Eloh Eliot

In the middle of a barren snow drift in Lippert stands, unexpectedly, a small patch of sunflowers. And in the middle of that tiny patch of sunflowers stands the greatest gift in all of SL: Four crates of free, but priceless, Pleiades skins from Eloh Eliot.

Another, Lippert: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Lippert/67/194/166

I can’t even begin to guess how many artists, designers, and creators there are here in SL. But if you told me I had to pick just one, it’d take less than a millisecond to decide: Eloh Eliot.

In Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson wrote that because Juanita had designed the Metaverse avatars based on Hiro and herself, that they were the only two people in the Metaverse who could have a completely authentic conversation. And every woman walking around the Metaverse had a part of Juanita in her.

I cannot begin to count how many… hundreds of thousands?… of women (and some men) walking around SL have a part of Eloh Eliot inside (or, actually, on!) them.

If Eloh Eliot’s work was simply as magnificent as it is, that alone would be extraordinary at any price.

If Eloh Eliot’s work was simply a generous open source gift to the community, that alone would be extraordinary regardless of the quality.

That she provides work of a singular quality, elegance, and grace, as free and open source design… I don’t even have a word for that.

Eloh Eliot’s work is not just beautiful, it’s free.
Eloh Eliot’s work is not just free, its open source (BSD license)
Eloh Eliot doesn’t just offer hi-rez PSD/Gimp files – she even gives you the Illustrator files from which she mastered her staggeringly-many-layer bitmaps.

EE’s Blog:
http://eloheliot.blogspot.com/

EE’s Pleiades source (PSD/XCF) files:
http://eloheliot.blogspot.com/2008/12/pleiades-resources.html

EE’s Pleiades Illustrator files:
http://github.com/eloheliot/another/tree/master

Earlier EE Skin files:
http://eloheliot.blogspot.com/2007/12/my-psds-let-me-show-u-them.html

EE’s Male Skin:
http://www.mediafire.com/?zyodfum89gy

EE’s Flickr stream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eloheliot/

The number of people who wear one of her many versions of skin… who modify them and give them away… who modify them and sell them for their own profit (allowable under EE’s generous BSD license)… there is a piece of Eloh Eliot in so many SL women.

I only hope that my work can be substantive enough… to live up to the giant piece of Eloh Eliot on… and inside… me.

Eloh Eliot… wherever you are… thank you!

You are my hero.