Good morning darlings!
I am at present yawning and stretching, still trying to wake myself at this ungodly hour of 4am. Why am I awake so early you may be asking. The simple answer is, in my eccentricity, I sleep only when a job is done, so when I wake I can begin something new.
The first thing on this morning’s agenda is to finally post a few things to this blog, first being a much deserved praising of Ando Joubert and his work on my store.
I had seen some of Ando’s work and been so impressed by it, that I did something I had never done before. I hired him to rebuild SeaBreeze Oasis. I have always made reinvesting in the Sanctum a priority however, and this, while investing in my store, also came with tenfold the thrill of your regular shopping spree. After all, a gifted architect was going to build something special to house my creations.
What Ando conjured up was so far beyond my expectations, that, to this day, I still stop and just marvel at the build. After a few lengthy conversations, he seemed to have figured out my inner workings and incorporated things into this build that I did not even mention wanting, this intuitiveness on his part is just awe inspiring.
A perfect example of this, which cannot be well captured via screenshot, unfortunately, is not simply the mirrored floor, although that itself is exquisite. It’s a bit of detail beyond that. Water has always been my element, I live by water, I love the water. For a long, long time, I had wanted to incorporate that into my store without using a fountain, as I did in Vale, and had thought of a transparent floor at one point, that would appear to be glass over water. Ando managed to create that in this build, not the glass, but the water, if you look down at the floor you can just see it…as with so many other things it is subtle, and it’s this subtly that makes it breathtaking.
Ando also saw and remarked on my love of intricate design, scrollwork and the like. This is partly from the jewelry I make, that love of minute detail extends farther into my other builds. This was one of my challenges that caused me to hire an outside builder. I tend to make things too primmy, and, as SeaBreeze is but one quarter of a sim, the prims must be used carefully.
The lighting fixtures in this new build, both the chandeliers and wall mounted fixtures, manage to convey the ethereal curls I so adore, creating an impressive visual impact with considerably few prims. This is a builder who knows his prims intimately and how to bend them to his will.
To back away from the details a little bit, the overall design of the new store is my personal paradise, I will confess. Ando drew from the best facets of fairytale and historical architecture, blending the two seamlessly into my waking dream…my sanctum. The soaring arches create an illusion of a roof while maintaining open air, which to me is divine, for I would far rather look up and see sky than a tiresome and lacklustre ceiling.
When I placed the trees and other green things, as well as the braziers I built for the entrance of the store, I so often found myself mesmerized by how this build, while I never could have imagined it turning out like this, manages to fulfil my every expectation and so much more, I even mumbled to those in my real life that I want to live in a place like that someday (oh my did I lose it? Or no?).
The finishing touch to this masterpiece of building ingenuity is the commemoration plaque, placed tidily at the left of the entrance. It’s such a nice alternative to the large and overbearing signage. Below is a video of the store, combined with the images in this post I hope it does it a little bit of justice.
The New Kouse’s Sanctum Build
I could go on, but, for the sake of keeping this post a reasonable length, I will cease. Ando, it was a pleasure, an honor, and a joy working with you. Thank you for building my dream.
