Crystal Fantasy
Crystal Fantasy, a delightful store in the heart of Downtown Palm Springs, strikes its visitors with an immediate calm. Perhaps it’s the gentle music playing, the scent of the many candles on display, or the charming artifacts: dream catchers and crystals. No matter why, the aura is spiritual.
Crystal Fantasy
On Friday, I attended an artists meet and greet in this interesting place. Joy Brown Meredith, the store’s owner, hosts events like this a platform for the creative people who add dimension with their art, music, and literature, to our wonderful piece of paradise here in the Coachella Valley.
Joy Brown Meredith
As I wandered, chatting with the artists, what began as coverage for a nice story grew into something deeper. I’ve been inspired lately by discussions about the cost of fame and a statement by a certain figure in the music world.
Do it because you can’t not do it. If you do it for money, applause, or to be famous, that’s dangerous. If you do it because you can’t not, whatever your field, you have a better chance of having a happy life.
Without referencing the exact quote (or who said it), I asked some of the artists, “Do you need to do this?” Some didn’t get it, looking at me vaguely as they explained the nuts and bolts of their and creations.
However, by merely looking into their eyes, I recognized those who’d need no explanation to my question. I wasn’t wrong. They responded similarly, without hesitation. Yes, to feel alive they need to create. It’s who they are. Of course, they’d like to make a living at their craft, but that’s not why they do it. For them, it is as essential as breathing. Without it they’d cease to exist.
Dirk Yates is an fun, easygoing guy who finds joy by sharing his art and the story of his diverse background. An artist for nearly three decades, he’s run a design studio, been commissioned by multiple Fortune 500 companies, and had his pieces displayed on USA Today.
Homesick for Palm Springs while living in Indiana ten years ago, his mom sent a box of Hawaiian collectibles to cheer him up. Since then, the primitive warmth of Hawaii brings him inspiration. He begins each piece as a rough pencil sketch, from there it comes to life. There’s only smiles and reflections his happy emotions. Some of his pieces are on display in Key West and in private collections, and each month a new piece is displayed at Crystal Fantasy.
Dirk’s shirt is also art: an original by clothing designer Andrew Maclaine
Yates’s newest piece, “Hale Tiki”
Williams Rivera found peace in art after horrific tragedy. His life was never easy growing up in El Salvador, making him feel older than his 23 years. His dark eyes reflect the pain he felt two years ago when his Mother was murdered. The shock led him to consider ending his own life with poison, but he tells me, his expression brightening, that God came to him in a dream with a message: Everything has a reason. Even flowers die. He began to paint. In his creations there is no darkness, just good energy and emotion.
Williams Rivera
Snake Jagger calls his style “whimsical surrealism”. When he says that he doesn’t take himself too seriously, he means it. Looking like a happy rock star, he draws inspiration from everything he loves in life: TV, movies, science fiction. He moved to the desert when his dad worked for Frank Sinatra and the abundance of nature surrounding him has been the background for most of his work, but he’s reinventing himself, away from desert influence into the abstract. Later this year, he’ll be unveiling his latest works at a gallery in the Art District of Palm Springs.
Snake Jagger
Frederic Delarue’s artistic talents are of a different medium: he’s a musician, composer, and author. The story of his personal journey and the effect music has had on his life is fascinating. His eyes, like his music, induce inner peace. His compositions evoke a gentle waterfall or a sunrise walk on the beach as waves crash just lightly enough to be noticed but not distract.
He shared with me “Musical Rapture,” his latest creation, to be released in two weeks. A cancer patient who has left this world asked him to create it as a “healing gift to humanity,” and so it will be downloadable and he will make no profit from it. His goal is to raise the divine within us all.
Frederic
Randall Cargill’s creations are called “escapes.” These fascinating miniature canyons are set with rare canyon stones in meticulously hand-carved desert landscape. With streams. waterfalls, lights, and living cacti, each is unique, creating its own scene of “living art.”
Randall Cargill
JoyMeredith
Dear Helen, Thank you for a beautiful article. I am so touched that you understand the passion that these artists have for their art…. At Crystal Fantasy it’s all about the vibe…. xoxo
Battin
Will no longer be patronizing this establishment as the proprietor is supporting Pougnet’s sales tax hike scheme.
PetersenLorrie
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