August of this year ushered in the "Through an Architect's Eyes" workshop. In this series of three 1.5-hour sessions, PONSHOP owner Gabriel Pons takes the students on a walking tour of downtown Fredericksburg. Students learn about the fundamental "language" of architectural drawing including: maps, plans, building sections, and facade elevations. Below are some snapshots of the students' sketchbooks. Good Work!
Below are my "Intro to Street Art" student photos from January through October. In this series of three 1.5 hour classes, I give students a background in the history of graffiti writing and the current global trend of street art. Students are then charged to create their own section of a city wall using a variety of media including wheat paste collage, acrylic paint, spray paint, and stencils. Congratulations to all of our "Intro to Street Art" students. In fact, I've learned a lot working with all of you.
Below are pictures of my "Skate to Create" students over the past year (January-October 2011). The "Skate to Create" class has been really popular over the years. I mean, when do get a chance to paint a brand new skateboard deck and then ride it? In a series of three 1.5 hour classes, I take the students through a brief history of skateboarding and skateboard graphics and then help them develop designs that can then be achieved using spray paint and stencils.
Below are some pics of my students over the past year (January-October 2011). The Adult Mixed Media class consists of three 1.5-hour sessions where students learn the fundamentals of mixed media and collage. Wheat paste collage, acrylic painting, and stenciling are some of the media we work with. Thanks to all of my adult students this year - it's been pleasure.
"Well You say I'm [thirty] something and I shouldn't be slackin', but I'm workin' harder than ever and you can call it mackin'" -Beastie Boys Sure Shot. My studio desk is stacking up with commissioned paintings as well as new small works for the upcoming month.
November 2011. Attention all fans of PONSHOP: for those of you who are looking for the perfect gift for that friend or loved one, look no further. I'm taking on requests for painting commissions for the upcoming three weeks. If you've always enjoyed one of our designs or would like to provide me with material to collage into a personalized piece, then please contact us and we'll get the ball rolling.
Our First Friday opening reception for the Jewelry Show was held on November 4. The reception included a live demonstration by metalsmith jeweler, Jasmine Lee and a brief gallery talk by PONSHOP owner Scarlett Pons. Featured jewelry artists include: Leslie Brier, Terresa Buelow, Zakk Davis, Lisa Latendress, Jasmine Lee and Sylvia White. Below are more pics from the evening. Thank You to all the fans and enthusiasts that came out for the opening! The Jewelry Show runs through November 27.
The First Annual Fredericksburg Zombie Walk on Saturday November 5, 2011.
Unless you were in the graduating class of 1986, you wouldn't get the pop reference to the title on this blog post. What ever happened to "The Hooters"? Anyway, below are some pics from Saturday's Zombie Walk in Downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia. Participants gave canned food to benefit the Hope House and Fredericksburg Food Bank. In return, we got to lurch through the historic downtown and get our undead on. Good times were had by all, especially by my son, Diego, who likes nothing more than to dress up all gory and spook people - a fine overture to the Halloween weekend. Thanks to the Mean Mommy Club of Fredericksburg for organizing such a fun event.
Current snapshot of the studio desk. To wax nostalgic for a moment, the drafting board has been in action since 1993.
November ushers in another cycle of small works for the upcoming holiday season. I'm kicking out some classics before getting into some new designs. You can catch the latest at our upcoming First Friday opening on November 4, aka The awesome Jewelry Show.
PONSHOP Studio and Gallery are pleased to announce that they will be showcasing six local jewelry artists for the month of November. Please join us on Friday, November 4 from 6-10pm for the opening reception with the artists.
The jewelry show highlights the collections of jewelry artists who conceptualize and create their own unique work. Often described as wearable art, artisan made jewelry carries an intimate connection between the wearer and artist where the wearer becomes a moving canvas for the piece. Each artist is aware of this relationship, and they strive to create innovative designs to fashionably adorn the body.
In keeping with the gallery format, each piece is handmade, forming an elegant and tangible work of art. These tiny works are formed using a unique pallet of materials from upcycled items, beads, leather, sterling silver, or precious metal clay. The individual artist is able to achieve their own artistic vision through their medium of choice.
The jewelry exhibit features the works of Leslie Brier, Terresa Buelow, Zakk Davis, Lisa Latendress, Jasmine Lee, and Sylvia White. The exhibit features a wide price range of jewelry starting at twenty dollars.
The opening reception will include a brief gallery talk by owner Scarlett Pons where she will introduce the artists. The gallery will be giving away door prizes and gifts to guests throughout the evening courtesy of the participating artists. In addition, Metalsmith jeweler, Jasmine Lee, will be demonstrating her technique throughout the evening.
The gallery walls will include a group exhibition of featured PONSHOP artists including Joshua Barber, Nicholas Candela, Adam Desio, Jeremy Gann, Bill Harris, Ginger Huebner, Rob Landeck, Nathan Webster, Scarlett and Gabriel Pons.
Today marks the eight-year anniversary of our honeymoon trip to Chile. Even though Scarlett and I were married in June of 2003, we decided to take an extended trek four months later to visit her mother's family in Santiago and Valparaiso. Our true "honeymoon" included a week-long stay in Easter Island. For some reason around this time of year I get all nostalgic for our adventure, so this time I figure I'd share some pictures. Here's to eight years of adventure with you Scarlett, may we continue to have many more. - G
(Click images to advance slideshow)
[portfolio_slideshow]
Friday, October 7 2011 was the opening reception for the "Force of Habit" show at PONSHOP. "Force of Habit" features the work of J. Coleman, Rob Landeck, Scarlett and Gabriel Pons. Thanks to all that came out for an evening of art and music. Special thanks to DJ Skruff who took to the turntables for the opening. Below are more pics from the evening as well as some shots of the gallery before the party started. "Force of Habit" runs through October 30.
September 25, 2011 marked the close of the second annual Via Colori Street Painting Festival. This event included over 50 volunteer artists creating large scale chalk paintings on the streets of Downtown Fredericksburg. The Via Colori Festival showcased master street painter Melanie Stimmell and 2011 signature artist Mirinda Reynolds. With the support of local sponsors, volunteers painted 4'x4', 6'x6', or 10'x10' squares. Congratulations to all participating artists, sponsors, and organizers of the event. View some of the work from the final day below.
New at PONSHOP are t-shirts by Somaphony, featuring designs from Washington, D.C. based artist Nate Lewis. Inspired by the Greek words "Soma" and "Phony", meaning body and sound, Somaphony shirts fuse human anatomy and musical instruments as wearable art. These tees are available in men's and women's sizes and sold for $26 each.
Come check out the newest Somaphony tees, exclusively at PONSHOP.
PONSHOP Studio and Gallery will be hosting “Force of Habit” in October featuring new work from J.Coleman, Rob Landeck, and PONSHOP owners Scarlett and Gabriel Pons.
“Force of Habit” presents four artists whose camaraderie grew from the appreciation of each other’s work over the years. The exhibit highlights each individual artist’s style while recognizing that the creative act is a collective ritual that continues to bond them together as friends and colleagues.
J.Coleman is a Stafford-based painter whose work has been shown throughout the United States and Europe. Coleman’s work renders the human figure monumental on the canvas, painted with a rich color palette and deliberate formalism.
Rob Landeck pulls his inspiration from music and the natural environment. His mixed-media work portrays the inherent harmonies between musicians and their instruments.
Scarlett Pons’s new work explores clay stencils on slab forms. This process allows her to experiment with pattern and imagery influenced by her love of Moroccan architecture. She executes these designs on serving and dinner plates using bold and geometric forms. She has also created a series of ceramic slab bottles adorned with natural patterns and designs.
Gabriel Pons will be exhibiting his latest mixed media paintings, skateboards and custom-painted vinyl records which incorporate layering found text and imagery with hand cut stencil designs.
Please join us for the opening reception Friday, October 7, from 6-10pm. "Force of Habit" runs through October 30.
(parody) August 30, 2011 Stafford County, Virginia. A local skateboarding park was most affected by the recent 5.8 earthquake that occured this summer. Curtis Memorial Park's recently constructed 4-foot haf pipe was ravaged by the quake and the subsequent water damage caused by Hurricane Irene which blew through on August 28.
"I was going to do a switch kickflip on the pyramid and it sounded like a tractor trailor was coming through", recalls one local skater of the August earthquake. "The half pipe shook and buckled and cracks formed by the small quarter pipe - it was like that movie Armageddon"
According to local engineers the damage to the ramp was structural, causing the top layers of plywood to sheer from the wood frame. "Hopefully the parks and recreation department will hop on the repairs soon" remarked a skate park regular. "They're usually quick to respond when stuff in the park is busted."
Artist Statement:
This installation is a reflection on the events of September 11, 2001. At that time, Scarlett and I were living in Park Slope, Brooklyn and working in architectural firms in Manhattan. Early on the morning of September 11, while on our way to work, we experienced first hand the attack on the World Trade Center.
The panels flanking each side of the installation are a literal map of our trajectories that day: leaving for work on two separate trains and subsequently finding one another in the city. After the towers fell, we met at a friend’s apartment before walking back to Brooklyn. The diptych panels are an analogy for the spatial relationship between the island of Manhattan and the neighboring borough of Brooklyn. The vulnerability of the city and its residents became evident immediately when all mass transit shut down.
The composition resonates with the textures of the city walls layered with posters, graffiti, and other miscellaneous writings. Embedded in the map are names of friends that lived in the immediate vicinity of the five boroughs along with music lyrics from the album I was listening to as I stood in the subway car, stalled on the Manhattan Bridge, gazing at the smoke coming from the North Tower. I have embedded copies of emails sent from friends and handwritten notes that Scarlett kept with her during the weeks following the attack.
Scarlett’s ceramic plates are a response to the immediate way the landscape of the city changed in the days following September 11: the appearance of the makeshift poster walls that grew along the New York hospital facades. There, the names and the faces of those that were missing hung with a heavy presence. After several weeks, when the rescue efforts had transitioned into recovery, the posters remained, untouched, weathered and stained on the city’s walls. These were the first memorials to materialize after September 11.
The scope of the terrorist attacks is symbolized as three columns of ceramic tiles marking the three sites of incident: The World Trade Center in New York City, The Pentagon in Washington, DC, and Flight 93 which was downed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Scarlett and I feel an obligation to express our experiences that day. In the past ten years, we have not dedicated enough time for reflection and healing from that day’s events. Although we were unwilling bystanders to the events in New York City, we owe it to our community to share our story with the hopes that viewers can have a better understanding of how this tragedy has shaped our people, our nation, and our world since September 11, 2001.
Below are some progress pictures from the installation Scarlett and I collaborated on for the "Fredericksburg Remembers 9/11" Exhibit at the Fredericksburg Area Museum. Check more recent Blog Posts for the finished installation pics. [portfolio_slideshow]
PONSHOP Studio and Gallery is pleased to host “City Colors” an invitational art exhibition featuring artists participating in the 2011 Via Colori Fredericksburg Event in September of 2011. This exhibit is open to those who have registered as volunteer artists with the 2011 Via Colori Fredericksburg Organization.
This exhibit is open to all artists (professional and emerging) in the Virginia Region who have registered as volunteer artists with the 2011 Via Colori Fredericksburg by August 15, 2011. “Two dimensional” artwork is inclusive of mediums including but not limited to: painting, drawing, mixed media, photography, digital graphics, textiles, screen print and lithography. All artwork must be hand delivered to the gallery. Please note that due to the space restrictions in our gallery, we may edit work to accommodate, however, each participating artist in the exhibit is guaranteed at least one entry in the exhibition.
All submitted works are to correspond and conform to the following dimensional restrictions: Frame dimensions ranging in size no smaller than 8” and no larger than 24” in width, no smaller than 10” and no larger than 30” in length (intermediate dimensions are acceptable). All work must be for sale. All entries must be original creations of the artist – no reproductions of others artwork. Please review the City Colors 2011Prospectus and Submission Requirements
The theme of “City Colors” is to celebrate the diverse styles and talents of the region’s visual artists taking part in this year’s Via Colori event. There are no thematic requirements in terms of the content of the artwork, although we ask that you submit work that best represents your creative style and vision. Does the work have to correspond to what you’ll be achieving on the streets of the city during the Via Colori festival? Not necessarily. As long as you are proud of the work submitted and you’ve achieved it to the best of your abilities – we’ll be happy to exhibit it.
All pieces are to be framed appropriately for gallery display: no gallery clips or saw tooth hangers (see attachment). Canvas pieces, unless “gallery wrapped” must include a frame. All work must be equipped with hanging wire adequate to support the painting. Textiles intended for wall hanging must include hanging system. Wet or unprofessionally presented artwork will not be accepted.
PONSHOP retains 40% of all sales on works exhibited throughout the duration of the exhibit. Artists will be reimbursed within 30 days of the exhibition closing. Artists are responsible for acquiring insurance on their own artwork. Although PONSHOP will take great care in the hanging and display of artwork, the gallery will not be held responsible for items on exhibit.
Entry fee: $25 for up to two submissions. Please complete City Colors 2011Prospectus and Submission Requirements
Delivery: Artists are responsible for transporting their work to and from the gallery. Artwork not retrieved after show closing will incur a storage fee of $10 per day
Deadline for Registering as a volunteer artist with Via Colori® Fredericksburg for eligibility in “City Colors”: Monday, August 15
Deadline for Submissions: Saturday, August 27 (10-6pm) Sunday, August 28 (noon-5pm).
Pick Up of Unincluded Work: Tuesday, August 30 (10-6pm)
Opening Reception: Friday, September 2 (6-10pm) includes brief gallery talk at 7pm.
Exhibition Dates: September 2- October 2
Pick up of Work: Sunday, October 2 (noon-5pm)
People’s Choice Award – Best in Show (Cash Prize) awarded to one artist
People’s Choice Award – Honorable Mentions (PONSHOP Gifts) awarded to two artists
Voting for artwork will commence on the First Friday opening and will continue until the third week of September.
Awards will be announced during the weekend of the Via Colori Festival (September 24-25)
If you have any questions regarding this show or would like to be included on the mailing list for notice of future exhibition opportunities, please contact us at event@ponshopstudio.com.