Crystal Delights: From Virtual Reality to Kinsey Institute

NEW BOSTON, N.H.—When Shellie Yarnell was playing Second Life a few years ago, she though of a product she could develop and sell in the virtual world. She created Crystal Delights, beautiful anal plugs, which soon became a hit. Not about to limit her imaginative design to a fictional world, she launched VirtuallyAbout LLC in 2008 and began to produce the Crystal Delights for real. Now, Yarnell—the creative director of the Crystal Deslights line—has announced the Red Crystal Kiss anal plug was chosen for The Kinsey Institute Juried Art Show 2011, May 20 through July 30 at Indiana University’s School of Fine Arts Gallery. “We are very honored to have been chosen,” Yarnell said. The Crystal Kiss is a handcrafted medical-grade glass anal toy with a red swirl of glass entwined inside. The piece is accented with a Red Magma Swarovski crystal in the base. Since each toy is handcrafted from high quality Pyrex glass, no two are alike and each can be considered a work of art. “You will want to display your toys for all to see, they are so gorgeous to look at,” Yarnell said. The Crystal Delights were nominated for an AVN “O” Award in 2010 for Best Non-Powered Product. Aside from producing erotic art toys, VirtuallyAbout’s other mission is to support emerging sex-positive communities by creating Crystal Causes, which raises funding for deserving charities. The Kinsey Institute Juried Art Show premiered in 2006 at the Kinsey Institute Gallery. For the first two years, the emphasis was on erotic art, but beginning in 2008 the parameters of the competition were expanded to include artworks addressing gender issues, sexuality, reproduction, sexual politics, romantic relationships and the human figure. For more information, visit CrystalDelights.com.