2016 Holiday Hangover Party

Opening Reception:  Friday, January 8, 6-10pm

Exhibition Dates: January 8–31, 2015

PONSHOP Studio and Gallery is excited to announce that our January “First Friday” Event is actually on the second Friday of the month. Why stop the festivities just because the New Year has arrived?  We invite our fans and friends to visit us and enjoy all of our creative offerings.  The gallery will be featuring fine art by Gabriel Pons, Maddie Huddle, and Sarah Lapp with ceramics by co-owner Scarlett Pons.

PONSHOP features over thirty artists locally and nationally creating fine art and ceramics to jewelry, clothing, and accessories. Join us on Friday, January 8 from 6-10pm for a special evening celebrating the creativity of our community.

PONSHOP will be launching three Art Workshops in the New Year with Kid’s Drawing (January 7), PONSHOP Academy (January 12) and Leslie Brier’s Steampunk Jewelry Workshop (January 16.)  View our entire winter class listing online.

Mask and Mirror Workshop Announced

Gabriel Pons will be the guest instructor for a mask-making workshop called, "Mask and Mirror" at the Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center in November.  Online Registration is now open!

The "Mask and Mirror"  workshop explores the theme of adornment and how different cultures modify the surface of the body for decorative, aesthetic, and cultural purposes.  This fascination with marking and altering our appearance is evident in contemporary culture exemplified in the cosmetic industry and the mainstream proliferation of the tattoo industry.  Students will create their own mask using a prefabricated blank form and customize it using paper collage techniques, acrylic paint, and colored pencils.  The effort of the exercise will be to encourage students to "look within" themselves and project their passions, interests, and voice on a three dimensional canvas.  Whereas a conventional mask is meant to conceal one's identity, the intent of these masks is to reveal the student's personality and hopefully discover something new along the way.

When: Saturday, November 23, 2013 10am-noon.

Where: Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center (1001 Princess Anne Street, Fredericksburg, Virginia)

Ages: 13+

Cost:  $45 per student

Register Here

Student Work: Intro to Street Art, July 2012

"Intro to Street Art" has been one of the most popular workshops this summer.  In three 1.5-hour sessions, students were given instruction on how to design and cut their own paper stencils which were then sprayed onto a 24"x24" masonite board.  Congratulations on a job well done!

Student Work: Recycled Robot Workshop, July 2012

Step aside R2D2, there is a new robot in town... or shall we say robots! Instructed by Leslie Brier, students went out of this world when they came up with these awesome designs creating unique robots using a variety of recycled materials. Check out these mechanically inspired works of art in the gallery below. Want to make your own? Click here to view our class schedule.

Student Work: Children's Drawing, June 2012

Starting with simple drawing techniques, these students created works to visually express themselves using pencils, markers and other media.  Instructor Gabriel Pons gave the students exercises in Map-making, Gesture Sketching, and light and shadow study.  In their last session,  students drew complete life sized self-portraits! These children showed incredible patience and ability throughout the workshop.  Congratulations!

For a current PONSHOP Class Schedule, Click Here.

Student Work: Adult Stencil & Mixed Media, June 2012

Our students from June's Adult Stencil & Mixed Media have completed their masterpieces. Check out what can be done by creatively combining original stencils, spray paint and the art of collage. Feeling inspired? View our class schedule to find out more.

Mixing the Media Class February 2012

February 2012 kicked off another fun session of Mixing the Media. In three 1.5 hour sessions students explored collage and acrylic painting to create their own mixed media scenes on canvas. Below are some pics of the student work. Congrats guys!

For more information about PONSHOP classes click here.

PONSHOP Tutorials: Working With Wheat Paste

As response to the questions brought up in our "Intro to Street Art", "Mixing the Media" and "Adult Mixed Media" classes - we've put together this two-part tutorial on how to make and apply wheat paste when doing paper posters and collage:

httpv://youtu.be/lAJGeai0Z-g

Part 1:  Wheat Paste recipe and cooking

1 part flour to 4 parts water (This demonstration uses 1cup of white flour with 4 cups of water)

In a small pot, whisk together flour and water with wire wisk.

Bring mixture to a slow boil (med-high heat for 5-8 minutes) until mixture has a gluey gravy-like consistency.

Remove from heat - you can add 1/4 cup of sugar or white glue to make the mixture even more tenacious (sticky)

Wheat Paste can be refrigerated to stay "fresh" longer.  Consistency may change (it will get thinner), however, the paste still works.  Be mindful that wheat paste will spoil in time especially if kept at or above room temperature.

httpv://youtu.be/CYBpB0iMbLU

Part 2: Applying Wheat Paste with paper posters

Use a wide brush to apply the paste to the intended surface or substrate.  Apply a thin layer the approximate area of the poster.

Apply a thin layer of wheat paste to the back of the paper poster.

Press center of the poster against the wall and begin brushing the poster from the center out to the edges with your brush.

When the paste is still wet (and the paper is still malleable) you can peel and reposition if  the paper has trapped too much air)

Finally brush a thin layer over the entire poster and especially the edges.

2011: Year in Photos

August 2011: PONSHOP Shareholders relax aboard their 500-foot yacht...

2011 marked the first full (12-month) year for PONSHOP.  On behalf of Scarlett and I, thank you to all of our artists, clients, family, friends and fans.  It's been a fulfilling experience owning a gallery in downtown Fredericksburg and we look forward to making the arts community stronger in 2012.  Here's a cross section of last year's notable events:

February 2011: First Annual PONSHOP Student Show

April 2011: "Public/Private" Juried Exhibit Opening Night with The Undeniably Adjacent improv group

May 2011: Scarlett and Diego at G40 Uncapped Live Show in Washington DC

May 2011: Gabe and Scarlett collaborate on "Ai Wei Wei: 21st Century Revolutionary" installation at G40

May 2011: PONSHOP hosts "The Art of Recovery" exhibit featuring RACSB artists.

June 2011: Intern Katy Wiedemann  joins PONSHOP for the summer.

June 2011: Gabe participates in the Urban Decay II Show at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, VA

August 2011: "Tailor Made" T-Shirt Exhibition

August 2011: Storefront Display for Rappahannock Independent Film Festival contest

September 2011: Scarlett and Gabe collaborate on "Miss You, Love You NYC" installation at Fredericksburg Area Museum.

September 2011: "Miss You, Love NYC" installation commemorates 10-year anniversary of 9-11

September 2011: PONSHOP hosts "City Colors" Juried Exhibit

November 2011: PONSHOP Artist Jasmine Lee demonstrates during the Jewelry Show opening reception

December 2011: gallery intern Adriana Christesen joins us for the fall/spring semester.

Street Art Workshop: July 2010

July, 2010. My student, Marielle, took a 3-session workshop with me and we worked on taking her drawings (above) to the next level. Below is a sequence of those classes. Good Work!

We enlarged her drawing by 400% and she worked with the print, cutting out and painting it.

She collaged on a 2-foot by 4-foot panel and then used wheatpaste to glue her paper print on. After hitting it with some spray paint and acrylic paint (below), she was done.

Detail

PONSHOP offers classes in Ceramics, Mixed Media, Street Art, Architecture, and Skateboard Design for children as well as Ceramics and Drawing for adults. Our classes run throughout the summer and through the fall. For a current class schedule, Click Here.

August Street Art Workshop

It has been a long and hot summer. While some kids sought refuge in their air-conditioned living rooms playing the latest X-Box games, these guys battled the 90+ heat and got creative with spray paint. August's Street Art Workshop was a series of three 2-hour sessions where students practiced the fundamentals of the spray can...
Tristan laid down a background pattern before carving out his graffiti lettering.

Robert had an idea to blow-up one of his anime-inspired drawings and apply it to his spray painted background.

Max took his first stab at using spray paint, practicing outlines and fills to create his own cartoon-like character.

Thanks to all the students and parents for a fun summer workshop. For more information about PONSHOP Art Classes and a current class schedule, click here.

PONSHOP Workshop: Skate To Create July 2007

The "Skate To Create" classes by far have been the most popular PONSHOP workshop over the past year. Kids just seem drawn to the idea of creating a skateboard graphic that is truly their own creation - and that's a great thing. Below are two of my most recent students. Both of them gave 110% for each class and we had a great time.
For the latest PONSHOP class schedule, click here.

Nick's "Music Man" graphic took a whopping 5 stencil layers to create including the background. That's a lot of drawing, cutting, and painting in a 3-session period. He pulled it off though, congrats Nick.

Christian's first sketch was 1/4 the size of his finished piece. After a brief desk critique, he decided to make his "crime boss" bigger, badder, and more monumental on the deck.

For more pics of PONSHOP's "Skate to Create" classes, click the links below:
May 2007
November 2006
October 2006
August 2006
July 2006

Fredericksburg Summer Fun: Building Guru Class

Gabriel Pons spent two weeks in July participating in the Summer Fun Festival organized by Fredericksburg Parks and Recreation. "Summer Fun" is a ten-day camp for children ages pre-school through 6th grade and allows kids to explore creative activities such as painting, kite-making, model making, cooking, and more. He taught a class called "Building Guru" which introduced students to the fundamentals of architecture and design. Throughout the week, children drew maps, made cardboard houses, constructed wooden bridges, and developed neighborhood streets. Below are some photos from the last day of classes, check it out:

Students in grades K-3 not only created a home from cardboard and paper, but created a neighborhood street too.

Students in grades 4-6 learned what makes a successful bridge stand up to heavy loads.

Thanks to all the kids and their parents for such a memorable summer camp experience. Special thanks to all staff and teacher aides for their organization and hard work.

For more information on this Fredericksburg Summer Fun Festival 200, click here.
To visit the Fredericksburg Parks and Recreation site, click here.

Children's Art Expo: Architexture

On Saturday, July 21st, PONSHOP participated in the Children's Art Expo held by Fredericksburg Parks and Recreation. This annual event takes place at Hurkamp Park in downtown Fredericksburg. Kid's Art Expo is a celebration of art and creativity where children can participate in various stations set up around the park. Our station, "Architexture" allowed children of all ages to interact and decorate a temporary cardboard "city".

Below is a chronology of photos from that day, for more information about Children's Activities in Fredericksburg, click here.

10:00 am - construction of the cardboard maze is complete and ready for painting.10:30am -our first visitors. Diego getting in on the action with Grandpa Suhy

1:00 pm - The city is painted inside and out.2:00pm - more kids come for some finishing touches.

Even the paper mache pig got covered with paint...

Scarlettwares Website Updates

We are pleased to announce that as Scarlett's Website reaches into its third year, it has been updated and re-designed to keep up with her progressive ceramic work. New pieces at scarlettwares.com include the Wind Bowl Series, Igloo Bud Vases, and her latest achievement-Ceramic Hanging Birdhouses.
Scarlett also modified her site to include more information about the ceramic classes that she offers as well as birthday parties that she's been throwing at LibertyTown Arts Workshop. In the past months, Scarlett has been offering clay workshops for children who want to have a creative and fun way to celebrate their birthday with friends.

"Wind Bowls" by Scarlett Suhy-Pons come in three different sizes and can be viewed here.

The Lamp Tower Series combines Scarlett's study in light, clay, and architectural form.

To learn more about Scarlett and her ceramics, Click Here. For more information about scarlettwares and the PONSHOP, Click Here. For those in the Fredericksburg, Virginia area (or passing through) be sure to pay us a visit at our studio in LibertyTown Arts Workshop.

Autumn: Skate To Create/Street Art Workshops

"Stencil" is derived from the French word estencler which means to decorate or adorn with bright colors. It is very much apparent when looking at today's pop media and trends that the stencil has reached its critical mass in terms of popularity and accessibility. For instance, Comedy Central's graphics and logos emulate the street-born and hastily sprayed text that one would find on any lamp post, mailbox, or bare wall on the Bowery or Mott Street. T-shirt and skateboard graphics also include the classic "drips" and "spots" that are found in graffiti tags and murals.
The fact that stencil art and graffiti has attained mainstream appeal doesn't really shake my stance on the craft. In fact, just like any other medium, I'll keep on pushing it until the work becomes something other than just a stencil. And for those of you who think it's as easy as cutting and spraying - give it a shot and you'll find that there are many variables when it comes to creating a great graphic.
Having said all that, below are some pics of student work from our Autumn Workshops. Once again, I was really impressed with how much these kids applied themselves to their projects as well as the collective support and constructive encouragement they gave to one another.

Allison put together a 3-stencil graphic from her freehand drawing of the Beatles "Yellow Submarine"CJ took his Calvin and Hobbes sketch and transposed it into a 2-layer stencil graphic.Bryce enlarged his "robo-bunny" face and applied pattern and background colors.

Street Art Workshop (October 2006)

I worked with Robert previously in a "Skate to Create" class this past summer. Once he saw the challenge that comes with creating a "freehand" spray paint mural - he was ready to take it on. I showed him my library of graffiti literature, including "The Art Of Getting Over" by Stephen Powers as well as "Style:Writing From the Underground" (Stampa Alternative in association with IGTimes).
Rob's drawing skills are well-grounded, but he wanted to emulate the "Wild Style" Graff designs of the late seventies. We worked on his lettering and composition in the sketches all the while knowing that he'll have to pull this off on a 24"x48" piece of masonite.
I commend Rob on his ability to improvise as well as pay close attention to detail when it came to spray painting. I walked Rob through the process of outlines and fills, and let him go to work:

"COD" sketch on paper (week one)The finished piece - It poured down rain while Rob attacked his board with spray paint...Detail