Night Sky at the USA Lounge

Los Angeles-based artist Alison O'Daniel brought her touring film 'Night Sky' to the iconic USA Lounge, in conjunction with Pop Up Art House, Henderson. The screening began with live sign by Lisa Reynolds and the theme of hearing and communication continued throughout the film. For me, the star of the film was the white boxer 'Deafinite' - a ghostly shape running through the desert. Beautifully filmed, 'Night Sky' delivered leisurely, but compelling, viewing.
O'Daniel, Reynolds and Deafinite were then heading to The Guild Cinema in Albuquerque, and eventually to the Cleveland and Detroit art museums.
The USA Lounge's vintage-style popcorn maker was popular with the younger members of the audience, and musician Zach Ryan played a great farewell set for Las Vegas, before heading out to Nashville, TN.

Further Our Furry Friends benefit

Further Our Furry Friends held at Blackbird Studios, was devised as a charity event to raise funds for local animal rescue groups. I was one of a group of artists who submitted work to the exhibition, with proceeds being donated to the cause, and a number of organizations donated raffle prizes.
There were treats available both for people and for their furry friends, live caricature portraits courtesy Peter Mengert and more...
The furry star of the show was rescue dog 'Arbor' who has appeared on tv and has her own Facebook Page. She happily created a canine masterpiece in front of a very appreciative audience.

Build A Greener Block - this weekend

The block of S. Main St just north of Charleston Blvd in Downtown Las Vegas, has been transformed this weekend. The hard-working crew at Greener Blocks have created a sense of community in an area which usually sees few pedestrians. Continuing until 10pm this evening, there is entertainment, a community classroom, organic produce, dogs up for adoption, yoga, yarn bombs and more.
I enjoyed the 'ArtisTea Garden Party' hosted by Jenny Valdez gallery in the Arts Factory with a tea demonstration by Ashanti McGee from Iron Kettle Teas.
Greener Blocks are leading the way in creating lively, eco-friendly pop-up communities which they hope will lead to more long-term improvements. They describe their motivation:

"We want to show that when all of us come together as a community we can change our neighborhoods. We can change our towns. We can change our cities. We want to show that when we join our skills, talents, experiences and resources together we can create the kind of Las Vegas we all want to live in."

Easter Weekend in Boulder City...

On an Easter day trip to Boulder City, Nevada, we came across the Easter Bunny and lots of people enjoying the perfect spring weather and a VW car show at Bicentennial Park.

Stan and Ted

the welcome party...

the amazing tree-climbing Arty...

bus tour to the Grand Canyon

It was a very long day of traveling from Las Vegas to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and back again, but so worth it! We passed through Seligman on the old Route 66 and arrived at the Canyon early afternoon. The vastness and beauty of it really is breath-taking. The lookout points have a small fence between you and the drop, but on the Rim Walk there is nothing between you and the bottom of the Canyon.
There are lots of samples of the different rock types spaced along the walk. The stone building is Hopi House, built in 1905 to house Hopi Native American artisans and display their crafts for sale. We saw an elk in the park, and lots of little squirrels, both live ones and a lost toy one.

some Tucson cacti...

Cacti are an integral part of the physical and cultural landscape of Tucson - and provide meals for the little prairie dogs.

Mission St Xavier del Bac

The Mission St Xavier del Bac (White Dove of the Desert) is just a few miles south of Tucson. It has featured in an iconic image by Ansel Adams - we visited the spot where he created the photograph in 1968 (bottom right). Center left and bottom left images courtesy of Matt.