Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Year!



MELU DECO
The Classy Vintage
Art Deco furniture and home accessories for SL

Melu Deco main store

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

vintAGE imAGE: photo exhibit at Seraph City

After two important exhibits i couldn't blog 'cause the lack of time, at the Schloss Museum, 1920 Berlin and at the R&D Gallery where my friends Redcin y Danny host me regularly, i got the honor to be sponsored by the Berliner Styl magazine for a photo exhibit at Seraph City, so I moved there the vintAGE imAGE exhibit, the one i held at R&D gallery in the past months.
"Vintage Image. Details from a glamorous past" is the complete title, 'cause it's centered on fragments of the reality the camera doesn't copy, but does build.


I wrote it in the introduction of the show, that now is part of an article published on the new Berliner Styl issue.



Being sponsored by GStone Turas, the magazine's editor, is really an honor: GStone is a volcan who never stops thinking and making great cultural initiatives, at her gallery in Berlin and elsewhere. She's one of the protagonists of the cultural Second Life, and one of the greatest animators of the Berlin life.



Moreover, she proposed my pics to be hosted in Seraph City, one of the great retro SIMs of SL, together with Berlin, Paris 1900, Chicago Roaring 20s, Old Hollywood and a few others, more Steampunk style, like Caledon or New Babbage. I love Seraph since my first visit, when i rented a shop that is still there, close to the New Champagne Room venue. Its Art Deco architecture is one of the best examples of that style to the extent of a whole city.




No place would be more appropriate, then, than the First Bank building, that is being hosting my exhibit through to December 15th, thanks to the courtesy of its owner, Paul Creighton.



. You can find also a kiosk whre to buy the stunning issue of Styl magazine dedicated to travels.

I'm happy to show here some of the photos of the exhibit, inviting my readers to enjoy a visit there.


Wednesday, November 2, 2011

VMA Build Off - Art Deco buildings

I had the honour to be chosen for judging the Virtual Museum of Architecture seasonal Build Off.
The reason is that its theme this year was Art Deco building, so my activity in creating Art Deco furniture had given me the opportunity to give a closer look to some wonderful buildings made by professionals or even by "novices".
Fantasy, good knowledge of that style, building skills of the contestants made possible walking around a little city where the elements of Art Deco architectural style have been displayed in more than 20 buildings which go through the variety of the different types of 1920-30s architecture.

Build Off winners'buildings


I want to stress, among the others, the originality of the Jolie Serendipity's idea to build a big burl radio to host a radio station, or the stunning façade and the rigorous Art Deco interiors of the Bijoux Films venue made by Terra Tepper, or the intriguing color palette and the mix of bricks and glass in the Marcan Aridian's building.

Terra Tepper's building - tied 1st winner - professional


Marcan Aridian's building - tied 1st winner - professional


Jolie Serendipity's building - novice 1st winner



Terra Tepper's building - professional 1st winner ex aequo (interior)


I'm glad to show here the winner's buildings (thanks to courtesy of VMA staff), which will stay rezzed till the next VMA contest. It's an invite to visit that place and to enjoy the beauty of these great creations.

Hideo Inaka's building - professional 2nd winner


Hideo Inaka's building - professional 2nd winner (interior)


Granelda Oh's building - professional 3rd winner (2)


Arteer Olivia's building - novice 2nd winner


Rottin Dean's building - novice 3rd winner


Camden McAndrews' building - novice popular vote winner



These are the winners; here below a few of others noteworthy buildings among the contestant's ones:

Niamh Burnstein's building


Niamh Burnstein's building (detail)


Morgan India building


Enoch Kips' building


Sandi Glas' building


More pics of these and of other contestants' buildings have been added to my collection of Art Deco places in SL Flickr set.
Enjoy them!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

So grateful to my friends...

My dear friends of Look Elite Model Agency Laura18 Streeter, Bourbon Zenovka, Bety Dudek and Kellis Denimore wanted to celebrate my third rezzday giving me a wonderful gift: the stunning new booties recently released by the great shoemaker Bax Coen.


Bax Booties Porto and Soho

I added them to an almost complete collection of these brand's shoes, not so many pieces, but items which marked SL shoe fashion during years.
Cute bicolor, slightly ironic high heels pumps, laced and decorated by pretty textures and great matching colors: I wear them with some MEB dresses and coats, showing how they can be paired to different outfits to express a lot of personal looks.


Soho booties with MEB Audrey coat


Soho booties with MEB Miuccia Jacket and silk pants


Porto booties with MEB Chelsea coat

(Pics are taken at two places i love much: the Cafè and the Rothko Gallery at Campus d'Art built by Cecilia Delacroix and the Cupcake SIM)

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Thursday, June 30, 2011

More (past) photo exhibits...

In the last post I wrote about my photo exhibits at R&D gallery and at MAAD. Though, I didn't realize that I never noticed I have started exhibiting my pics since a while yet!
I never should have thought to exhibit my photos; I'm not a professional photographer and my technical skills are probably poor; I'm just a passionate amateur, enthusiast witness of my own feelings about SL people, places and magic. If technics is poor, my catching eye is driven by strong feelings and emotions.

Thanks to Olympes Rhode, great Paris 1900 photographer, dancer and friend, I had had that opportunity: she trusted in my skills and she invited me to join the Photographes Inter-Sims group, asking me first some pics for the thematic exhibit "Passages" at the stunning Galerie des Machines in Paris, then for taking part in two great exhibits at the Café des Artistes.



The first one, some month ago, has been about "Paris Impressions" and I had the honour and the pleasure to share the exhibit's rooms with Zaelle Uxlay ans Shoji Kumaki.
The second one, even with the same friends, is about the theme The Bright Side of Life" and it's still open at the Café.
The first pics (you can see them on a Flickr set here) try to catch some meaningful corners of one among the SL cities i love much, where i keep stores and where i take part in great events.




The second exhibit gave me a strong impulse to reflect about things that make my SL worthy and beautiful :) Even a small tree or a bright sunshine can be a reason to love this Life and the Other One.




Faces, Places, Moments are the three words which I had in my mind when I selected the pics.




The Passages theme brought me to experiment some ideas (or questions) about SL-RL relationship: Imitation, Swap, Trespassing. Three possible ways to live both Lives, as we have the chance to do.



Merci Olympes!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Art Deco photos...

As most of my friends know, since a long time I collect pics of Art Deco places in SL (see my Flickr set). I have been surprised by the huge amount of buildings and whole towns that i found around SL.
Months ago i've been asked by a friend who keeps an art gallery to exhibit some of my photos. So bore the exhibit Second Deco, hosted by Red Bickin and Danniela Bruun at their R&D Gallery.









At the exhibit, i met Frey Bravin, who was starting with the project of a Museum of American Architecture and Design. He invited me to dislpay my works at the new Museum; so I'm grateful and proud to see there a room where my pics are shown.









Likewise, I'm proud also to see my pics shown in an Artist Walk of the beautiful SIM Campus d'Art, owned and built by Cecilia Delacroix, among great SL and RL artists's galleries.





I invite all art lovers to visit these places, that witness one of the most worthy side of SL.

(A special thank to Pandora Runo and Lulubelle Muircastle, who made me met Red and Frey; and to Laura18 Streeter, who gave me the pic of the MAAD exhibit entrance)