamps, and many kinds of bistro chairs and tables round out the satisfying selection you will find here. And if that is not enough to quench your thirst for fine culture, ladies may still browse the new clothing store and anyone can browse the dedicated furniture store.

For anyone seeking the exotic SL store, Absinthe Minded Pottery and Pation in Skyridge (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Skyridge/179/113/301) offers a largely sign-free, text-free shopping environment that soothes anyone used to rows of laggy overlapping white text. Potted plants, birdbaths, and urns are the order of the day at 300m (kudos for not having the awful X-shaped flowers you see everywhere else in SL!) and at ground level there is a homey tiki shop with plenty of variety (they even have a stove for those chilly nights)! In all it's very well arranged, and a pleasure to see a place that isn't jammed with numbers and letters, for once.

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Thanks A Latte: VM Reviews Three SL Coffeeshops

Open Latte Coffee Shop used to be my favorite coffeehouse back when I had time. It has a very professional build through and through and radiates luxury and charm like a serene Charles Baudelaire poem. Featuring a fireplace, outdoor patio, library, and a few hardwood-accented rooms, the views are all very relaxing and uninterrupted by ad farms and other detritus. It was fairly happening for any SL business when I got there, with around 8 people. The music was a bit sugar-watery when I got there but it did little to detract from the ambience and they've had better music before.




Solace Coffee House is built high, with a walkaround height of 216m, right around the cloud level. Surprisingly, the land can be found ascending to this height! The realism is supported by waterfalls and a series of platformed walkways going all the way down to 160m. Solace's textures don't stand out like Mill Pond's do, but they're competently done and the architecture is superior, with a misty Pacific outdoor look modeled on Nepenthe Restaurant at Big Sur, California. Lots of poseballs and doodads like the Conversation Bomb, a comfortably close couch-covered interior and a product selection right out of any RL cafe round out this fine establishment. The music is fun and contemporary, laid-back and nothing I've yet heard.



And Kelly Yap's gotten a lot more down to earth! Formerly the owner of a hip, cozy skybox art gallery/coffeeshop, she's brought it all down to the ground and separated it into a spacious coffeehouse (Fiction & Lattes) and her art shop, Artifice. Upcoming events include Art to Go, a vehicle contest, and a L$1000 Traveling Tales Writing Contest, both accepting entries by August 15th.

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