Homebodies explores the personal spaces of community members, the artworks and interesting objects they’ve collected through the years, and how those pieces live with them every day. For this edition, and in preparation for Holland’s longstanding collaborative event (Tri-Lab on June 12, 2025), we’re taking a closer look at Craft Wine + Beer, owned and curated (in every sense of the word) by Ty Martin. It’s our first business to be featured on Homebodies, but you’ll see why we’re excited to dive in. Craft is a treasure trove of local art, mementos, community, history, and lore – and that’s just on the walls. There’s also a story on every bottle and can or package – the typography, design, illustration – and you can get lost looking through the boxes or shelves, and it’s truly a kind of gallery experience of its own. Craft Wine + Beer is located at 22 Martin Street (formerly Black & White Costume Shop for the OG’s) – and unlike the other collections, you’re welcome to check this one out in person anytime.
This wall is a smorgasbord of commissioned and gifted art, postcards, and basically anything temporary yet too sentimental to discard. Most of the anniversary artwork we commission every year is in this area, but the only one in this frame is the sixth anniversary pink elephant by Nick Blades. It’s oil and the finer strokes were made with, I shit you not, a brush with one hair. A memorial painting of Ben Rice by Jaxon Northon hangs out with Vin Diesel. That little photo just showed up one day, and my best guess is that it was won at the rodeo by someone throwing darts at balloons. Below is an old Cantillon advert given to me when we opened, and the walls were straight bare and below that is my prized glossy of Elvira signed by the Mistress of the Dark herself to my grandpa. The ceramic pig is from Richard Jackson, and the top is open so a little plant can live there, but we killed it almost immediately.
LEFT: A triptych of Richard Jackson, Nevada skulls I collected over the years. The one that says Craft he made for us, and the other two I bought because the colors are ridiculous. To the left is the eleven-year anniversary painting made for us by Jen Charbonea,u which perfectly represents our love of wine and the Truckee Meadows. More postcards, a gifted coyote skull clenching a sabered cork, and an AM radio on top that actually works.
RIGHT: One cardboard guitar left over from a Halloween costume and one bit of truth.
L: Gift cards, holiday cards, and that little disc on a string is a decoration Brooke made when she was a kid. She wishes we would throw it away. I like to save the cork and cage from good bottles of Champagne and they tend to end up jammed into the nearest run of conduit.
R: An OG Richard Jackson Valentine skull with a bunch of mostly worthless monies. The 100 trillion Zimbabwe note is actually real.
L: A few beer labels from the master at Italy’s Montegioco (every bottle was tissue wrapped) and the invitation from our one-time Bad Luck Supper Club with Chapel Tavern and Butter + Salt (before they were Perenn). We actually tried to keep the air plant in the pottery head alive but it looks just as cool dead as it ever did alive if you ask Alex (who brought it back from Colombia).
CENTER: Here we have some news clippings from the earliest days. Crazy how paper can hold up in our dry climate when you just leave it alone. Also, a customer doodle and it appears good Champagne was consumed in this area. The postcard with the iceberg was sent to us by Ricky when he was in Antarctica.
R: Here at the entry, we have nigh obligatory wine-related posters that were gifted to us over the years next to an event poster from when Michelle Lassaline popped up here during her tenth anniversary “You as an Animal” tour.” There is a politely worded hand-painted sign from Scott La Rock who also did the big CRAFT lettering in the front windows in our second month of business. The snake plant is the first plant to survive longer than two weeks here and now it’s at least three years old (thanks, Micayla!).
The mess! At the top of the pillar there is a beautiful woodblock print made by Summer Orr for anniversary the ocho and a banger made by Ron Rash for year four is right below that. This was the one that cemented the tradition of commissioning new anniversary artwork each year. Brody made one of my favorites ever for our second anniversary which hangs under the elephant and Erik Burke made one for the three-year but 2014 was when it clicked as our thing. Ron turned me down at first and said he didn’t really do illustration work so I thought I was sunk. A little while later we ran into each other and he had decided it would be fun. I was stoked. Richard Jackson basically told me the same thing the next year but I convinced him that if he made a ceramic piece he felt good about I would figure out how to get it on an anniversary shirt. It was the first time people came down to buy a shirt who didn’t know about Craft already – they just wanted something with Richard’s art on it! That felt like we were actually collaborating on something instead of just slapping our business logo on some merch. It’s the black skull with the inverted purple Nevada and my handprint. Literally the one and only time I had a hand in the artwork (dad joke). We got even more out there with the neon bee by Yale Wolf for year nine. It was his take on the hive nature of our little shop. Mackenzie Swecker made us a beloved Bacchus for the seventh anniversary but like Erik’s three year it was digital so we don’t have anything hanging to commemorate it. I’ve always wanted to get it onto some black velvet for some reason but that has yet to happen. My son Hollis made us an out-there Craft-bird mashup that I still need to get framed as well.
Here we go breaking the fourth wall. In the center we have a big ole Amazing Jerry by Jaxon Northon that my lowbrow self always loved (thanks, Justin!) and just to the left of that is an invitation made for the ten-year anniversary of being married to my amazing wife Beth, also by Jaxon. Most everything shows up again below but the photograph on the far right is by Cesar Lopez taken on a snowy day. The mural looks amazing and the tire tracks are magical but I also like the dumpster in the shot which keeps it real. I have spent incredibly more money in fifteen years getting that dumpster emptied than on art and that’s real, if not so cool.
L: Anyone who grew up in the eighties will tell you skulls are cool as shit. This pilgrim is from English artist Matthew Glover and I love everything about it. The two prints to the right are by Alex Arciniega who makes a new one every year for the holidays and the hangers are by Ron Rash collected over the years.
Center: My one shelf holds a ceramic cup by Dany Prignon of Brasserie Fantome (thank you, Art!), an empty jar by Casey Clark that I got because I love touching the glaze, a candle by Jaxon Northon featuring Wovoka, and the sponsored Mother Mary is by Cesar Piedra (purchased at the most recent All In). I also have the original felt piece Cesar made for Tri Lab VI but I haven’t figured out how to mount it yet.
R: I won an award once and it holds a mezcal cup made by our own Noel Judal.
L: Ha! There is quite a lot of stuff in this tiny office. The little devil I love is from Metal Jeff, probably because he has a little penis and pubes but is otherwise right out of Betty Boop. Gina Peraldo made the blue heart box to his right and she probably wouldn’t approve. The incredible Aztec skull is by Ricardo Estrada from LA and I’m pretty sure Erik Burke has a different but similar piece. The skull is a print of Ricardo’s but he did a series of thirteen where he painted over the print to represent different myths. This is one. I should note here that almost everything in the shop was framed by Ned Peterson (ESP Art). He’s incredible.
Center: Cesar Lopez captured a particularly wild Txakolina Fest with me pouring from a porron while on the bar for Duncan Mitchell. It doesn’t happen every day. The birdnose skull is surprise! Richard Jackson.
R: Close up of Alex Arciniega’s prints and a Ron Rash goober. That one is probably from La Bussola days across from the Jungle downtown on First Street. Is there a store like that in Reno right now?
L: The heart is by my own Wit Martin and the cupid cowboy by Ron Rash was a Valentine’s from my lady. We probably weren’t even married yet.
R: You can’t have too much skull art, especially where anarchy is involved. By…Richard Jackson. The baubles are variously a cute bottle of tequila, a Tour de Nez cowbell (RIP!), and a little sumo from Japan (Thanks, Danny!). The watercolor craft bottle was gifted in the very early days by a customer who’s name I’m sorry to say I can’t recall but I would know her if I saw her.
L: This piano was a gift from Robin Greco in the very early days (somehow I remember that name) and it sounds pretty ok if you play the right kind of music on it. Very rarely someone talented would jam on it and it would make all the times kids banged on it worthwhile. It’s in semi-retirement in the back but it’s still here. We’re going to smash a bunch of candy out of that piñata at Tri Lab VII!
R: These coasters were collected by a legendary swashbuckler decades ago and more recently assembled by his descendant Brooke Walshaw. I think she did a great job and it always surprises me that many of these breweries are still in business.
L: Our most free form mural by Erik Burke – he did the other side twice but those executions were more planned on his end. This was spring of 2020 and he had mentioned most of his travel work was on hold due to Covid. We were lucky enough to be doing enough business at the shop to work out a little something and he had free reign to paint whatever he wanted. It came out great and I am particularly fond of the garage door though we did have to come back with razor blades and cut the paint between the door seams so it would open again.
R: Giant Barfly by Killbuck is the very first piece of artwork I collected specifically for the shop. I still love it and I’m glad it’s not lonely.
Leave a Reply