Rouge! CodeBastard Redgrave becomes even larger-than-life (if that's possible) in the hands of Eshi Otawara

Back in March, I spoke of CodeBastard Redgrave splashing the grid red... Little did I know that she really, really would.



On Wednesday, my avatar undulated acrobatically on a stripper pole not far from Eshi Otawara's similarly engaged avatar. Likewise, the brightly tattooed and uniquely Rubenesque, yet no less limber CodeBastard Redgrave, or Cody, as she is affectionately called. Cody was afk (away from keyboard) getting some dinner, while Eshi and I chatted about her latest commission: the very bright, the very red, and the very daring Rouge sim, created for the very bright, the always red, and the very daring (and darling) Cody.



Allow me to let you in on the surprise a bit early on, so that you can share my amazement. Let's pull back a bit from the dance floor...


This photo by Stephen Venkman who, in Cody's words, is "a lifetime Code Red member. He met Kimmy at CodeRed.”

... and a little further back...


Yes, the club is nestled in the airy space just beneath the girl's locks of red hair!

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the new sim: Rouge...


This photograph by Stephen Venkman

What was the seed of the idea here?
Eshi Otawara: Code has this thing for red and for hot girls, and when she told me she got a sim, I thought I'd make something totally unexpected. As usual, I had no idea whether it was going to work out, but something drove me to try to terraform a hot chick. I wanted to have the sim itself to be more than a sim with stuff on it... for it to be one big art piece with functional parts, like the club hidden under waves of hair.

I terraformed it overnight and miss Code freaked out (positively) when she saw it, which encouraged me to continue. I let myself be inspired by people.

She's fun to work for, is she?
Eshi Otawara: Yes, she's great fun to work for, especially because I got free hands to do what I want. I like that. I think Code felt that 'wavelength' with me... She trusted me with it and that usually produces the best results: when two people allow each other to inspire.

There are still a gazillion prims left here. What now? Her photography?
Eshi Otawara: Her art... along the red walk.


Eshi was referring, of course, to Code's "Boudoir Rouge," her much celebrated Vargas-inspired pinup photography of many of the best known and best loved women on the grid

How many "areas" are there?
Eshi Otawara: There is a shop area (the large stripping pole), art gallery area (the boa)...


This photograph by Stephen Venkman

Eshi Otawara:...and the club. Code's photo studio will be in a skybox above, and perhaps a few living spaces; we have not decided yet really. It is relatively low prim, so far.


This photograph by Stephen Venkman

Eshi Otawara: This is way out of my general aesthetic direction. I like to mix styles, and I am very impressed with Japanese art, but as a clothing designer, I adore Vivienne Westwood and the good oldies, like Lagerfeld... which are more western in their art. This is actually done after a pinup model

What about their designs appeals?
Eshi Otawara: I like the ornate style of Westwood, so I always incorporate some detail work in what I do... and like the slight BDSM undertones to my work, Japanese are not far from it. I like their contrast of gentle and bold color. There is something about the juxtaposition of the two.

Contemporary Japanese then?
Eshi Otawara: I am not talking about any particular era of Japanese art. I pick and choose by art piece what I allow to influence me. I am a great fan of Yoshitaka Amano, but you can take that, and then look at this sim and not find connection at all, or can you?

CodeBastard Redgrave: Personally, I think my ass inspired her. (She was back from dinner!)

Eshi Otawara: Lol, no way, not your ass, but... your love of ass.

CodeBastard Redgrave: Hahahahaha XD. Ok, fair enough.

Starting tomorrow, you can visit Rouge yourself. Get that slurl directly from Cody's excellent blog.

~*~

No blog piece about Eshi Otawara would be complete these days without making reference to her hideously unfair situation, wherein she has become a victim of a 37 year-old practice by the U.S. government known as the "widow's penalty." It's especially appropriate to speak of it today, on July 4th. I hope our congressmen will make us proud to be Americans and tackle her situation and that of other foreign women who became widowed before their legal status as spouses to American men was established, and then found themselves deported from the country, as it seems Eshi might soon be.

But Eshi, with such aplomb and grace that it both moves and inspires me, has continued to make beautiful things, despite the weight of her circumstances.

Consider this, one of my favorite creations on the grid - ever - which she named, "Everything is a Tribute to Mozart" (teleport directly from here and be sure to turn your sound on).


Music by Dizzy Banjo

Eshi has also just tripled the size of her clothing shop, Chambre du Chocolat (teleport directly from here). I believe I own everything Eshi has ever made, in every color. It's hot, and generally gauzy, and nearly always Not Possible in Real Life.