new space new place

Patti and Anna in my new studio space.

It has been a few months, a few months of settling, unpacking boxes, getting used to new routines and commutes.  Getting used to a little more space (a studio room for me!  It is a dream.) and being able to spend so much time outside, all the time we want to, really.  The weather is so stupid nice here.

We now live in San Jose, in the middle of the Silicon Valley.  As native north-bay/west delta identified, this is weird.  When looking for somewhere to live, not having any idea where Cupertino is, that Campbell was more than Taco Bravo or just a place on the way to Santa Cruz, realizing that there is this vast area here that in my myopic (literally, I am almost blind without vision assistance) life in San Francisco anything south of South San Francisco almost did not exist, I knew nothing about.

It is a strange place to be a handmaker - sure the maker movement sees alot of its home here but talk about sewing or weaving or whathaveyou and Ive felt a bit of an outsider, more so than ever.  There is an overriding industry here, much like it felt in Los Angeles, are you in tech or outside of it?  And craftwork isnt really a part of the scenery.

Except.

Little pockets.  Last weekend I went to a meeting of the Peninsula Wearable Artists Guild and wow.  That is a crazy inspiring group of people.   I also met a group of jewelry makers who were hardcore, basically blacksmithing in the back of a pizzeria at a group meetup.

The little pockets of makers I am meeting here are intense and pretty interesting.

I suppose its because of how this is the suburbs, life lead mostly anonymously, until you make the effort to meet with others and you make it really matter. I am really looking forward to finding more of these pockets.

So yeah.  Hello.