Today is the last day of the Windlight Winter Art Show and Winter Showcase! Saoirise has a great review of this awesome event:

‘O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?’  Percy Bysshe Shelley

There is an advantage for me to being relatively new on the sl art scene, I don’t always recognize the names of artists who have been talented and famous in world. Such was the case when I first walked into the exhibit I am going to spot light today from the Windlight Magazine’s Wintershow Exhibition 2015.

I hope each you take the time to see this show. To say it is fantastic is an understatement, it is more magical. Windlight gave Winter cabins to 19 artists, set up 3D artists and a small cabin installation is on the circle with the owner/operator’s images. The layout is conducive to first rate immersion in a world of art. The cabins are arranged largely around a square, wispy wintery snow around, events and ice skating. More like a winter carnival of art than a straight forward exhibition and that is why I love it.

At first I was going to write an article featuring every artist and chat about a couple pieces at each exhibit. That is an easy task given the talent here at the show. Yet that would make for pages long article so I decided to feature one artist this week. I would like to say that I used an impressive algorithm for such a selection, with the artists here picking just one was difficult.

Or was it? I looked at the grid layout and noticed one cabin off the beaten path of the others by the 3D exhibits so I decided that would be the featured artist this week.  All of the other cabins were in a neat line one way or the other.  In a field of grand artists, I had to come up with a method.   Little did I know I had stumbled onto a very well known and very respected artist in sl.

I visited the exhibition before doing any research on Skip Staneli. I walked up and was immediately drawn into his part of the show. I was greeted by a white wolf with a lantern. A visual scan of the cabin made me feel as if I were being invited into this wolf’s den for a visit. It didn’t feel like an art exhibition as much as a warm cozy place with visual treats. I walked in with the notecard in my inventory, waiting to read it so as not to be prejudiced by it. A small coffee maker, empty frames against a wall, a small camera….his cabin tells a story. Walking around inside feels as if I am visiting his most personal gallery as I hear the fire crackling in the background..

I love the “deets” or details. I was enjoying the ambiance and moved to the images he has up around the room. ‘Fierce with Mandala’ has a male figure that pops to life on the canvas. As I learn a bit later Skip is self taught in Photoshop, this picture is all the more amazing. The golden accouterments on the male figure appear as if you can touch them so vivid and so crisp in details. ‘Pandora Box of Dreams’ is a study in reflective sun light, beautifully piercing the image with perfect shadows displayed on the back wall of the room. ‘Dream Catcher’ is equally impressive using feathers dancing across the male figure. The pose of the head, the position of the feathers, perhaps he is looking at a dream catcher. It is a contemplative piece where I am sure I would see different things each time I view it.

Scattered but organized snapshot sized photos dot a couple of the walls adding to the overall art of the interior itself. He finishes the images off with a couple of personal pictures, a female figure in a field of flowers as well as a romantic kiss between male and female figures. The figures very distinct and real in appearance. The details seal the deal, look at the jewelry in any shot, or the hands and facial details and you will see what I mean when I say he brings them to life.

I sit down by his fire and read his notecard. I am impressed at his humble biography and the way he shares his personal insights into his artistic process. Like many artist in world, the sl experience has helped him get in touch with his creative side. I am impressed that he uses Bamboo Tablet, I also use Bamboo for Mac not as creatively as he does with his. Bamboo is free hand clear and simple in explanation, difficult to use at first.

Do see the Wintershow Exhibition and do attend some of the events! Artfully yours, Seersha Heart

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Location of Winter Art Fest and Showcase:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Crestwood%20Acres/167/117/2