The BEACHES Art Exhibit is proving to be one of the most intriguing ones we’ve had in some time. Interest is high and we’ve enjoyed encounters with many visitors – a few of whom have left notes in the Guest Book. We so appreciate those comments, as they can be quite important to us as owners and curators of Côte de la Mer Galerie and to the artists who exhibit with us. If you come by, consider leaving your thoughts…and we thank you!

Today, I will post the interview questions responses from two of the artists exhibiting – from both ends of the alphabet! Of course, Æon is my favourite person in all the world, but I am finding that he has a natural talent for in-world photography. It is yet new, but blossoming, and I am enjoying his photos, even those he takes casually at events or locations we might visit. I am so pleased to include some of his photos in this exhibit, and do have a favourite; can you guess which it is? I think he knows, because after all, he lives with this beach and spends quite a bit of his in-world time relaxing there – and he has snapped it from various perspectives.

The very talented Catalan artist Xirana Oximoxi is at the end of our alphabet, but is certainly in our top echeclon of treasured artists. Xirana has exhibited with us before at our various gallery locations. We always enjoy her exquisite landscapes, beautiful florals, and imaginative drawings and sculptures of animals – some from her sweet line of self-authored children’s books. Her first, Amanda and the Ladybug is a favourite (in-world slideshow available HERE), but the others are as delightful; all are available at Amazon.com (author name:  Núria Vives). For the BEACHES Art Exhibit, Xirana has painted – with rich, sensitive brushwork – the ocean: up close. These three paintings that she has brought into our virtual environment are stunning examples of her capacity for intensity and detail, and are not to be missed.

Æon Woodford:

M:   What started you off on the adventure of creating art in your life – in-world or otherwise? Was there a specific moment or experience that sparked your creative energies?

Æon: My creative energies are best sparked in response to what someone else has done with their creative energies. These opportunities give me a focus for my own self-expression. For example, I’ve always enjoyed photography, but I particularly enjoy Second Life™ photography. There are so many opportunities to experience someone else’s vision and bring to that my own point of view. All I truly offer to this collaboration is a range and an angle of vision—of which there are hundreds of possibilities—to a very singular work over which someone else has labored extensively.

M:    What do you like best about the Second Life™ experience? How has it enriched or otherwise informed your artistic work – your process, perspective, choice of media?

Æon: Second Life has genuinely enriched my ability to see and enjoy all that life offers. Rather than an alternative to Real Life, Second Life™ for me is an extension, an embellishment of my Real Life experience.

M:    Inspiration is important to us at Ce Soir Arts. Where do you most often find the inspiration for your work? What about for your work in the BEACHES exhibit?

Æon: I was particularly happy to bring my meager angle of vision to the richness of but a small part of your incredible creative range in your landscapes at Ce Soir. You and I have collaborated in so many ways on so many different projects—both real and virtual, verbal and visual. We are always in the process of breaking new ground together.

M (smiling):    How about the future? What do you forecast or dream for yourself in regards your artistic vision and other creative endeavours?

Æon: I will continue to collaborate with you and others as I explore my own abilities to express myself in various media including photgraphy and writing.

Thank you, Mireille, for this wonderful opportunity!

M: Of course, you’re welcome, Æon! Thank you for participating!

Xirana Oximoxi:

M:    What started you off on the adventure of creating art in your life – in-world or otherwise? Was there a specific moment or experience that sparked your creative energies?

XIRANA: I don’t  remember a special moment in which I started to paint. When I was very young  I painted, I used to write stories and also learned to play guitar. But I decided to concentrate in just one form of expression to try to get more skilled in it. Now with my children’s books I do combine writing and painting (illustrating).

M:    What do you like best about the Second Life™ experience? How has it enriched or otherwise informed your artistic work – your process, perspective, choice of media?

XIRANA: I’ve been doing exhibits of my paintings regularly in Second Life™ and, as I‘ve started to write and illustrate children’s books, I’ve also done some presentations of the books here. I do participate in Art projects when I am invited. A lot of times it is a way to work on different matters than the ones I usually do. So, my Second Life™ experience always has been stimulating and SL is a nice world to share what I do.

M:    Inspiration is important to us at Ce Soir Arts. Where do you most often find the inspiration for your work? What about for your work in the BEACHES exhibit?

XIRANA: Creativity for me is a circular process. It gets its fuel from experiences (also SL experiences) and emotions but at the same time, when you try to draw  them, the drawings, sketches, or colors you are using, open and suggest new ways to explore.

My works for the Beaches exhibit express a personal sensitivity nourished by impressions from the sea, the external world, and my internal world. In this latter sense, I like to call them abstractions of  ‘mental landscapes’.

M:    How about the future? What do you forecast or dream for yourself in regards your artistic vision and other creative endeavours?

XIRANA: Children’s books have led me to start drawing comic strips. Cartooning is also related with writing and painting but, technically, it has its own rules and ways of doing that I am still learning. I am really enjoying the process. I feel open to anything that becomes a creative challenge for me in the future.

M: Thank you so much, Xirana – both for all the wonderful work you share with us and for participating in this interview.
Thank you for reading our blog and this posting about two of the 12 artists exhibiting at the BEACHES Art Exhibit at Côte de la Mer Galerie & Lawn! The exhibit will remain open until late August, so there is time to come, relax, and enjoy! The beach parties we’ve enjoyed will be held again as summer begins to wane…we love combining musical events as celebrations of artistic expressions of all types including exhibits like this one. The BEACHES Exhibit is close to our hearts, as we have lived at the beach on both coasts of the US and elsewhere. Even when we are “landlocked,” we can find a glorious stream, lake, or waterfall to enjoy.

We so appreciate your visits and want to support your interest in the arts. Come visit anytime…and be inspired tonight!

Click to join us! Ce Soir Beach   Côte de la Mer Galerie & Lawn