The Yucca Valley Swap Meet

Matthias somehow found out there is a swap meet in Yucca Valley (about 5 minutes from here), so we decided to check it out on Sunday. It is held every weekend, year round, on the grounds of the old Sky Drive-In. Upon arrival, the first thing we noticed is that it looks like an abandoned mining camp. Old rusty stuff and junk and cactus everywhere. I have never been to a swap meet quite like this one. Not that the goods were so un-swap-meet like, but the setting was so original. This is such an interesting place! I took quite a few photos, so you could feel like you were right there with us.

It didn't seem very busy. I don't know if it was simply the time of year, time of day, or what. It was actually overcast, so it was nice and cool. I was happy for that. On a sunny day, that place must feel quite hot. I did feel a little bit like I was on a movie set for some surrealistic miner movie. Personally, I found it confusing. Which items were part of the setting, and which were for sale? I think the things with price tags were the for sale items. There really weren't that many vendors, either. Again, was it the time of year? I don't know. Check out this cool old cash register (not for sale?)We were hoping this might be a good venue to try to sell some of the items we no longer want in our lives, but after the visit, we decided against it. I don't think our art, imports, and clothing would fit in with the old rusty wheels, antiques, and other assorted bits at this particular place. It looks like we will be having a good old garage sale, instead. Hopefully, we can entice enough people to bump down our dusty road. It will feel good to get rid of some of the extra things that have cluttered up our lives.

With the help of my husband, I finally managed to get my studio unpacked and set up yesterday. I have been picking away at it, but I needed his skill at organizing, since I went from a large space to a small space. (All of those paintings!) It looks good now, and I am ready to jump in and paint! Yay!

I will be listing some more of the bug monotypes on etsy later today, so check it out if you are interested. Here is an example of one that will soon appear.