KAIDENTRAY LANDSCAPING SERVICES

Walking past townhouses, apartments, corner cafes, and subway stations, one realizes ‘Wandering, New York’ is aptly named. The massive layout is like a day in The Bronx, Queens, or any New York City feeder town along the Hudson River. An hour or day stroll is the easy part.

The hard part is believing the entire sim and almost everything in it were created by one person, Kaiden Tray. Believe it.

From skyscrapers to bungalows, The Big Apple suburbs and surrounding grounds come to life as an artist’s rendition of the mind, his mind. Kaiden can basically replicate anything that he can see in photo form, which is rather spectacular to think about.

Want a studio apartment? No problem. Need the apartment skyscraper? Done. How about building the entire city? On it.

New York is only the beginning. KaidenTray Landscaping Services' projects are throughout the metaverse. His work includes fishing villages, cafes, shopping malls, and the campus grounds of BOSL. The calendar stays full.

In addition to building buildings, and landscaping lands, the company offers rental homes, retail outlets, cafes, and a book club. Open mic activities, meetings, and other gatherings are readily available.

“Our intention for ‘Wandering, NY’ (Kaiden’s crown jewel) is to have multiple arts and various communities come together,” says Pandora Ceridwen Tray, Kaiden’s real life and Second Life’s partner and the business’ co-owner. “We didn’t only want homes; we wanted activities for people to do.”

The tour continues: “This is our art exhibit. At the moment, the chosen displays are purchasable pieces by the creator.” Walking through winding streets, she notes, “And here is our residential area. Our brownstones and apartments are available for we remain consistently booked, so they are usually not available. But we do have a waiting list.”

In contrast to the hustle and bustle of pixeled NYC, there is a quiet place – Aurora Garden, Moon Lair Taste of Norway. And the taste of coffee is good, too. Come in for a sip.

Kaiden’s relaxing sim creation features a good cup of joe, pastries, and sitting areas for a quiet chat with friends. You can almost smell the java, which is by design.

KaidenTray Landscaping Services is Kaiden’s real-life job, too. He developed artistic skills as a boy, and came to SL with a desire to create. He is self-taught, and his style is basically to paint the landscape digitally.

SL’s landscaper of note uses real-life references, places, and images to create his style. Kaiden explains that his mind sees the landscaping like a painting, or a scene. He creates it as though he was drawing it.

The landscape artist studies the location and creates the layout first in his mind. He considers the client’s preferences, images, and vision. Once that is done, creation occurs.

The edges of the design are filled first, as though creating a photo, painting a picture, or forming a puzzle. Then he works inward to create the desired landscape.

Interested buyers can purchase his cottages or skyscrapers and suggest modifications to personalize the build.

Pandora adds about her partner, “Kaiden does something different from other landscapers. He does not go block by block to landscape. He moves everything into the air and creates, forming one whole scene, so that it flows.”

Potential clients complete a form. They are asked to provide photos that inspire their vision. Kaiden works best from visuals.

From concept to creation depends on the scope of cyber work. On average, homesteads and half-sims take about one to two days maximum. Full sims, depending on the complexity, may take an average of two to four days.

Landscaping trends change, and new trends emerge— often quickly.

“Clients seem to follow major trends set from social media,” says Pandora. “Lately, there has been an interest in Bali because of the resorts featured in Second Life’s Highlife destinations. However, mostly whatever is passed along by social media becomes a trend. A month ago, it was rainforests.”

There is also much interest in ‘Cottage Core', a style of countryside, cottage-like creations. But the landscaper has seen it all. “Being this is Kaiden’s full-time job, he has done countless landscapes,” adds Pandora. “In any given month, his calendar is usually full every day.”

He does the creative side of their business and she oversees administration. “I help and support in whatever way I can,” she says. “I started working as his CSR for his landscaping company.

I communicate with clients, schedule projects, and organize his schedule. He focuses on the art, and I handle everything else and give my feedback when needed.”

With projects great and small, Second Life’s duo of landscaping is building a business in both worlds. In parks, towns, and villages from sim to shining sim, their hard work is our gain and a good place to be.