7th Annual Maestros del Arte in Chapala, Mexico

I'm off early Friday morning to drive to Chapala for the 7th Annual Maestros del Arte Show and Lectures, www.mexicoetc.com . It will be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Yacht Club in Chapala. Artesans from all over Mexico will be there with items for sale. They are not charged a fee to exhibit in this show - the show is to showcase the folkart of Mexico, not to make money.

In addition, and what I'm most interested in, are the lectures by Marta Turok who has worked for 30 years to promote the indigenous crafts and has written many, many books. She is so knowledgeable and I have traveled with her to various villages.

Also, Susana Valdez, an anthropologist from UCLA came to Mexico to study the Huichol and formed the Huichol Center many, many years ago. She will be most interesting to meet and hear speak.

The last person to lecture will be Marc Navarro who is an expert in silver, old silver from Mexico. I'm not particularly interested in that, but you never know, I might become very interested. I love learning new things.

I haven't been to Chapala in 17 years. There used to be a factory in Ajijic that I exported their goods to the USA for my restaurant and hotel projects. I don't think the factory is open anymore. It was a very sleepy little area back then - it will be interesting to see the changes. I think I have some photos from back then, I'll try to dig them out to compare the differences.

If you're in that area this coming weekend, hope to see you there!