Notes from Ando

OK, OK, I know it’s been a while, but things have been busy for me! A quick update – I’m now the Senior Writer for ICON Lifestyles Magazine, having just submitted my work for the 3rd issue due out in May 1. Stop by the ICON kiosk on Symphony and subscribe – I guarantee it’s a good read!

I’ve also completed the town square on Symphony, and am in the process of setting it all up for commerce. My partner Acacia Merlin is way ahead of me on this – she’s been building like there is no tomorrow, and is rapidly filling up her store, Minuet Designs, with beautiful, inexpensive low-prim accessories for your SL home.

My store, across the plaza from Minuet Designs, is Bauen Precision Instruments. It is in many ways the opposite of Acacia’s store – expensive, high-prim unnecessaries for the home! But there’s a reason I’m proud of my stuff, and for the high prim count – these items are very detailed, realistic, feature unique handmade textures, and (I hope) are very pleasing to look at. Many items are limited editions, such as the Dagurreotype Camera, which you can actually use for photographs. Its aged lense will add a touch of antique to all your shots. (There’s even a HUD included so that you can shoot on location!) Only 20 will ever be sold. There is a display in Bauen, and if you are interested in purchasing one of these, contact me in world via IM if I’m online, or notecard if I am not, and I will give you an individually numbered camera and personalized usage instructions.

What else? I just inked a deal with Catalina McCaw to create an amazing build for her on Wizard, one of her beautiful sims. I will update this blog with scenes from the project as I proceed with the building of it, so stay tuned!

That’s all for now, folks. But before I go, let me remind you to stop by Symphony any time – there are many wonders, delights for the senses, horse trails that ring the island, easy sailing/boating, hidden poseballs scattered about, and many more things to discover from the highest hills to the depths of the lagoon. If you would like an exclusive booking at the Lodge for a conference or company retreat, let either me or Acacia know in advance and we’ll set it up for you.

-Ando

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Minuet . . . Wherein a New Dance Begins

Once Ando lit the creative spark in me to build, thoughtfully guiding my work and sometimes setting challenges for me to meet, I began to fill up the lighthouse studio with things I made. I fell in love with the exotic wood textures at Twisted Thorn — there are four packs with over 30 wood textures in each, and they are amazing! — richly detailed, high resolution, lovely to work with. (I’ll be writing about Twisted Thorn in an upcoming blog.) Those textures led to an armoire, magazine holder, umbrella stand, lamp, and table. A well-done texture can spark ideas.  

Soon after my first successful project, I wanted to create a separate entity for the things I was building, but I also wanted to stay in tune, pun intended, with the spirit of Symphony. Wikipedia provided the perfect resolution . . . the third movement of a classical symphony is the minuet, which is also a lively and elegant dance. So Minuet Designs was born. It seemed perfect for the small decorative accessories for home and avatar that I was drawn to build. All that remained was to grow into it. And that meant weeks of Saturdays and Sundays practicing this new craft.

One thing led to another until, in this creative dance we seem to be doing on Symphony, Ando or I thought it would be nice to perhaps have a shop. And that seemed like a great idea because the lighthouse was becoming so full of things that it was getting harder and harder to find a square meter of space to rez a prim. I was also having more frequent texture emergencies . . . applying textures meant for new pieces on already finished ones that just happened to get in the way. Not to mention  turning the windows into table tops and the wood plank floor into stained glass by overshooting my mark in an overzealous approach to texturing. Patient Ando had to follow in my wake putting things back to rights. 

Something had to give.

As it turned out it was Ando, generous man that he is. He cleared a space on Symphony, and almost overnight put in a town square complete with a shop for me, a shop for him and a coffeeshop, just because “it feels more like a community.” A dancing fountain, working sundial, magazine kiosks, chirping sparrows and trees soon filled the square.  

 

Ando Joubert's shopping build for Symphony

 

Very gratefully, I moved all of my completed projects from the lighthouse to the new shop ~ Minuet. 

Some of the items for sale at Minuet

 

To someone who builds with prims in SL, an SL sandbox or studio is not unlike a writer’s blank page. A clean slate, empty canvas, and hopefully some new ideas to fill them soon. The lighthouse stands almost empty now, except for the armoire, which still needs the right door script. You can even get to the circular staircase again, without bumping into tables and lamps in the process. It’s an open, inviting space, just waiting . . .

For now, I’d like to invite you to visit Symphony, to browse Minuet and Bauen (Ando’s shop where you can find precision primwork items that are among the finest in SL — including a highly realistic daguerreotype camera ). Please feel free to wander the beautiful Symphony sim. It was created to be enjoyed. (Symphony 92 111 29, should get you there!)

And the coda?  

If I can do this, so can you. If you aren’t already building in Second Life and are intrigued by the possibilities . . . there is no better time than now to begin. Rez a prim . . .play! Con brio!

~Cacie

 

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