FIDDLETOWN, CALIFORNIA
A place where people leave softer than they arrived.
Build the place that helps people believe in magic again. · Connection · Creativity · Play · A place where hands make things. · People leave softer than they arrived.
Build the place that helps people believe in magic again. · Connection · Creativity · Play · A place where hands make things. · People leave softer than they arrived.
WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BEGIN
Three ways in.
Whether you want to come to the land, bring creativity to your humans, or follow along as the whole thing unfolds—there’s a door for you here.
01
Come to Fiddletown
Stay at the estate in Amador wine country. Day playshops, weekend retreats, event rentals. The land holds all of it.
02
Bring Mel to You
Book a playshop or performance for your group, organization, or community. Mosaics, mixed media, story telling, writing, User Manual, and more.
THE PLACE
Fiddletown, California
A wine country estate in the Sierra Nevada foothills, becoming a real gathering place for humans. Here’s what’s here—and what’s coming.
The seasons move through the land like a living calendar. Time stretches out long and slow, the way nervous systems love. People soften here.
03
Follow Along
Join Mel’s Messy Love Lab on Substack. Watch the retreat take shape. Get early access to playshops. Be part of this while it’s still becoming itself.
STAY CONNECTED
THE STORY
Witch in a Lab Coat.
Theatre artist. Musician. Mosaic maker. Facilitator. Storyteller. Coach. I’ve been all of these things separately for decades—and I spent a long time trying to explain how they fit together.
Turns out they were always one thing: building spaces where people can be held in connection, invited into creativity, and returned to play.
Now I do that from a hillside in Fiddletown, California—with my cat Shadow, a garage full of mosaic supplies, and a vision for what this land can become.
MY YES WORDS
Connection. Creativity. Play.
I’m Mel. I build spaces—on land and online—where creative people slow down, make things with their hands, and remember what connection feels like.