DOVER HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF '69

THEN & NOW
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ANNA LUSK
Contact info (and down below as well):
Phone - (415) 661-7026
E-mail - anna@bigcrow.com

1969	2009 (now Anna Lusk Conti)

I was born on the Chesapeake Bay, left as an infant, but came back to the area to live two more times before leaving for good.  By the time we moved to Delaware, I had already lived in seven states and the territory of Hawaii, so it seemed miraculous to attend the same school for four straight years.  Delaware was the first place I lived where I can remember much about the larger community, rather than just my own house and yard. Thanks Dave & Ken, for setting this up - I love being able to check up on everybody and see how my little thread fits into the big blanket.

Starting at age fifteen, I worked weekends as a waitress at Center City Delicatessen on Governor's Ave. Debbie Delaney, Oleta Brown and Jacque Bedwell worked there too - I think it was Jacque who got me my job. Later my mom worked there for a while. We had some great times back in the kitchen, dishing about the boys we were dating and trying to keep my mom from hearing too much. As soon as I turned 16 I started working after school at Dover Graphics as a darkroom tech, later advancing to artist/illustrator. I kept both of those jobs until graduation, then started full time at Dover Graphics and just did occasional catering jobs for Center City. My marriage to Rodney Hill only lasted three years and I left Delaware shortly after that.  I traveled around Pennsylvania and New England for a few months, looking for work as a graphic artist, finally landing in Amsterdam, New York, working for Amsterdam Printing. It seemed like a a great job, with my own office and a secretary.  but the relentless focus on making money started to wear me down. It didn't help that my mother was dying of cancer during that period and I'd spend all day listening to copywriters have meltdowns over punctuation or ink color, then I'd spend all evening in a hospital fifty miles away, listening to discussions of chemo side effects and end-of-life issues.

I started to feel like being an artist was a worthless use of my time and I had an intense appreciation for how short that time was. After my mother died, I quit the art job, moved to Albany and entered Nursing School, graduating in '78.  I married Tom Conti and this being the '70s, we bought part of an old farm near Oneonta N.Y. and moved there to "live off the land." Easier said than done, but it was a grand adventure. I worked at a local hospital eventually becoming supervisor.  We grew most of our own organic food, built an energy efficient house and were pretty happy. I stayed in touch with Oleta Brown and Shiela Pardee and they both visited me up in the country.  It was Oleta who convinced me to come back to Delaware for one of those early reunions.

I assumed Oneonta was the last place I was going to live, but life has a way of surprising you, doesn't it? Oleta moved to Oregon, then my brother Vern moved to California, so I took a trip out west to visit them. I'd been in San Francisco as a six-year-old, but didn't remember much more than the hills, the the wharf, and Chinatown. This time it hit me on my first day there: I belong here. We went home, sold the farm and moved to SF in '87.

After 20 years here (in the same rent-controlled rowhouse, a few blocks from the ocean) I still feel like San Francisco is heaven on earth (great weather, great views, great cafes, art, live music every day of the week, no snow to shovel, no hay bales to stack . . .)

Our lives changed in a big way, once we settled into SF and Tom & I went our separate ways. I kept working as a nurse, only long enough to finance my return to art.  Fine Art, this time. I met photographer David W. Sumner at a gallery opening and he encouraged me to paint full time. We married in '91 and I left Nursing for good in '94. I started showing my work in cafes and groups shows and had my first solo gallery show in 2001. 

I'm part of  a strong, supportive network of artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers and other creative folks. You don't get rich doing this, and you don't usually get famous until after you die. But it's a rewarding life.
It took me long enough to find it - I still appreciate it.

home page (paintings):
www.bigcrow.com

blogs (writings):
www.workingartistsjournal.blogspot.com
www.howsdave.blogspot.com
www.baartquake.blogspot.com

follow me on Twitter:
twitter.com/annaconti

flickr (photos):
www.flickr.com/photos/bigcrow

also - meet me on:
Facebook (Anna L. Conti)
www.facebook.com
or
Second Life (Annalee Contepomi)
http://secondlife.com/

Skype: annabigcrow