Wandering Artist's Journal

Reno is Artown! It's pretty great all year 'round, but the entire month of July is insane, with 10 to 20 art events every single day! Get the full schedule here (click on the calendar date-by-date for events & activities.) I'm just dipping my toe in this year, participating n a few events and getting around to some of the others as a visitor.  Saturday, July 9th:  yART Sale , 9am-4pm, 1420 Mt. Rose St., West of Marsh Avenue I’ll be showing some of my paintings there with 25 other artists, including Lynne Bunt (mixed media), Brenda Retterer (glass painting), and Craig Johnson (knots & bolts) Other Artown venues that carry some of my paintings: Micano Home , 1350 S. Virginia St., Reno, NV 10am-6pm, Sat-Thur (closed Friday) I’ll be at the Art, Wine & Music event Micano is hosting on Saturday, July 30th, 1pm-6pm Loorr Home , 3368 Lakeside Ct, Reno, NV 11am-6pm, Tue-Sat (closed Sun & Mon) Fred & Wilma’s Rock Quarry , ...

'52 Vincent with Fishtails, acrylic on weathered wood, ©2016 AnnaLConti, painted for Sam Sprague (to sell) at Micano Home & Garden . Spring is here! (Kinda - it's actually snowing today.) But everyone I talk to in the Reno art scene is looking forward to Summer art shows & events.  Luna Maya Marketplace is continuing their monthly, first weekend marketplace. I'll be out of town in May but look for me here on June 3, 4, 5; July 1, 2, 3; August 5, 6, 7; and September 2, 3, 4. And if you are an artist who wants to show/sell your art, shoot me an email and I'll set you up. Micano Home & Garden has a few of my pieces, specially commissioned by Sam Sprague for his rustic, steampunk, farm, industrial themed store. The Vincent (above) is the first in a new series. Stop by the store to see the latest. I'm very excited about my opportunity to show with Connections at the Annual yART Sale , July 9th, 2016, during ArtTown . 20% of all sales benefit Art...

"Tempus Fugit" (Time Flies) acrylic on canvas, mounted on hinged wooden panels © Anna L. Conti April 1st, 2nd & 3rd , 2016 Luna Maya Markets  ** at 1644 South Wells Avenue, in Reno (across from the Wells traffic circle and next to Cafe DeLuxe ) BigCrow  will  host  a booth at the new monthly Plaza Maya Markets. Stop by Friday 5-8pm, Saturday 3-8pm, Sunday 12-5pm. There will be food, drinks, music and of course ART! Anna  will be showing some of her paintings;  Eoghan  will be making and selling his earrings; and we have a secret guest artist. **  Luna Maya Markets  is a new community art, performance & gathering space and they have a great lineup of activities the first weekend of every month. Please stop by!

A few days ago, a friend and I were driving around Verdi, just to see what was there and we stumbled upon a couple of wonderful artist studios. I plan to follow the artists’ work and hope to see them again. Here's why: Edward (Ned) Peterson, www.espartcreations.com Ned has a drool-worthy studio full of painted metal lamps, ink and airbrush works on paper, neon wall art, and framing stuff (he does professional framing on for himself and others. Check out that repurposed  missile - tree house lamp! It's a collaboration with Kai Presher - see below.) Ned has a flat file full of ink drawings, with watercolor, giclee, or airbrush coloring. Ned's neon paintings are meticulously painted (even the edges) on canvas, then mounted in hand-crafted cabinets, holding neon lights. The pieces look different in day-time or nighttime, but great all the time.   Ned shares his studio space with his friend Kai: Kai Prescher, kaiprescher.org Kai makes shadow casters...

Sierra Arts Foundation gallery Executive Director, Annie Zucker,  in front of a collage wall at the Joe C Rocks show. A small group of local artists and collectors toured South of the river in Reno this past Friday ( Lincoln's 207th Birthday ,) checking out the new "Basement" at 50 South Virginia Street (the old Post Office) and ending at the 1864 Tavern. In between we saw two great art exhibits. Across from the old post office, at the Sierra Arts Foundation Gallery, is a new installation by Joe C Rocks , who incidentally painted a fantastic Lincoln Highway  mural about a mile away at E 4th Street & Spokane Street: Lincoln Highway  mural at E 4th Street & Spokane Streetin Reno, NV The exhibit at the Sierra Arts Foundation Gallery,  Joe C Rocks,  "The Streets iz Watching,"  is the coolest installation by a painter that I have ever seen. It's a total mash-up of white-walls gallery and immersive stree...

(Above: Matt Rockwell, at the Reno  Generator, using the laser cutter to make a wooden prayer wheel for his show at the Hub Cafe, 727 Riverside, Reno) Friday February 5th at 6pm Nevada Fine Arts ( 1301 S. Virginia, Reno, NV) will be hosting a slideshow by Matt Rockwell on his time in Nepal and his experience during and after the huge earthquake. David and I plan to attend - join us there! From the Nevada Fine Arts FaceBook page:  His amazing images and story about his experience of surviving the earthquake and his inspiring call to action will make for and evening not to be missed.  The slideshow is free of charge although we will be encouraging people to help Matt as they can in his effort.  He is looking for donations of several types to help.  We also are asking you to pass this on to anyone you think might be interested.     About Matt: "Matt Rockwell is the Founder of the Global Art Collective, a non-profit organizatio...

"Peace" by Beniamino Bufano  The arte italia is located in a beautiful building designed by Frederic DeLongchamps in 1914 and located at 442 Flint Street, Reno, NV. The art galleries are located on the second floor. The main level is used for culinary arts. Food + visual art = my kind of place (love the Italians.) I’ve been wanting to visit  arte italia  since I moved here, but the final push came when I heard they were hosting a show of work by Benny Bufano . His sculptures are familiar to everyone in San Francisco . Most of us in the arts community have heard stories about Bufano’s years in San Francisco and some of the people who knew him still live there.  This small exhibit contains preparatory drawings, pastels, small sculptures, mosaics, and photo documentation of his larger sculptures. It’s a fine introduction to Beniamino Bufano, the man and the artist. His pacifist politics and his devotion to Saint Francis of Assisi are apparent in the work ...