Saoirse is back with another gallery review:

It is a beautiful gallery located in the seaside Coeur D’Azur, modeled after the French city of the same name on the outskirts of Nice, not far from the Italian border. It reminds me of a much larger city on the same coast Marseille which I have visited a time or two. Though Coeur D’Azur is an inland city, it is not far from the coast. It has small shops and if you walk in the shops district of Marseille you will see a irl version of this SIM.

Much like this seaside setting of charm, the area here is equally romantic and French.  This was the location of ‘Coeur D’Azur Photo Contest Impressions d’Automne’ which wrapped up November 8, 2015.  [for details on the winner and other events visit http://www.villadecoeur.com]

As I approached the gallery, I noticed a plethora of activities I could do while visiting this town. There is Volleyball, horseback riding, jet skis, surf boarding, swimming, boating, dancing and even more. The gallery is nestled in the side of a hill with artistic effects such as a working easel by the door. The easel has watercolor and oil paints and materials around it to create beach scenes and is an obvious work in progress. There is also a postcards display near the door. The postcards provide the smallest hint of what you can get on the inside of the gallery.

There are also a couple canvases out of the sidewalk outside. A purple and yellow rich landscape, a field of sunflowers and one that changes display periodically with images from the gallery. I write this review from the small table with complimentary wine near the door.

In the main area of the gallery is a table with a sculpture of a woman and various clay pots. In this first area, the artist uses several styling’s. ‘Balletgirls in the Barre’ is one of my favorites. Three female figures dresses gaily in red dresses with a dance bar behind them. The wall behind them is splashed with yellow and red. The artist has also left us a rl picture of Coeur D’Azur on a white easel with another to one side. ‘Girl looking over her shoulder’ and ‘Girl with sunglasses’, ‘sunbathing’ and ‘girl with hat – red’ are all equally colorful. I love that these pictures have a female figure [avi or human] that does not take your attention from the totality of the piece. These are images anyone would welcome to look at in their home, office or gallery everyday. The colors are uplifting, the images complimentary.

The second part of the gallery is up a step and our artist has framed all of these pictures with wide white borders. It works and it directs your attention to the focus of each image. There is another girl picture ‘vespa girl’ and when you look at it with the larger white border it has a different feel than the others from the prior room. Different, not any less wonderful to me. I wonder what the artist thought as she selected which pictures to frame in each room. In this room she uses a Lomo-ish effect(1), dropped shadows and delightful play with lighting. Also among these are the smooth effect of a paintbrush in water colors and in oils. Most of these picture are of the promenade of Coeur D’Azur. One of my favorites appears to be a rl photo titled ‘French Bisitro’.

After the events of the past several days, I wanted to visit areas that support the French that is what brought me here to this gallery. In this week of sadness, this gallery is a jewel to visit for a reprieve from the ugliness of those horrid events. Que Dieu bénisse les Français , que Dieu bénisse toutes les personne(2). Artfully Yours; Seersha Heart

Location:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Coeur%20d%20Azur/175/170/23

1. Lomo = Lomography relates to Lomographic photographers who advocate creative and experimental film photography. Typical of lomography are images with high-contrast and with unusual saturation and color that were created using the technique called cross processing in which film intended for developing in slide chemistry (E-6) is processed in photographic negative chemistry (C-41), and vice versa. Most use it in Photoshop or GIMP and may not realize the history, but none-the-less realize the value of this technique
2. Que Dieu bénisse les Français , que Dieu bénisse toutes les personne; Bless the French, bless all people