We're Baaaack!!

Day; 160. Sunny and warm in Santa Fe. Billowy clouds but no rain. Temperature on outside kiln; 85 degrees

After 2 days on the road and 3 days in Crested Butte, Colorado, we are back in Santa Fe today...
First things first; coffee in  Downtown Subscription's garden followed by a gleeful trip to the bank with a pile of cash and a few checks. I spent the rest of the day unloading the truck/trailer and organizing my home/studio to begin again. This was interspersed with lots of dog-hair cleanup and loads of laundry...

I also paid a very large pile of bills that were awaiting my return from the-big-summer-show, thank  goodness it was an outrageously good show. It feels good to get everything paid down...

Oh how I wish every show could be like Crested Butte, in every way possible , not just the money... It is just so; beautiful, fun, lucrative, inspirational, gorgeous... with lots of; friends/ex-husband, good artists, great music, fantastic return customers, cocktails, laughs, green meadows, misty mountains, old buildings, singing, fluffy dogs, vintage bikes, blue skies, clean air, cows, MAGPIES, fishing, full creeks, etc... you get the picture, right?!
One of the more amazing/feel good facts of the Crested Butte show is that my current husband and  I stay with my ex-husband (JC Leacock) for the duration of the visit (4 nights!). He and his wife Kriste have a gorgeous house up the mountain from town on the way to the ski hill..

I have stayed with them here at The Chalet for the 10 years that I have been doing the show. As JC is also an artist,( www.jcleacockphotography ) he is often in the show himself, as well as running his gallery at the same time.
 I think of it as The Big Chill weekend, those of you familiar with this movie will know what I mean... Lots of old friends coming together for a long weekend; eating, drinking, partying, singing, playing music, reliving old times, fornacatin*, etc... old lovers, new lovers... everyone up early having coffee together... Usually there are at least two more new mexicans/californians  sleeping in the driveway, down  in the studio, in the music room... artists, potters, friends, family..., but this year we missed potter Miya Endo  as well as the Singing Cowboy from San Diego... It was a smaller party this year but still great fun with jeweler Nina Morrow from my same neighborhood..

Nina and I always start out/end  the show in the same way;  at the Cocktail Cabin (aka The Dogwood)...

 A lovely old cabin turned dark rustic bordello-like watering hole... It's just a good thing I don't live in CB I would be there every weekend.. drinking, our all-time favorite, Beatnics! (A sublime combination of beet juice, vodka, and ginger...)

After 300 miles, and one of these (all you  need!) we were off to our temporary home in the mountains and a good night sleep before putting up the show in the morning.... Stay tuned for further photos of the Crested Butte Art Festival in tomorrow's post...