Short Days Signal Holiday Season

Here's a photo I took several evenings ago, looking up what we refer to as the "alley" although it's really a narrow walkway between the buildings. There are studios on the right hand side and on the left is the Mineral and Gem Society building. I use to be one of the sub-lessees of the second studio on the right. That was where I was when I first came to Spanish Village in 2001. The tower at the end is part of one of the smallest studios. It use to be occupied by a paper arts artist who was my high school art teacher. We found out by mistake one day when we were talking. It had been so many years since we had seen each other and we had both married, so our names were different. But we enjoyed many pleasant conversations together while she was still here.

Today I spent working at my table outside. There weren't as many people in the Park as there were yesterday or Friday. We always blame the Chargers, our football team, if the Village is slow on a Sunday afternoon. And certain this was a day to watch them. They're in first place right now.

I worked on some plates for etching and also finished my 200+ pearl necklace. Or I should say that I've finished putting on the 200+ pearls. I'm not sure what else I'm going to do with it. I've cut the chain so that it's now 36 inches long. I want to wear it for awhile though because some of the pearls are drilled in a way that they could fall off. I want to make sure any that are going to fall off will do so before I sell it to someone. Because of the value of the pearls, it will probably be my most expensive piece.

I had several people come to visit after closing this evening. Even though we close at 4:00 p.m., there are usually at least two or three people working in their studios or around the Village. On Friday and Saturday nights we will be hosting December Nights, a Park-wide event which traditionally brings thousand of people to the Park. It's always very crowded and very festive. It's a little hard for the artists, though, because it lasts until 10:00 p.m. We keep the studios open that late. The key, I've found, is to make sure I'm prepared with warm clothes, something to eat, and lots of Christmas lights. Most people who come to the Park are not shopping for artwork. But they like to come through the studios anyway, and we try to make them feel welcome.

This week will be spent getting ready. And I need to get back to the task of working on Spanish Village business again. I made some progress, but there's a great deal more for me to do. I'm hoping that when we have elections next year, I can have an assistant to help me if I'm re-elected. There's so much more to do nowadays.