Sunday, October 5, 2014

September LEA6 Full sim Eliza Cabassoun's Follow Your Soul review by Victoria Lenoirre

From Sept 17th until the end of October, Eliza Cabassoun is featuring her lovely sim build, Follow Your Soul, at LEA 6.

Everyone has a place where they found their soul.  This is where I found mine.  I found mine in a cabin by a lake where the fog rises in the morning into the mountains like a warm blanket.  I began writing novels here and taking photos here.  Nature can bring forth great inspiration, simply from towering trees or just the midnight sounds of tree frogs and rain hitting a tin roof.   

Wander around the sim and you'll find photography not only from RL but from SL as well.  I've also placed several of my tortured prim sculptures among the trees.  Make sure to click the teleporter in front of the cabin to go to The Poetry Garden and the SL Photography Gallery.  This lake is where I followed my soul to realize I have two gifts--writing and photography--and a part of my soul will always be here.

Eliza Cabassoun


My first impression is of a wide, open space that feels tranquil and uplifting. It feels like a home. There's a cozy cottage on one bank. By the front door is a sign that allows you to teleport to the Poetry Garden and the SL Photography Gallery.

Main landing area @ Follow Your Soul
Look at the texture of the grass, does it look like puzzle pieces to you? On each piece is a phrase. They seem like poetry. The phrases are on one of the easels by the cottage.


On the small easels are colorful photographs.

The leaves have turned into orange and red. You can see the reflections of the trees on the water. It's so calm and soothing to idle away your time here.

View from the main bank


Several docks lead away from the main bank. And one dock leads you to a gazebo. I always love gazebos and how cozy they make me feel. It adds a sweet, intimate touch to any place.


I found time to interview Eliza about her detailed, scenic sim installation.

Eliza says that her depiction is from her memories of time spent at Lake Burton in northeast Georgia.

Is that where you were raised or you had relatives there? or was it just a fall vacation spot?

 My great uncle built the cabin there in 1948, and my mom and her brothers grew up spending vacations there, and then my mom and dad and I went there when I was growing up.

There's a photo of the cabin inside the house...I used it as the rug.

Unfortunately it was destroyed in a tornado back in 2011...an F-4 tore across the lake, and it destroyed a lot of cabins.

Aww that's sad. You must miss it a lot.

 Yes, but I still have good memories, and I'm writing a novel based around the cabin and Lake Burton.  :)

I've created a fictional plot around it, and the main character's grandmother has willed a lodge to her, and the main character has decided to run it.

Is there an effort to rebuild the forest?

I believe they're going to plant more trees, yes.

Ok so I wanted to ask you about the photos on the easels that are strewn along the shore.
Are those photos taken during trips to the Lake?

I have very few photos taken from the lake...I have one other I plan on putting in the cabin tonight.  I didn't have a camera when we went most of the time, and the camera that I had the last time we went was a digital camera that used 3.5" floppy disks and I don't have a computer that can read them.  Most of the photos were taken at a nature preserve near my home outside Atlanta and in New Orleans, Louisiana.  I have a great aunt and an aunt and uncle in New Orleans.

The photos you included are really awesome. :)

Thank you :)  I plan on adding more as the month goes on.

 Eliza Cabassoun: I'm thinking about rezzing a house like I have rezzed for the SL photos up in the sky on the ground and putting more photos in it.

So there are 3 areas to visit at Follow Your Soul?

Yes...there is a teleporter in front of the cabin that leads you to the SL photos I've taken, which includes landscapes and singers and musicians in SL, and there is another area I've dubbed the Poetry Garden and has all of the poems I've put on my RL photos.

Very cool. and the Poetry Garden is also in the sky?

Yes it is :) It's listed in the teleporter.

Poetry Garden


I noticed that the main area has puzzle grass piece with poems?

[18:44] Eliza Cabassoun: It has a poem I've written on it called "Follow Your Soul", which is the name of the sim.

Nice. and the poem is on the easel outside the cottage?

Yes it is :)

The poem goes like this:

Soaring notes flying free
Circling unequivocally round the brain
The guitar twangs, harmony begins
The rhythm pounding in my soul

I close my eyes to hear it
Nodding my heart in time
No reason, no rhyme to all that is
The soaring of the vocals lifting my heart

It grows quiet, then rises again
I listen in pure wonderment
How can someone move the soul
With only a voice and a guitar
And a band behind him

God's gift of music
Touching them from high above
Giving others comfort
Making them feel the love

How can we feel depressed
How can we be lonely
When we hear something
That moves the soul so powerfully


So, what do you do in SL?  You own an art gallery, a shop, and you're a photographer in SL?

Yes. My store is Roots and Wings.  I've separated all the clothing items that I've used my RL photography on into a single vendor and put a sign next to it.

My vendor photos are on flickr.

My SL photos can be found on koinup.

My marketplace is at https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/107907 :)

So what are your future plans...any events or showings?

I plan on entering the UWA contest with "Soul of Heart", a tortured prim sculpture.  It's rezzed on the LEA sim.

A big thank you to Eliza for her work at LEA6 this month! And thank you for all who make LEA possible! :)

Come check out Follow Your Soul now until the end of this month!

Have fun and enjoy the art!

- Victoria Lenoirre

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