Artist Towns? (Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Elephant Butte: relocate, budget, condos)

[Devin Bent]

Originally Posted by Dancingearth

Yes, and scent them. Hmm..green chili candles? That might work better. Oh I bet you could sell green chili soap to a tourist as a historic Spanish cure for sore feet

What about osha candles or soap? When everybody had the recent multi-month flu, I chewed osha and was cured in a week. But I was picking the osha out of my teeth for a month.

[Dancingearth]

Originally Posted by iriegirl

Dancingearth,
why do you say you wouldn't retire in Santa Fe? too expensive? That is one of the reasons I'm leaving NJ. Just the taxes alone are over 7000 a year, and always going up. So, I'd like to find a place where I could retire, maybe not have to move again for a long while.

everybody else;
wish I knew what you were talking about with the foods...can't say that I've ever eaten very authentic NM food. Is it spicy or hot or both? It sounds yummy, and you're making me hungry!

Hi Iriegirl, I think I forgot to answer. Yes, I'm concerned about the cost. If I buy a house, unless I find a housemate I won't be able to afford the mortgage. But I'm already getting drawn into the community after only three months and I will need to find a way to make it work. There are too many things I like to do here and wish I didn't have to work so I could do them all! I won't retire until I really can't work anymore--probably around 70 so I don't need to decide now.

And the food is excellent. Can be hot and spicy. Not sure what the difference is between hot and spicy--hot and tasty.

How's the house selling going?

[ziaAirmac]

Originally Posted by Devin Bent

What about osha candles or soap? ...I chewed osha and was cured in a week. But I was picking the osha out of my teeth for a month.

nice. Thanks for the detail

[ziaAirmac]

Originally Posted by Dancingearth

... There are too many things I like to do here and wish I didn't have to work so I could do them all! I won't retire until I really can't work anymore--probably around 70 so I don't need to decide now...

And the food is excellent. Can be hot and spicy. Not sure what the difference is between hot and spicy--hot and tasty.

I think I remember you saying something about building up a fair amount of stock. Have you considered selling at Golondrinas instead of volunteering for one of the festival weekends? It could supplement your income and make room for new pieces.

I think the food here is a key ingredient (no pun intended) to the 'being drawn in' you alluded to. You just can't get this food anywhere else and it's good enough to stick around for.

[ziaAirmac]

Originally Posted by Dancingearth

... Hmm..green chili candles? That might work better. Oh I bet you could sell green chili soap to a tourist as a historic Spanish cure for sore feet

Wow, Dancingearth! You're really starting to sound like a local

I hear you about the hornos. All day long the kids come through with their hot tortillas slathered in butter and for the adventurous, green chile.

You know the scent of roasted green chile now. Now, no matter where you are, you can smell roasted green chile and think of a crisp morning at Golondrinas, with the coals hot in the hornos, the adobe soaking in the mornings warmth, the sheep calling in the background, the swallows cutting through the sky and warm, chewy tortillas. I used to roast my green chile for posole in the broiler when I was in Virginia just to take the trip.

[Dancingearth]

Originally Posted by ziaAirmac

I think I remember you saying something about building up a fair amount of stock. Have you considered selling at Golondrinas instead of volunteering for one of the festival weekends? It could supplement your income and make room for new pieces.

I think the food here is a key ingredient (no pun intended) to the 'being drawn in' you alluded to. You just can't get this food anywhere else and it's good enough to stick around for.

My stock are pieces accumulated from practicing. I'm not good enough to sell yet. Although I could get away with the pots if made them into candles. This summer I'll practice on the wheel outside. It is a good idea for the future. The community college has cheap small business classes--when I'm close to ready I'll take the classes.

The food has always had me - In the last five years when I was living in WA I'd come back to visit in September bringing a cooler and buy a bag of roasted chili and freeze it in little containers--my son eagerly took my leftovers when I moved back here. What is drawing me in is the new people I'm meeting and enjoying being around at the studio and Golondrinas and the land when I get outside.

If I could find a place to live that was home, I'd start growing some roots. Need to start looking for a house to rent alone or look at the houses off airport road to buy (didn't want to live in that area.) My concern about sharing a home has risen--my housemate just found a new girlfriend--could get uncomfortable. Came home at 9 pm two nights ago dirty and tired from the studio to a strange woman in my home. Since he had only meet her the night before, I was surprised and not feeling particularly social. He had left a message at my work inviting me to eat dinner with them but that was the day I played hooky. Surprise! The drawback to housesharing. Today I call the woman I met last week who has a house for rent.

LH--the Pasatiempo in the Friday paper was looking for all kinds of artists to participate in arts events to sell arts and crafts. Do you get the paper? When I consider an area to move to I get the weekend paper mailed for awhile. I get the New Mexican now on weekends which includes Friday. The Pasatiempo is worth getting it for--tells you what is going on. The Reporter that comes out on Wednesdays is also very good. Santa Fe Reporter | This Week.

[Dancingearth]

Originally Posted by ziaAirmac

Wow, Dancingearth! You're really starting to sound like a local

I hear you about the hornos. All day long the kids come through with their hot tortillas slathered in butter and for the adventurous, green chile.

You know the scent of roasted green chile now. Now, no matter where you are, you can smell roasted green chile and think of a crisp morning at Golondrinas, with the coals hot in the hornos, the adobe soaking in the mornings warmth, the sheep calling in the background, the swallows cutting through the sky and warm, chewy tortillas. I used to roast my green chile for posole in the broiler when I was in Virginia just to take the trip.

Thank you - that's the best compliment. I'm starting to feel I don't ever want to leave again (I was here eight years before leaving in 2003.) Whenever I get really stressed at work I now have two visions I imagine that help de-stress me. One is being a Spanish grandma sitting in the sun at las Golondrinas leaning against an adobe wall, spinning wool, and watching the children running around. You describe it exactly - I'll have to add the swallows, sounds of sheep, smell of chile, and eating warm tortillas or bread right from the hornos dripping with honey butter. Ahhh..no computers, phones, problems, uptight bosses.

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by ziaAirmac

I think I remember you saying something about building up a fair amount of stock.

That's the same problem I'll face if my soap making hobby takes off. One batch can be about 40 bars of soap, and I doubt I use that much in a year. I'll be up to my armpits in soap if I don't find some way of getting rid of it, and the ingredients are rather expensive on that scale. You don't make just one bar, obviously.

Originally Posted by ziaAirmac

I think the food here is a key ingredient (no pun intended) to the 'being drawn in' you alluded to. You just can't get this food anywhere else and it's good enough to stick around for.

*THAT* is what first attracted me to Santa Fe. My first (and only) visit I thought the town attractive and loved the atmosphere and architecture, but the food is what really sucked me in. I don't know if there's any Mexican food that good anywhere else, but I haven't experienced it yet. I ate New Mexican every dinner in SF and each meal was the best Mexican I've ever had.

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by Dancingearth

My stock are pieces accumulated from practicing.

LH--the Pasatiempo in the Friday paper was looking for all kinds of artists to participate in arts events to sell arts and crafts. Do you get the paper? When I consider an area to move to I get the weekend paper mailed for awhile.

That candle in a pot idea would be very popular in my opinion, particularly when you include the factor of old work piling up and presuming you're getting better so it represents your less advanced work. I mean the buyer would probably be influenced by the candle inside with the pot as an added inducement, since probably most people won't refill the pot with a candle (or even be able to) and probably not that likely to use the pot for other uses. Actually, I've punched holes in the bottom and used them for plants.

No I don't get the paper and probably wouldn't anyway, because I'm "office of the future" paperless. Well except for my drawings and books.

[ziaAirmac]

Originally Posted by Dancingearth

...Came home at 9 pm two nights ago dirty and tired from the studio to a strange woman in my home. Since he had only meet her the night before,...
LH--the Pasatiempo in the Friday paper was looking for all kinds of artists to participate in arts events to sell arts and crafts. Do you get the paper? When I consider an area to move to I get the weekend paper mailed for awhile. I get the New Mexican now on weekends which includes Friday. The Pasatiempo is worth getting it for--tells you what is going on. The Reporter that comes out on Wednesdays is also very good. Santa Fe Reporter | This Week.

Ugh, I feel for you on that one. I'm sure you'll find something that gives you that balance you're seeking.

Thanks for the heads up on PasaTiempo. I pick up the Albuquerque equivalent (The Alibi) but it would be well worth the cost to keep up with things going on in Santa Fe. Taught a workshop today and one of my students was best friends with my gradeschool principal in Santa Fe. Small and sometimes odd world.