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So for those who don't know, last month my friends over at Second Life Insider ran a fundraiser and contest to benefit an organization called "Save The Children;" the contest itself involved creative modifications of a standardized yak, inspired by the similar "Cows On Parade" project a number of years ago in Chicago, where I live in real life. For my contribution to the fundraiser, I offered to do a profile and interview here with whoever ended up winning the contest; and that turned out to be a woman named LittleToe Bartlett, who turned out to be a pretty interesting person in her own right. A veteran traditional artist out in the real world (concentrating on painting and sculpture), Bartlett had never really delved into the electronic arts before joining Second Life; now that she's there, though, she has taken to building like a duck takes to water (but see below for more on that). And with one of her RL passions being curiosities from the Victorian Age, Bartlett decided for her first SL project to actually build her own turn-of-the-century circus sideshow out of prim-based objects; the result is called Aden Live Arts [Aden 191/102/26], and is free and open to the public.

After many delays on my end, I finally got a chance to visit with Bartlett this morning, where we got into a freewheeling discussion about the arts, the deceptive complications of texturing, and what about the Victorian Age makes it still continually fascinating to contemporary nerds. The transcript of our talk is below; I thank Bartlett for taking the time to talk, and also thank Aimee Weber for letting me be involved with the fundraiser in the first place.

In The Grid: So let's just start with what we were talking about before [the interview] -- that you come to SL from a background of traditional arts. You consider yourself mostly a painter and sculptor?

LittleToe Bartlett: Yes; I spent nine years as a scenic artist, and more recently working as a fine-arts sign maker.

ITG: So how did SL first grab your attention?

LTB: I heard about it on National Public Radio.

ITG: And you thought, "Hey, that sounds like something I could actually do cool things in?" Why did you choose this as your first big foray into the electronic arts?

LTB: Hmm...I suppose it was the appeal of user-created content. I don't have much of a gaming background, but I had tried "The Sims" a hundred years ago, and the only part I liked was customizing. And once I saw what could be done in here...well, it's like falling down a rabbit hole.

ITG: Yeah, you mentioned this before the interview, in fact; how in the past you've had a hard time getting into such software as Photoshop and Illustrator, yet you're thriving here. What's the difference for you?

LTB: A built-in audience, I suppose. I know how to get my work shown and seen in traditional media, but computer graphics felt like creating in a vacuum -- but this is from someone to whom the internet still seems new [laughter].

ITG: That's what I think is so interesting with you; that you've obviously gotten to a pretty great level of building here, yet in the past you've seemed almost technophobic about the arts. Has it been a big transition for you, working with pixels instead of paint?

LTB: Yes and no. I'm a bit surprised at how readily sculpting skills in RL can translate into 3D modeling. Working with textures, however, has proven to be the real challenge.

ITG: Ah, yes, you mentioned that before as well. What's so challenging about textures?

LTB: Well, I've been told that there are two types of builders in SL -- prim-based and texture-based. While I think prim-pushing is very intuitive, the programs required to make good textures take a lot more work to master, be it from scratch in a [photo-editing] program, or texture baking -- [that is], importing from other 3D programs. It's a lot to learn.

ITG: Is that important to you, creating and refining your own textures from scratch? There are so many textures already for sale, it seems, that one could possibly skip the step of creating their own.

LTB: I'll admit, I haven't done a lot of buying in SL -- and the way I envision environments, I want control over all elements. I also find it a bit too time-consuming, sifting through shopping sites. [Plus], I suppose part of the incentive of play is learning a skill that I can use in other applications.

ITG: So where do you go for your textures? Do you actually run around in RL snapping photos? Do you scan in pieces of fabric and like?

LTB: Most of them have been hand-painted, created in Illustrator, or are photos that I modified in Photoshop.

ITG: And then the actual process of building, you mentioned, is enhanced you think by your sculpting work in RL? Could you expand on that a little?

LTB: Well, sculpting -- and painting, too -- is just a process of breaking the world down into shapes. [You] make the shapes and [then] assemble them, same with SL. I noticed, though, that I have a big problem with scale -- the first things I made were gigantic, and even this sideshow is way too big. It's been interesting to work with ideas of realism versus "cartooning."

ITG: Gigantic compared to the avatars walking around the space, you mean? That seems to be a very common thing in the grid, but you don't care for it?

LTB: I think it has its place. I tend to think of over-large pieces more as sculpture, and those built to avatar scale more as part of the "reality."

ITG: So let's talk about your place, Aden Live Arts. Obviously you've got a great Victorian sideshow theme going on here.

LTB: It seemed like a good place to start. Back in the '90s I did a bunch of sideshow-themed work, so it was just a matter of taking what I already knew and making it here.

ITG: And how did you get interested in that subject?

LTB: Hmm, tough question. I've always been attracted to dark themes, I guess. I'm a bit of a horror-movie geek, and I'm a big fan of anything late-19th-century. it's funny -- I didn't know there was a name for my interests until I visited Caledon and saw the word "steampunk." Half the stuff in that town is in my home in real life.

ITG: Will you tell us of one of the more unusual things in your collection?

LTB: I have a lot of animal parts -- skulls, bones, taxidermy. I also have a collection of antique medical intruments and dental tools...a small mechanical bear [laughter]... I could go on and on.

ITG: And what I find intersting is that many of your prim-based objects are of organic shapes, like people and animals. Are there special challenges to that type of building, versus a house or vehicle?

LTB: I think I'm actually much better at figurative work. I got my art education by working full-time as an artist model, so most of my instruction revolved around the figurative. I'd like to get better at inanimate objects. They didn't need models in [the] perspective and still-life classes, so I missed out on those lessons [laughter].

ITG: So do you consider Aden more of a showcase for your professional work? Or are there commercial elements to the space itself? Do you sell your objects, for example?

LTB: Hmm, there's a lot to answer there. [As far as] selling, I'm more into sharing than the idea of making money. If someone tells me they like something I've made, I usually just give it to them. Sometimes I get cool swag in return, sometimes cash, sometimes just a smile. It's all good. I've lived a sort of charmed second life -- I've met the people I needed to meet, to get my work done and make it continually better, and it's all been achieved by being open and sharing resources.

ITG: On accident? Or did you seek those people out?

LTB: All by accident. I've met some fantastic teachers just by building in the sandboxes. And I just happened to meet an SL entrepreneur my first week here -- Harleywood Guru, who owns the island and club here. He's been very supportive of my work.

ITG: Now, all this said, do you provide professional building services as well? Or is SL simply a fun hobby for you?

LTB: For now it's just fun -- I don't think I could offer my services in good confidence until I've got a few more projects under my belt. If I'm going to do commissions, I want to make sure they'll be good.

ITG: And speaking of which, what's next for you? Are you going to keep expanding Aden and the wonderful prim freaks, or do you have another project in mind?

LTB: Well, there's a part of me that would like to redo this whole scene, and apply what I've learned along the way. But I think I'm going to just noodle around with smaller projects, then revisit this place once I can fix it up right. And the horror-movie geek in me is dying to do some gruesome project [laughter].

ITG: So you're planning on sticking with SL for awhile? Sounds like your experiences have been generally good so far.

LTB: Yeah. Burnout is always a possiblity, and the "it's all been done already" factor is something that could slow me down. But, all in all, the magic of building without actually having to lift anything heavy is still very appealing.

ITG: And then finally, since you're in a good position to answer this -- what recommendations would you make for traditional artists thinking about getting involved in SL? Where should they start and what should they be checking out?

LTB: Oh, I'd say sandboxes. It's funny -- I jumped right into building [when first getting involved with SL], without really looking at other environments, and it's only recently that I realized I couldn't appreciate them because I didn't understand what it took to make them. But I'm a big fan of the Hobo Railyard community -- I think there's some amazing work being done over there.

ITG: So it sounds like you're saying that creating things is a core part of the SL experience, a key to having fun here, if for nothing else so you can appreciate what others are doing.

LTB: Well, yes. I've realized that everyone uses this place differently -- and as an artist, the easiest way for me to do anything is to relate to objects, and let everything else happen from there. Maybe those with better social skills can skip the intensive building [laughter].

Aden Live Arts can be found at [Aden 191/102/26]; the general public is invited to stop by at any time.