At Long Last--Back in the Mosaic & Antiques Biz

Mosaic Tray Completed Last Night

Being able to do mosaic artwork again is like breathing clearly after the allergy season finally ends. It's taken me a while to accumulate supplies since I settled here in Truth or Consequences a little over a month ago, but now I'm back in business. I have a few plates and tiles to break, a few items ("forms") to cover with tiles, some grout, sponges, etc. And I have a place to sell my work.

While I'd like to eventually do some solo gallery shows, and I will, for now I'm going to sell some pieces at January's Gallery With a Card Shop on Broadway in TorC.

January is a very nice woman who runs a combination art gallery/antiques store. On Saturday, I brought her some retro stuff that hadn't sold on eBay, and she liked everything and will sell it on consignment.

Consignment is a great way to go! I used to have my own rented antique spaces up in the Pacific Northwest and it was a lot of work to price every item, stage everything in my space, and keep it neat and clean. At January's, all I have to do is bring her the stuff, and she'll do the pricing and display. Of course, she takes a larger percentage, but, hey, I know how to buy low and sell high, so that's not a problem. Now I can have the pure pleasure of "picking"--going out and buying stuff that I can turn around for a profit--which is the most fun part of the antique biz for me, anyway.

Two Trivets

I'll also be bringing January some mosaic pieces when she reopens this week (like many TorC businesses, she mostly operates on the weekend, when the touristas are in town). She really likes mosaic work and already has one mosaic artist in the shop, but my work is very different from what is already there, so that should work out fine.

"Sue Central"--My Kitchen Table, Where It All Happens

I continue to make friends and enjoy new activities here in New Mexico. This week I got to meet John Rogers, whom I've known from the VanDwellers for some time. John is staying in his 1970 VW van at nearby Caballo Lake State Park. He came into town to take care of some business one day last week, and we had a fine time, drinking sodas at Little Sprout Juice Bar, meeting up with our mutual VanDweller friend Brian at my house, and then having a burger at Groovy Gritz. John is a kind, mellow guy who I know is going to be a wonderful friend. We've got some more plans in the works--a camp dinner at Caballo this week and maybe some gold panning up in Silver City! I wish I'd remembered to take a photo of John while he was in town. Whenever I'm having a really good time, I forget to get out the camera.

Organic Heirloom Tomatoes from Artists Habitat (My Apartment Building) Communal Garden

In addition to John's visit, I had coffee with several friends this week and went on a hike at Elephant Butte State Park with Kelly and her dogs. I also worked a lot at getting some business taken care of, such as applying for my New Mexico drivers license, switching over some life insurance from my ex's name to mine, stuff like that. I went to the movie theater on Saturday night to see the very silly but well-animated Cars 2, then had my friend Steve over to drink iced tea while we sat on my patio, looking at the full moon. The past week has been quiet, but satisfying and productive.

With that, I'm off to mail stuff that's sold on eBay and to see what new wonders have appeared at the thrift store. G'day!