New World Notes

Cajsa's Choices: SL Flickr Artist Favorites from a Creator Called Infinity

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

∞ (yes the infinity sign) is a new-to-me account whom I discovered in Vyka Coy’s favorites in this third, and last, leg of the FaVes Game. She is  someone who documents her life in Second Life. Her stream has no other purpose other than showing her friends, her home, her travels, and sharing her joys. Sometimes it seems that we are all taking pictures with a secondary purpose from vendor ads to blogging features to art projects. ∞ is taking pictures for the fun of it, sharing her life with us. I love this picture. The bike is so romantic with the stack of books and gathering of flowers. She’s taking a break, looking at the traffic on the river. I can’t wait to see who is in her Favorites. 

So who is next? To see, click here:

Cajsa's Choices: Playing the SL Flickr Fave Game to Find New Follows

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Tabitha Schnyder is a new-to-me discovery in Wind Moonstone’s favorites. I ended with Wind in yesterday’s column with the first installment of the Faves Game. Tabitha is a fashion blogger. I like this picture of her. The wet hair is a nice touch. When I began in Second Life, swimming pools, lakes, and oceans had this uncanny ability to keep your hair dry. It was kind of like the rain in Oregon in which you can walk about for an hour without getting wet.  

Now who will I find in Tabitha’s faves?

For more of the FAVES game, click here:

Cajsa's Choices: SL Artist Claire Vuissent & Two of Her Own Favorites

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Claire Vuissent’s self-portrait of herself as a photographer made me smile. I love her work and have since someone recommended I follow her back in 2023.

I often look at people’s Flickr faves to find new people to follow and thought it’s been a long while since I played my Faves game where I hop from one person’s faves to the next. If you want to play, too, the only rule is you keep looking at their faves until you find someone who is new to you. So whom did I find among Claire’s faves? 

For new-to-me faves from Claire, click here:

Cajsa's Choices: Gorgeously High Contrast Black & White SL Photos by Squeeze

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Squeeze’s untitled picture fascinated me. It seems like a crown of thorns but is it blowing apart or coming together? Her face is downcast so perhaps it is assembling on her head. Either way, it is a fascinating concept. Her stream is dominated by black and white, though there are some color pictures, too. There are several gorgeous headshots, some as striking as this and other beautiful ones. 

For more of Squeeeze’s work, click here:

Cajsa's Choices: Morgan Talbot Creates Story-Rich Adventure Tableaus in Second Life, Then Writes Evocative Stories to Accompany Them

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Morgan Talbot tells stories in SL-based pictures and in prose. He seems like ancient explorer Snorri Sturluson, writing a Second Life edda full of adventure, epic adventure. Here is Part Six of the Legends of Alvion: Journey to Wyrkadrin. The chapter begins:

The crisp, chilly air bit at my cheeks as we descended the snowy pass on horseback. Siobhan sat tall on her white stallion in front of me, creating a striking image against the rugged peaks ahead. I pulled my parka tighter around me, watching as my breath materialized into misty clouds in the frigid atmosphere. The sound of our horses' hooves crunching through the snow echoed off the towering mountainsides.

Morgan’s writing is clear and evocative. I want to read more. Of course, this is a more risque story than it may seem at first glance. This is definitely not lunch hour at work pictures and reading, at least not on the work computer.

For more adventure, click here:

We Can't Stop Staring at All These Photos of Virtual Cheese in Second Life

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Harper Lexington gives us one of the many reasons that cheese is a wonderful thing. Off the top of my head, I can think of about 55 reasons to celebrate cheese, but surely macaroni and cheese has to be near the top. Has macaroni and cheese ever looked so romantic before? The soft light, the pastels, the oozing spillage, it all spells the most delicious decadence. 

For more cheesy Second Life, click here:

Cajsa's Choices: Kou's Colorful Cyberpunk & Kawaii Imagery

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Kou’s “485” is a glorious illustration of kawaii aesthetics with the pastel colors, her large eyes and cupid-bow lips, the riotous profusion of paper lanterns and fans, and all the sweet innocence that can possibly fit into 640 by 324 pixels. Everything in this picture is chosen to illustrate her sweet, child-like innocence. But, as with so much in Second Life, there is more than meets the eye. 

For more from Kou, click here:

Cajsa's Choices: The Vivid, Virtual Nature Photographs of Miranda Siabonne

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Miranda Siabonne recently posted “❤️” which is well-named because ❤️ describes how I felt when I saw it. I have a soft spot in my heart for clotheslines. Sure, you have to duck if you’re riding your bike on the lawn, but if you have ever taken in sheets from the line you know what fresh smells like. 

Slipping into clean sheets that have dried in the open air is an unforgettable feeling. Sure, the fabric is not as soft, but it more than makes up for it with the fresh scent. I noticed the hand-cranked clothes wringer. My sister had a new washer and dryer and still used the old fashioned one with open tubs and a wringer, though her wringer was not hand-cranked. It would have been safer if it has been.  My job was to take the clothes off the wringer while she fed them in. Feeding the wringer was no fun because you’re bound to get your fingers pinched a time or two. 

I also love the abundance of vines, bushes, and flowers and the uncut grass. This is a yard for butterflies and other insects to feed and proliferate. Restoring the world! 

For more virtual natural beauty from Miranda, click here:

New Flickr Group Showcases The Most Realistic Second Life Screenshots

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Gino Ginelli posted “Short Days and Long Nights” (above) in a brand-new Flickr group that was founded yesterday, one that seems exactly like what we need now. It’s called Realistic Second Life, Is It Possible? The advancements of Second Life, especially improvements in environment controls and PBR, there have been so many pics that may we wonder, is it Second Life or is it life? 

Avelith, the founder, writes in the group description:

Today I created a group in which I want to collect the most realistic looking pictures taken in Second Life. Portraits, staged photographs of couples, landscapes, still lifes... But all of them should be characterized by maximum realism, realistic lighting, realistic interior or exterior, realistic-looking avatars in realistic poses. Do you think this is a possible task? Let's try to trick our eyes! I'll be picky…

In just one day, the group has grown to 46 members and 125 pictures. I can’t wait to see its future. 

For more realistic Second Life, click here:

 

Cajsa's Choices: The Lushly Detailed, Animal Rich SL Images of Sara Baez

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Sara Baez, like most of the artists I feature, is someone I have never met. Still I know one thing for sure about Sara. She likes dogs. Sara is not just a dog-lover, she’s head over heels for dogs. How do I know? Dogs are in nearly every picture she takes. Often there are other animals, too, but the central theme is dogs, dogs, and more dogs. She must spend a fortune on virtual kibble.

She wrote this about her picture, “Nem todo conto de fadas precisa de um príncipe às vezes, só precisa de sapos falantes e coelhos atentos” which translates into, “Not every fairy tale needs a prince sometimes, it just needs talking frogs and attentive rabbits.:” If this is her fairy tale come true, then she is the princess. 

For more of Sara with dogs, click here: