Bohemian Mermaid Palace

Well, I just got the first issue of my new subscription to the Craftmaster News . Wooo! It's been a few years since I subscribed, and they've really done a lot to it. This is a giant list of fairs and festivals, including all pertinent info. I mean lots of info... fees, deadlines, contacts, type of show, types of crafts, whether or not commercial items are allowed, if there's camping available, everything. Now there are lots of emails and websites too. Sweet! Used to cover mostly California and a few surrounding states... now it includes shows all the way to North Dakota and Texas! Also some articles, indexed ads for supplies and shows. Each issue used to cover 6 months, now it's almost a year. Pretty cool. I remember hunting around for a craft fair list a while back and many cost hundreds of dollars. This one, I think, is a good value. They send you an updated version every other month, and now you can get updates online and via email. All for the low low price of abou

Yes, the new studio room at the house is getting broken in, finally. You know... it takes me a while to settle into a studio space. Moving the stuff in is easy. Making it a comfy place to create takes some time. For some reason, until I get my mojo going in a place... I just want to leave. I stay long enough to get stuff done, but then I'm eager to go. I can't explain it. So, I have to make an effort to just spend time there... reading art books, writin g, sketching... quiet time stuff that gets my creative juices flowing. To that end, last weekend I spent lots of time in there... added some shelves, emptied some boxes, set up more lighting, put some of my favorite art on the walls (some of mine, some I have acquired from friends). And I made a wonderful discovery. While the super bowl raged just a few feet away... my little studio was a calm oasis. Quiet except for my npr favorites on the radio and the occasional passing car. Lovely. The photos really can't capture the cal