After almost forty years in New York, I’m readying to set new roots in the southwest!

In 1986, I left the region I’d grown up in (near Fond du Lac, Wisconsin) by getting on a plane headed to New York City. I’d visited the city only once, on a college trip, but had made my decision. I had no job, no contacts or industry resources, and the only reason I had a place to stay was because my oldest sister demanded I have one. That place was a Single Room Occupancy hotel; The Allerton Hotel for Women, on 57th Street near Lexington Avenue.

I got lucky, working my way up in the accessories design field until reaching the pinnacle of my dreams, only to find out that the brass ring I’d grabbed for was really more like cheap plastic. After over a dozen years as a handbag designer, I left the industry. Starting my own business, Talisman Studios, I designed and created decorative arts in stained glass. To support my fledgling business, I almost simultaneously began a second business named Premier Pet Care & Exercise Service, which was fairly successful, but became all-consuming. I didn’t have time to pursue the creative venture it was intended to support!

In 2009, I left NYC to live about 100 miles further north, to become a caretaker at an historic site on the Mohonk Preserve. I lived on site, in a rustic cabin with no electricity, plumbing, or insulation. Quite a contrast with the rent-stablized studio in Chelsea that I was lucky to have. Interestingly, I made the transition without difficulty; the only issue I originally had was anxiety with the fact that “the new place” would not have a bathtub or shower. Understand that this was a very big deal to me, and I was unsure as to how I would cope.

I still know of no bigger luxury than a long soak in a tub, but I managed to survive without that convenience that many of us take for granted. One thing I knew that I couldn’t survive, though, was living in that cabin(not much more than a garden shed) during winter. In 2010, I bought an old camper van and since then, each winter I would drive cross country to spend the colder months wandering around the southwest.

Here’s the updated version of my van, which I bought in 2020. There were two before Ramses, who you see here.

Each year, as I visited new cities and towns, I wondered if they might be a suitable place for me to relocate to, once I was ready to leave my little cabin in the woods. Some of the towns I felt good about were Joshua Tree(CA), Flagstaff(AZ), Sedona(AZ), Moab(UT), and Silver City(NM). Unfortunately, each of those places had some fatal flaw, although in truth the issue was simply that I couldn’t afford to by or rent there.

Taos was also one of those “I could live here” places for me. I felt it immediately upon arriving, and as I strolled the main street, enjoying the dozens of galleries and boutiques, the sensation of a warmth in my belly began to glow. There was just something about the creative energy in Taos that resonated with me. I loved the abobe buildings, the centuries long history of the Taos Pueblo, and the quiet hm of activity.

Of course, Taos itself was also not within my budget(my budget is almost nonexistent). Then I learned, though I cannot recall how, that there was nearby acreage to be had, in an area with next to nothing in the way of zoning and building code enforcement, for unbelievably low prices. That area was Tres PIedras, situated about thirty miles northwest of Taos.

With a bit of research, I soon learned that this was an interesting little dot on the map….. But even so, I wasn’t truly deterred.

I’ll leave the details for another time, but long story short, I’m about two weeks away from putting my signature on the dotted lines, to own my first ever piece of real estate, in Tres Piedras. It won’t be one of the sub-$1000 quarter acre lots that initially caught me eye like a magician’s shiny coin, but it will be near that area.

Once I start to get settled in, my plan is to begin adding to my blog with updates on this new chapter in my life. I’ve said that before; let’s see if it happens… I intend to work at including some show venues for both my jewelry(which can be seen here, in my Talisman Studios shop on Etsy) and my cabochons(at TalismanToo), and placing my goods in one or more of the local Taos shops. I’ll still wander in winter, as this new place is as cold, or colder, than anywhere I’ve lived before. But May through October, I’ll be out on the mesa in Tres Piedras, spending my days working creatively, both at my craft and construction of my homesite.

As I said – whether this blog gets updated more frequently remains to be seen, but I actually have been good about staying current on my Instagram feed. So, if you want to keep a vicarious eye on the development of this next stage, add Talisman Too on Instagram to your Favorites!