You’ll find the full photoset of my “Intimacy” series in March 2015 issue of Photography magazine: http://issuu.com/slphotography/docs/2015_march

Refugium Newsletter – February 2015

With January behind us, it’s been three full months since we’ve had daily meditation sessions at Refugium. After a somewhat busy December, with several Advent and Christmas activities, January was more quiet.

If you’re not familiar with Refugium, it’s a small meditation center in the virtual world of Second Life. Our practice of meditation is grounded in the Christian tradition, with every session beginning with a brief quote from the Scriptures, and ending with another quote on the related subject, from a wide diversity of authors including poets, mystics and philosophers. Time permitting, after the sessions we usually hang out for a bit in the nearby Refugium Cafe for a relaxed chat over drinks and cake. We are a friendly community and everyone is welcome to join us both for our shared quiet time and the fellowship afterwards.

Daily 30-minute meditation sessions begin at 11pm SLT (7am UTC). I am still hoping to be able to offer another time slot that would be more convenient to people in different time zones, after we’ve discontinued special weekend sessions at 9am SLT. At the moment, I’m looking into the possibility of organizing additional, shorter, 15 to 20-minute Sunday sessions at 3 pm SLT, but more on that later in the month.

To keep in touch with news and announcements from Refugium, you can follow the Tumblr blog found at http://http://refugium-inworld.tumblr.com, where I post a selection of quotes we use, also snapshots and links to articles about meditation. There is now also an inworld group, which you can find by typing “Refugium Announcements” in the group search feature of your viewer.

To visit Refugium, please follow this SLurl.

With best wishes,

Abinoam

Driving a bosk-drawn cart with Duncan Armundsen, journeying through the forest on his lovely land.

J. C. Leyendecker at The Barn

After a well received exhibition of Gustav von Rosenheim’s SL works, The Barn is about to present something different. This week will be the opening of a small exhibition dedicated to J. C. Leyendecker (1874-1951), acclaimed illustrator and “father of modern magazine design.”

Out of hundreds and hundreds of his works, I’ve selected only a dozen or so, focusing on those with noticeable homoerotic aspect. It should be mentioned that Leyendecker was a gay man, who spent greater part of his life living with Charles Beach – who often posed as his model.

On display at The Barn are typical magazine covers designed by Leyendecker, made for Saturday Evening Post and Collier’s, advertisements for Kuppenheimer apparel and other manufacturers, dating from the early 1910s to the late 1930s. Thus the exhibition is not only about the famous illustrator, but also about men’s fashion, and media images of masculinity during that period.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The opening will be held on Wednesday, August 20, at noon SLT. Free drinks are provided. To sober up afterwards, a night swim is also planned.

To visit, click on the following SLurl: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Triphosa/235/185/22

Mayhem on the streets of Berlin!

The 1920s Berlin Project celebrates its fifth anniversary. As always at this time of year, there’s loads of fun activities, and one of them is the “relaxed rules day”. Instead of seeing Berliners clad in their elegant 1920s clothes, this is the day when they transform into dinosaurs, mythological creatures or animals, rezzing exploding devices and just generally having a lot of fun.

If you happen to be inworld between June 2 at 12am and June 3 at 12am SLT, do visit the sim and join the celebration.

Artful Eternal at Galeria Mexico

Currently on display at Galeria Mexico are pieces of art with an interesting and inspiring background story. The artist, Artful Eternal, has been near-blind since the age of 3. Second Life has given her a chance to indulge her artistic impulses and create paintings, woodcarvings and other forms of artwork that she wouldn’t be able to in RL.

This is how she put it in her promotional material: “I have no 3 dimensional information through my eyes. […]  My world has always been like jumping into the middle of Monets painting […] When I got into SL I found a world, that when I looked at it – wow, I am home now, this is the way I have always seen, all flat and you need to guess how far things are, are they round, is there fall down or not… this looks how I see in RL!!! But I cannot fly or TP in RL, and there I cannot edit like here.”

She adds that her art carries an inspirational message, especially for the disabled. “I am sure there are myriad of hidden talents – and don’t say you can’t – you can if you really want, what ever it is. Maybe you will be a singer, a book writer, or a photographer, or what all this virtual world gives. Think [about] that and scratch your head, asking "what shall I start….”

Her art can be seen here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ometeotl/26/229/23

NOTE: Quotes slightly edited for syntax and punctuation.