| Hailing
from Holland, her native language is Dutch. And she has done a remarkable
job of producing a site using this confusing and confounding English language
of ours (not, knot, naught - how many different spellings to one pronunciation
can there be!). Her pages are warm, friendly, and full of artistic
enjoyment.
Upon entering the site, you're
presented with two choices: Pan's Dolce Vita or Dolce Vita Delights.
Start with Pan's Dolce Vita, the personal site, and you are greeted with
'Please hold your breath and your mouse till all images are loaded ...
and then start dancing'. What a lovely way to induce anticipation!
And do follow her advice - keep your mouse off to the side until all the
images have loaded. Then pass the mouse over the image and watch
as each individual piece is replaced by even more beautiful pictures offering
you a choice to view the site in either English or Dutch. Move your
mouse over the middle section on the far left and the ALT text box will
display, showing you where to click to retrieve the English version of
her site and the main index. Where text links do not appear, watch
for golden rotating stars. They are links to other pages and resting
your mouse over top of them will briefly display a caption indicating where
you are about to go.
What is unique about Pan's
Dolce Vita? The digital images have the look of traditional paintings
due to the liberal use of 'textures'. And the artist sets the images
upon bold backgrounds in some of her earlier works. I wouldn't even
presume to state how she has created these finely detailed pieces.
Countless hours of work must have gone into each and every one of them.
The index page is divided
into three parts: Art, Evergreens, and 1999. The topmost segment
holds Panda's tribute to the New Millennium. While in there, click
on 'Join My World Idea' and leave your entry in a special guest book as
to what you think has been the greatest invention of the last century.
Under Wallpaper, you will find some spectacular floral images for you to
use. The graphic at the top of this page is taken from this section.
And Mysterious Creatures … this one is just plain fun … colored globes
freely floating around your screen.
Colored pencil drawings from
the late '80's and early '90's adorn Panda's bio pages. Also found
under Evergreens are some beautiful postcards and the web rings to which
she belongs. Be sure to check out the Banners and Memberships link.
Inside is a very pretty graphic that appears transparent, allowing the
background to peek through. Pan Dolce Vita offers several awards
for site design, but the truly spectacular award you must see is The Golden
Panda Award. The area is filled with glassine-like hearts, so delicate
they look as though they would shatter should you even breathe upon them.
There is an article decrying the 'need for speed' on the Internet and at
the end of your tour, you will be rewarded with a view of The Golden Panda
Award, plus a thank you gift for your own site.
The third and final part
of this personal area is Pan's Dolce Vita 1999. The three galleries
hold all the artwork from 1997 and 1998. Gallery 2 contains The Birth
of an Angel. It's quite interesting to watch as the image transforms
into the final design. It's all done with a free program, Ultimate
Paint, that Panda provides a link to at the end of the display. Click
on Fairy Fun and you'll find out more than you would ever want to know
about these fantasy creatures, each page daintily embellished with tiny
sprites and Panda's fairy works in progress.
Panda is in the midst of
re-designing the English side of Pan's Dolce Vita so you may encounter
the odd link here and there that isn't connected. Just use the 'Back'
button on your browser and you'll have no problem getting around ... a
small price to pay for the chance to view this exhibit. Once you've
traveled around the English version, jump over to the Dutch pages.
You'll be treated to a fourth gallery that isn't on the English index and
to a preview of the elegant new design that will soon be available for
her English viewers.
When you've completed your
tour of her personal site, then it's time to wander over to Dolce Vita
Delights where you will be introduced to some of Panda's favorite artists
who have inspired her over the years. She provides her own guided
interpretation of selected works from Leonor Fini, Corstiaan de Vries,
Johanna Pieterman, and Klimt.
A former antique dealer,
Panda's love of art goes back to her youth when she would rescue treasures,
objets d'art discarded by her father, and hide them in the attic of their
home in Amsterdam. She later studied at the Academy of Fine Arts
in The Netherlands. "Before introducing myself let's first ask for
consideration for my clumsy English. I had two options: not writing
anything at all in English or just let things happen". - Panda
I'm so glad you decided to
'just let things happen', Panda. Otherwise, I would never have had
the opportunity to bring my visitors to your site. You need not ask
for consideration with respect to your English - it is we, your viewers,
who should be asking for consideration as we stumble blindly along, sometimes
incapable of appreciating the beautiful artistic endeavours over which
you have laboured.
Take a leisurely sojourn
into Pan's Dolce Vita by clicking on her image at the top of this page.
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