PONSHOP at Fredericksburg Academy

September 26, 2008: Gabriel Pons gave a guest workshop to the 4th and 5th grade students at Fredericksburg Academy about Map-Making. Pons gave a brief slide presentation to students which showed his collection of maps from around the world and how his architectural studies led to his endeavors in painting and collage.

Map of Easter Island (above). Stone Moai (below).Detail of Florence, Italy (above). Ponte Vecchio (below).A composite projection of downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia.

...turned into a mixed media painting on canvas. "The River is the Portal" by Gabriel Pons, 30"x30"

Students were then given a drawing exercise to map several items that hold importance to them in their lives: their home, school, the downtown, the river, and other landmarks. Line, shape, and symbol become the coded language for their drawings.

Student drawing (detail)

At the end of the session, students had a chance to share their maps with one another - "how are they different, how are they similar?"

Thanks to Art Instructor Mirinda Reynolds and the faculty of Fredericksburg Academy. This "Visiting Artists" program is now in its second year and, from the students' response, an event to look forward to.

"Point of Connection" Exhibit: October 2008

Scarlett will be participating in the "Point of Connection" exhibit at LibertyTown Arts Workshop in October. This exhibition is an exclusive collaboration of painters, fiber artists, and ceramic artists at LibertyTown.

This exhibition runs from October 1-30, 2008
Opening Reception is part of Fredericksburg's First Friday Art Walk: October 3, 5-9pm
LibertyTown Arts Workshop, 916 Liberty Street, Fredericksburg, Virginia

Visit This Link on Fredericksburg.com for an overiew and video of a selection of the artists.

I'll be posting some select photos of the work soon. For more information, visit the LibertyTown Website.

"Art at the Mill" Exhibition: Millwood, VA

Scarlett and I will be participating in this year's "Art at the Mill" event at the historic Burwell-Morgan Mill in Millwood, Virginia. Sponsored by the Clarke County Historical Association, this juried art exhibit will feature paintings and ceramics from numerous artists in the region. For more information about this event, Click Here.

The show runs daily, from October 4-19, 2008
Sunday through Friday 12-5pm, Saturdays 10-6pm

I will be doing an artist demonstration on Sunday, October 12 at 1pm (prior to the Artist's Reception).

Scarlett and Diego (and baby) posing in front of the restored wood mill...

MONO Octo Decks in Effect...

I'm busy kicking out the latest deck series for this fall. The MONO "Octo" decks come in 7.5", 7.75" and 8.0" widths. Each deck is individually sprayed, signed and numbered and comes with griptape. Want one? hit me back with an email and $50 plus shipping or get on down to Fred Skates (604 Caroline Street, Fredericksburg, Virginia). Of course, decks will be at the PONSHOP (916 LibertyStreet, Fredericksburg,Virginia) too...

(Click the image below to enlarge)

Whispering Weekend....August 2008

I had the pleasure of taking a quick trip down to Norfolk, VA to check out Whispering Winds:

Thom White-vocals, Mike-guitar, Nic-drums, Dan-bass.
Check the clip below - "Rearrange" performed live at The Boot...

Thom gave me some original lyric sheets - I'll make a mint on E-bay in 2020Pinot the cat laying on thousands of dollars of artwork...I had some duties too: photographer, roadie, agent, number one fan...
Thom White is an architect/artist/musician/eccentric/creative fun guy...known him since 1992Thom collects neat stuff: This toy is the the most interesting piece of Pop Culture novelty that I've seen in a while...(check the video below and rock it like a Beverly Hills Cop)

Mixing The Media: August 2008

In the "Mixing The Media" workshop, students combined scraps of paper, acrylic paint, spray paint and stencils to create their compositions. Grace and Jeff were excellent students and methodically layered their boards with images,color, and form until complete.

Grace used xerox copies of earlier sketches as well as magazine clippings and some stock stencils in her collage.

Jeff brought his own artillery of stencils to the class and used them to adorn the perimeter of his collage. We concentrated on creating a "space" for the figures in the foreground, using layers of gesso and spraypaint over the newsprint text.

As a quick painting exercise, Grace painted a 6"x6" wood block portrait of her dog Farrah.

Thanks to all students that participated in this summer's workshops.
For a current PONSHOP Class schedule, click here.

Intro to Street Art: August 2008

Below are some snapshots from the August "Intro to Street Art" workshop. Grace paid homage to her favorite pet by making a stencil and spray paint composition. Throughout the three-session workshop she drew, painted, and sprayed until the piece was complete. (Click Images to Enlarge)

For a current PONSHOP Class schedule, click here.

Skate To Create: August 2008

I had a fresh crop of students for the "Skate to Create" Workshop in August. Nick and Jason put in three sessions of hard work and the results were really great. Scroll down to see their process...(click pics to enlarge)

Drawing and cutting takes up about 3/4 of the class time - but it's where all the design happens.Jason (aka J-Dogg) does an "X-Ray self portrait" for his deck graphic.Nick took one of his sketches from home and transposed it into this camouflage-like design.
Congratulations guys on a job well done...
For a current PONSHOP Class schedule, click here.