What a summer!

Can you beat this great Minnesota weather?  The right amount of rain to bring us back from the drought, and now these beautiful summer sunny days!  This weekend looks good for those doing art fairs.   How many of you are taking workshops this summer?

I returned last week from fiddle camp and am so jazzed about my music right now.   It is very important in any area of the arts to take yourself away and challenge, renew, refresh your creative spirit. 

I was thinking today , how the artists, and the craftspeople are the last strong hold out on buying American made goods.   The thriving marketplace on sites like Etsy should prove that there is a customer base that cares where and how their purchases are produced.  Of course we have found a market for our work long before the internet, there have always been aficionados of the unique,  one of a kind item.    Many of the established art fairs around the country are approaching their fiftieth years!  
Our electronics, our appliances, clothing, shoes,  I think it would be hard to find any that are still produced in the United States.   Yet, people still endeavor to create their own things and sell them in this vast  worldwide market place.  The craftspeople today are producing items that will stand out in future generations as "different, and unique" compared to the mass produced  plastics that will be filling the landfills,  the hand of the artist/craftsperson  can be "felt" in an image or  utilitarian vessel. 

We have many choices to make these days of  how to spend our money.   I always feel good about buying handmade,  Recently I purchased a lovely handbag. When I look at this purse I am struck by the attention to detail that the maker had with the deep inner pockets,  and I know by purchasing from an artisan  my money is going straight back into the economy and the artist is getting their fair share of the profit.   There are many great shops in our area that feature the work of artists of all media in Mora and the surrounding area, be sure to check them out when you are in town, and see what the talented people in our area are doing.   A quick search on the internet will provide quite a variety of  inspirational art work and handcrafts.