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Not so long ago I Aianna Oh (RL and SL author and gifted story teller in Second Life) invited me to join her in the IBM 6 Sandbox in order to admire a few very special creations she had seen. Although I rarely go to sandboxes for obvious reasons, I relied upon the good taste of Aianna and arrived a few seconds later at the spot. As anticipated, I was not disappointed of what I saw after rezzing: tasteful arranged villages and scenes from RL, miniaturised to fit into a few square feet (in some cases a few square inches). After Aianna Oh left, I stayed at the IBM 6 sandbox for a considerable time, constantly discovering new details in the miniature towns and other objects. Especially whilst admiring the city of Venice and it's floating balloons I involuntary had to think of Jonathan Swift's ''Gullivers Travels"....
Children's play ground and Bella's place. You may ask, what is so special about THIS build? There are so many places similar to this all over SL.
The beauty of this spot is that it is build on JUST a 2x2ft base, using tiny prims, but when zoomed in they show every detail of a large build. The childrens play ground and Bella's place are part of a downtown scene of a town called Lilliton. This town is very large with a church, graveyard, park with tents and trailers, town square with a town clock, main street with telephone poles and lines and streetlights, barber shop, grocery store, museum (with pics that other artists donated), city hall, apartment building, gas station/garage, various other shops and office buildings, miniature golf course, hills with cabins for rent, home construction site, a river with a lighthouse and sailboats, water tower with a windmill on top, and a railroad loading dock with wildflower field. Some pics of it (when it was not completely finished) are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/patriciaanne/page4/
Building Lilliton was a very big effort and a hard time finding a place to work on it because of the high prim count.
Building Lilliton was a very big effort and a hard time finding a place to work on it because of the high prim count.
The next day when I returned to the IBM 6 Sandbox I was lucky to meet the creator of these remarkable miniatures: PatriciaAnne Daviau. She was immidiately prepared to answer a few questions which had come in my mind whilst admiring her work the other day. In addition she agreed to pose for a portrait and a few close up pictures in Waikiti beach. Thank you again Pat, you did a great job holding those miniatures whilst enduring the long winding posing session.
LL: Have you always wanted to build and create miniatures in SL or did you gradually come to do this?
I have always loved miniatures as a child and when I joined Second Life I thought making jewelry was the only way to create 'small things'. As it turned out I was not very good at jewelry designing. I then saw the train in AM Radio's wheatfield and the very cool cafe Tezcatlipoca Bisiani had built and decided to try modeling those. I built rural America around those pieces and had so much fun putting the town together that I kept building more. Always learning and stretching my abilities.
LL: Are good eyes and a steady hand essential for building these tiny objects? Viewing the minute details you have added in your creations is not easy with my standard mouse; I wondered how must this be whilst building?
Oh yes! Good eyes, a steady hand, and lots of patience are a must for creating these tiny builds. With tortured micro prims you have to use your eye to line up textures because the numbers just don't work. I use a standard mouse right now but would love to explore the new technologies that are available.
LL: Are you influenced by the work of other SL creators? (At some distinct views in your landscapes I thought to see a touch of AM Radio…)
I am influenced by both RL and SL artists. And thanks to AM Radio, Tezcatlipoca Bisiani, Spiral Walcher, and others I have learned so much about texturing and scale. When I see a beautiful sim or an awesome build it can inspire me to model it. I think it is so I have a permanent memory of it.
LL: Although your work is currently to admire in the IBM 6 sandbox only, did you ever participate in a more permanent SL exhibition? I mean, it would be a great loss if your work would not be kept!
I had the rural America town on display for a short time on the Brooklyn is Watching sim, and a few of my pieces live in personal residences, but I have not held a show nor are any of my miniatures on display on any sim. The problem with my builds is that to get the detail I want without using textures to create the illusion of shape, I have to use quite a few prims, and not a lot of places have the prims available to support my builds.
LL: Do you have any plans of building more in the future and if so can you reveal anything about the subjects?
I have a few towns like Tokyo downtown,the full rural America town, and the Drive-In Theater, and quite a few musical snowglobes with miniatures in them not on display in the IBM 6 sandbox. I am always looking in RL and SL for things to model or ideas to create new towns. If you have any let me know :)
A Rural USA landscape. Elements from America's past and present tastefully arranged in a tiny, but still great build.
Close-up view of a section of the Rural USA landscape, isn't this beautiful?
PatriciaAnne carrying one of her delightful snowglobe music boxes. In this particular one she has created a miniature, but still very detailed steam locomotive.
What at first sight looks like an obscure unfinished miniature: the 'Tiny simple-life winter' build has remarkable details.
Tiny and easily overlooked. I would not be surprised when most people consider this item as PatriciaAnne's most wonderful creation: The snowglobe music box!
This snaphot of Pat holding a JCB digger and forklift illustrates the extreme small dimensions of her creations.I strongly suggest readers of this Blog to have a 'Gulliver's eye' look at PatricaAnne's miniatures in the IBM 6 Sandbox and say hi when you happen to meet her.
In the repetitive few days I have visited her display stand, I have seen a constant change of exhibits, so come back from time to time!
Inside the build 'Beneath The Tree That Died', sitting at a table and admiring the detailed telescope, hidden behind the roots of the dead tree. On the table a vintage valve radio receiver and a pair of headphones, objects I noticed in many of AM Radio’s other creations.
‘Beneath The Tree That Died’ as seen from the Other World. An observant eye may see me sitting in the high legged chair gazing stars. Unfortunately this part of AM Radio's world was an entry for 'Burning Life' and lasted just for the occasion.
In the centre of the wheat fields you find another surrealistic element: a rusty old steam engine.
Going ahead to AM Radio’s 
The petrol station in The Refuge and Expansion as seen from the other side of the road. Do not miss exploring AM Radios den, located in the house further on the road opposite the water tank.
AM Radio’s virtual den in The Refuge and Expansion. Note the wonderfully build telescope, a microscope and other small objects on the desk.
