Sculpted Furniture

OK, I got on the stick and started working more with sculpted prims. I'll admit I was resistant. (The damn programs are intimidating and they never seem to have a good guide.) I gave it another go this past week and I'm glad I did. I am here to tell you that once I got started sculpting prims I couldn't stop! It's so much fun! The best part about sculpties is, I can streamline my builds and create with more freedom. The lower prim count is an added bonus. My plan is to remake much of my store inventory, replacing some of the regular prims with sculpties.



Although I am creating quite a bit of "Real Life" styled furnishings, I will also continue to create the fantasy pieces that EID is known for. I believe there is room for both.


I'll be in and out of world over the Thanksgiving holiday. For those of you that celebrate Thanksgiving, have a wonderful day and be well!

Breath

Imagine a wisp of air...ethereal, insubstantial and fleeting. Imagine glass...fragile and crystalline. When life is challenging, we can sometimes feel disconnected from those we love and even from the world around us. We feel fragile...as insubstantial as breath. So fragile that we could blow away if we don't make a concerted effort to hang on to ourselves.

Over the past week or two, I have felt disconnected. My anchors...my touch stones don't seem reachable. I am pealed back to my fragile core and exposed. The slightest breeze can sweep me of the edge, so I hang on to myself. I tell myself that I can stand. I tell myself that I can hold. Who knows...maybe I can?

The choices we make in life build the structure that we stand on. The people we include in our lives are always a part of that structure. The problem is...weak choices can weaken that structure and cause it to collapse under its own weight or tip over for lack of balance. We seek balance in our selves. We seek balance in our work. Maybe we should seek balance in love. Maybe it's not "OK" to always be the one who opens...reaches out. Maybe by doing so, it takes too much from us. Maybe it doesn't encourage others to step up. In any case, I need to stop overspending myself. I haven't reached any momentous decisions on this topic or resolved anything within myself. I'm still here...still standing. But...I now understand that balance is applicable in relationships too. I don't know why I didn't see that before. Its not OK to expect to put myself last. Its not "OK"to always be OK with everything. I am not giving up on love. I am not giving up on friendships. I am drawing boundaries between what I can be "OK" with and what I can't. I have some really amazing friends and family. I love my friends and family dearly. I hope that they will understand. I hope that they will see this as an opportunity reach out. I know that right now I am over extended and I can't hold my hand out any farther without falling.

Breath....delicate....insubstantial...fragile, it exists in the in betweens of moments. And I am in between one breath and the next.

Souls' Dance

Connected beyond skin, we touch. Souls woven together in a timeless dance, we meet and become one.

For T always...
and dedicated with love to Jordan & Via ...two who are one.

Sometimes miracles happen and we get to see a story unfold in the most astonishing way. This was the case with Souls' Dance. It is the aftermath of magic.

This story continues...

To begin at the beginning, I was in turmoil regarding current events in my love life, (See Previous post "Fire Dance") when I received an instant message from my old friend, Jordan, in Second Life. He apologized for being out of touch, but circumstances had kept him off line. We spoke frequently over the next three days. He had been upset over his home situation. Then came the message from Jordan that the love of his life, his wife Via was leaving. She needed space to figure things out. That day, with shaking hands he signed the separation papers. He loved her enough to want her to be happy, so resigned himself to letting her go. At this point , Jordan and I were both hanging on to our respective sanity by a thread. I was waiting to see if I still had a relationship with T. Jordan was going through legal separation. I had wished there was something I could say to help him, but no words would make any difference to someone who was losing the one person they love above all others. In an effort to clear my head, I decided I needed new shoes. (Hey! I'm female ..ok? I shop. Therefore, I am) After teleporting into a couple of stores with disappointing results, I deciding to go back to my tried and true favorite shoe store , Minx. This is where it gets interesting , so stick with me ....

I teleported into Minx and landed on...Jordan's wife, Via. Yes. Out of the 35,000 people logged into Second Life, I landed on Via. We'd never met. She recognized my name as one that Jordan had mentioned and introduced herself to me. As we chatted she mentioned their immanent separation. (Still we cammed and shopped...We are female after all.) Via mentioned the sculptures that I'd recently done, that are on their Second Life estate. Universe of Two and Fire Dance - Danze del Fuego are two of Jordan's favorites. Via told me that she connected with Universe of Two, because it reminded her of when she met Jordan. She said that time stood still and all she could see were his eyes...his face. Interestingly enough , Jordan had expressed the same thought to me in almost exactly the same words, when he first viewed Universe of Two, and I told her as much. Shocked by this, she told me she thought he'd forgotten. I told Via that Jordan said he could never forget the way time stopped and their eyes met across the room. Via told me at this point through tears, that she was incomplete without him, but she needed space. She wished that she could erase the past year and start fresh, but he was so distant. I told her how much Jordan loved her and suggested that she talk to him. Really talk....openly and without reservation, pride or walls. I explained what I'd recently gone through, and how I risked being completely vulnerable to hurt in order to reach out in my own relationship. We talked about dancing in the flames. Wasn't true love worth the risk?

That night Jordan and Via talked and reconnected. Jordan told me he stayed up much of the night watching Via as she slept. When he finally slept, Jordan dreamed of dancing with Via in a lovely garden. He said they had no corporeal forms. They were pure essence weaving in, out and through one another as if they were one. Jordan stopped at that point and said" It's hard to describe". I reassured him that I understood. I remembered all the times I felt that way with T. The intimacy of that soul deep connection is the most beautiful experience I've ever had. So , without thinking I told Jordan, "It's like a Souls' Dance". There was an Oh My God moment in IM, when I realized that I had just named my next sculpture. I could see the weave of prims and colors forming in my head. I couldn't wait to get to work on it.

So I ask you...Was I really shopping for shoes? (Laughing) We are all so connected to each other, that great need can produce miracles. I know the four of us experienced a miracle this past week. Jordan and Via are back together and working things out. The separation papers were ripped up and in the trash. True love won the day. As for my own Fire Dance...? Well, I didn't crash and burn. In fact, I found a wellspring of strength I never knew existed. I was able to share this with T and it went a long way toward healing our relationship. Magic exists, fed by love and connecting us all, to create miracles.

I have since completed Souls' Dance and dedicated it to T, Jordan and Via. The story will unfold further and time will add detail and flavor to this dance. We will undoubtedly get back to our lives, but for the briefest of times, we were each part of the miracle. We will never forget.

I pass that magic on to you. Continue the story for me. : )

-Gwen

Fire Dance - Danze del Fuego

There are times in our lives that are cross overs...nexus points. We make a choice to either play it safe or take the ultimate risk of crash and burn. But when we want something enough, we may choose to risk failure, rejection and even pain to gain it. That's when we find ourselves dancing in the flames. It's not a fire walk....that's for wimps! No. It's a fire dance. The goal is not merely to survive, but to summon all of our courage and despite fear, risk all for love. Love can be the ultimate motivation for growth, if we allow it. So many times we have stopped ourselves from enjoying love because the risk of hurt was too great. We don't want to feel vulnerable. Excessive pride is fear's shield, preventing love and growth. I asked myself "Isn't love worth any risk?" The answer was plain. Yes. Staying safe gained me nothing. Love is always worth the risk, so I chose to dance in the flames. Once I made the decision to conquer fear of hurt and rejection and openly express my feelings, an amazing thing happened. I didn't feel weaker, I felt stronger...empowered! I realized that fear of hurt and failure can stop us from experiencing so many good things in life. Just the act of making that choice was empowering. Yes...I may crash and burn. I left myself with no out and no shield of pride to hide behind. But, I cannot let that stop me from doing all I can to experience love. So I acknowledged my fears and with a last look at the safety zone, tossed myself into the flames with three words on my lips. "I love you."

Allowing myself to be vulnerable has strengthened me in a very integral way. I chose love over fear. Whatever the outcome of this ultimate risk of self, I will not regret my choice to dance in the flames.

EID Radio Hits the Net!

I am pleased to announce my latest project...EID Radio: The Voice of Elements in Design! Wooohoo! As a former DJ, this is a world of fun for me, cause this time around, I get to play what I want and not have to follow some program director's playlist rotation. It's a great way to connect with my guests on Elements in Design and poke fun at LL when the mood strikes me.

Right now, my On Air schedule is from 6pm to 9pm SLT. Soon though , we'll be streaming 24/7! (And we'd better cause I can't build and spin at the same time.) Please tune in and join me. I take requests but don't play them...just kidding. lol I may not have what you request but I'll do my best to get it. *smiles* Feel free to IM. My On Air status will always be posted in my picks under EID Radio. Just Click or copy the url you see below.

http://66.34.54.162:8090/

Breaking Free

"Gwen Carillon? She does that fantasy furniture...right?"



As a designer I feel it's really important not to box myself into doing just one thing. I love that people like my furniture! When I first entered Second Life, I had about 15 years of jewelry design experience in Real Life. I was tired of jewelry. When you are tired of something, and force yourself to create anyway, nothing really good manifests. So...I took up furniture design. (Yes, I see the connection there...don't you? Jewelry-furniture...ummm...) I felt renewed and ready to create good things. It was a vacation from what I was familiar with and I liked it. Months later, I felt refreshed enough to bring my jewelry designs into world. I found myself pidgeon holed into being a furniture designer. "Gwen makes cool furniture and art...Oh! I think she just started trying her hand at jewelry." Aaa! How ironic! *laughing* I'm still really glad that I took the break I needed from jewelry, though. I love what it did for my creativity.



I have always seen jewelry as wearable art. In Second Life I was not only able to recreate some of my RL work, I was able to experiment with particle scripts and animated textures in my jewelry. Why stop at silver and gold? Why not have a flame inside of a pendant? It was fun again and the ideas kept coming. My friends got used to my IM's saying "Hi:)I'm dropping a new set on you. Can you just try this on please and let me know what you think?" And truthfully, it's much easier than dropping a couch on someone and saying "Here. Sit on this for me." *laughing* I do have a confession to make though. I HATE preparing vendors for new sets. I have at least three sets ready for sale that I never prepped vendors for. In that respect I'm lazy! *sigh*



The important thing in design isn't *what* we create, as much as *that* we create. The process is as important to us as the finished work. For me it's like tasting light. The work fills me and I can't stop till it's complete.For designers and artists, it's that feeling the goes into a piece that makes it ours forever. And...it doesn't matter if the piece sells as long as it's loved by its creator from conception through manifestation. It's ours. When I finish a piece that I'm happy with I get a sense of completeness and joy that rivals chocolate! That piece has bits of me in it. There's a feeling of accomplishment that is overwhelming. It's a high! When I get an idea for a piece, I have to start it right away. I want to drop everything to create it. ...And I often do, at the oddest moments! *laughing* The next thing I know, I'm in "the zone" and blind to everything but the work. An hour can feel like five minutes! This process of creation is a meditation that is so immersive, I can forget to eat.

The act of creation is the difference between a designer and a retailer. Anyone can learn retail marketing. Design is reaching into yourself without fear and using your imagination...your vision to express yourself in new ways. I know some would argue that point. They can get their own Blog. *laughing * My Blog-My Opinion. So There. :P

What If?

What if you could create anything you wanted, shape your environment at whim, be your dream self ...even fly? Oh wait...you can! It's called Second Life. The limits we have are the ones we place on ourselves and our own creativity. Why would we do that? lol Second Life is full of possibilities. All we need to do is open ourselves to those possibilities and explore! We don't need to limit ourselves to our Real Life existence. Take the brakes off of your imagination and soar. Real Life has it's place. Second Life is not meant to replace Real Life. It isn't an imitation of Real Life. Second Life stands alone on it's own merit as a separate dimension, rich in dreams and beauty.

When I first got into world in May of 2006, I was amazed at the color and texture around me. Sure, I walked into walls for a while in my default skin and hair, and wore boxes on my head at the shoe store. Newbie concerns aside, I fell in love with the freedom of imagination! My first in world experience was on the island of Serenite owned by Keith Extraordinaire. His partner Sereine Bard showed me around. I felt like I'd landed over the rainbow! (smiles) I was asked (dragged in was more like it) to try Second Life by my RL friend Robin Sojourner (Wood). She had been trying to get me into world for about two years! I would look at the web site and say..."na...what do I need with a virtual world. I'm not into computer games." and I'd shelve the idea. Then came the day I didn't. Wow. This was no computer game. How could I have known? The first thing I did was redecorate Robin's cabin. I almost ruined her existing furniture! (laughing) I started building almost immediately. I couldn't wait to create things. I bought a nice piece of land in Nitida and my friend Keith Extraordinaire gave me a cottage to "live in". I was in heaven. *smiles* My friend and then neighbor, Twome Rutledge helped me to shop and she explained the nuances of SL. My friend Morse Dillon explained the basics of building. I found *busy mode*and used it a lot! My first couch was the ugliest thing imaginable. I loved it. I made it. It was mine. I kept building. My friend Sereine said, "You should sell this stuff!" I rented a booth in an "outdoor market". By July of 2006 I had enough inventory to open up a store. I opened Elements in Design in August 2006, in Daikoku. What a crazy store! Not very organized...even I misplaced things there! I met some wonderful people that came to shop. Many of my friends started out as customers. I loved sitting and talking to shoppers over tea. I decided I didn't want a "new release group". I wanted a family. I started Elements Family in September 2006. The family grew, the store grew and by November 2006 I was island shopping. My friend, Julia Hathor said "this may sound crazy, but why don't you link your island to mine?" I thought, hhhmmm...that's not crazy at all! I accepted her kind offer and I opened Elements in Design, Greenmantle on December 20, 2006. I have never regretted a thing! I love Elements. It's been a labor of love and a constant source of fun from the start. Next to come along was Dreamscapes Gallery, since I needed a place to house my sculpture and photography. Creating art in Second Life has renewed my art in Real Life. I finally decided that my jewelry needed to come over into Second Life as well. I have been designing jewelry in Real Life for years. Tiny prims made me blind, my camera bounced all over the place and I cursed at the Lindens under my breath,(sorry LL) but I eventually opened Elemental Muse Jewelry in June of 2006.

Here I am over a year later, planning a celebration for the anniversary of opening of Elements. What a trip! I can't believe that this world absorbed me so completely. Yet...I found bits of myself that I didn't know existed. I opened to this experience and this experience opened me. I found friends that speak to my soul. I found creativity without boundaries. Nothing for me will ever be the same.

-Gwen

Imagination Exploration

Second Life is an opportunity to explore the uncharted lands of our imaginations. If we just stick to the roads we know and never venture off the green, we will never know what is possible. That more than anything else would be a crime. Artists speak through imagination.



There is no right or wrong in the expression of what we find within our imaginations. We choose the vehicle of communication, be it performance, writing, film, sculpture, photography or design using prims. All are forms of communication through art. Art is less about forcing others to see a path and more about presenting possibilities. Art affects us. It has an impact on how we feel when we experience it. That experience can be pleasant or disturbing depending on the art and how we relate to it.



The most important things we can put into our work are passion and honesty. When I build, I don't think to myself "Will this sell?" I just build it for the sheer fun of doing so. I love the feeling of seeing something I imagined or dreamed become a *reality*. It's a rush! Then, sharing it becomes the next rush. *smiles*



There are a lot of wonderful designers in Second Life. I enjoy seeing and purchasing their work. As much as I respect and admire them though, I don't want to be them. I would much rather create things my own way. There can be no fulfillment or satisfaction in duplication of another artist's work or style. It's empty...the work is empty. It's not fun. We create from within. Among the designers I love, first and foremost would be my friend Julia Hathor. Her creativity sings in everything she creates. Her builds are as magical as she is.



So...let's walk the side paths of our imaginations and see what we discover about our art and about ourselves. Drop a prim and see what happens...teleport to a texture shop and get inspired!We never know where those paths will lead unless we walk them. ;)

-Gwen

Thank you, Elements Family!

Many Second Life content creators and designers have "new release groups" to keep customers updated on new designs. I'm lucky...I have a family! You have helped me build Elements from the start! You've even chased away griefers, redesigned my floors (lol Selena) and helped out in the main store when I was away! We've danced in our pajamas (even Julia ;) at our PJ parties and danced in our spiffy stuff under the stars, at the openings of the new Elements in Design Island and Dreamscapes Gallery. This is not just a new release group. This is a family in every sense of the word, so this first post of my new Blog is for you! Thank you for stopping in to say hi, even if you aren't shopping. Thank you for bugging me to relax and play. Thank you for always encouraging me with your kind words and most importantly...thank you for your friendship.*smiles* The Family Wall at the main store says it all. You guys rock!

Hugs with Love:))
Gwen