Intro To Street Art: March 2010

March 2010: My "Intro To Street Art" student needed very little introduction to using wheat paste collage, markers, and spray paint to create her own 2-foot by 4-foot masterpiece. Savant a.k.a "Sam" (16 yrs) not only had an opportunity to use new tools and media to express herself, she also got some tips on practicing her lettering, cutting stencil patterns and using spray paint. Check the images below to track her creative process:

After covering her board with collage materials found in comic books and magazines, Savant drew and cut a 4-foot long pattern to be used for the first layer of spray paint.

Once she sprayed her background and "Sam" Stencil, she returned to the painting with a thick marker to highlight elements in the collage.

Her stencil "signature" turned out quite well considering we had to spray it in 35 degree weather...Good Job!

Gabriel Pons holds art workshops for children and adults monthly. For a current listing of PONSHOP classes, Click Here.

Mixed Media Class: Winter 2010

February 2010: Even the countless inches of snow didn't stop some dedicated students from taking a group lesson with PONSHOP last month. I met with students for an hour every week for a Mixed Media Workshop that included collage, painting, stencils, and drawing with markers. Below are some snapshots throughout our sessions.
Nice work kids!

Barrett (8yrs) laid down a thick background of acrylic paint before adding a U.F.O stencil and some collage.

Corbin (8 yrs) drew some fantastic creatures over her painting and collage.

Harrison (8yrs) explored writing his name a variety of ways before adding magazine cut outs and drawings.

There's nothing more satisfying than to see my students hard at work. Well Done!

Scarlett and I are excited to take on new students for this Spring at our new location. For a current listing of PONSHOP classes, Click Here.

End of an Era / New Beginnings

Diego stands in the studio formerly known as PONSHOP at LibertyTown Arts Workshop.

March 15, 2010. We've officially moved from our space at LibertyTown Arts Workshop and will be opening the doors to our new storefront on Thursday, April 15. Scarlett and I would like to thank all our colleagues at LibertyTown for their support and friendship over the past five years. I couldn't help but get a bit nostalgic as I was taking work off the walls. When we set up shop in 2005, we were new to town and full of aspirations to make a difference as artists in the community and today I realized that we've surpassed our expectations by taking our studio to this next step.

Will we still be teaching classes? Yes. Will we continue to pursue our respective crafts? Yes. Now we're going to have a retail dimension to our space which hopefully will engage a whole new audience in Fredericksburg.

PONSHOP is now at 712 Caroline Street, Fredericksburg, Virginia

Special Shout out to those that have helped us over the past two weeks of our renovation/move/installation: Andy P., Chris A., Jeff G., Jessica G., James H., Joshua J., and the many more students/fans of PONSHOP that I'll wrangle in before all is said and done. Muchas Gracias to the Pons and Suhy Families - my brother(s) Chris and Didier, Scarlett's sister Grissell (whose visage graces the left storefront window in the pic above), and our parents who continue to encourage and help us achieve this dream.

Scarlett shot a photo of her sister in 1994(?) which became the inspiration behind the "Baila Baila" painting and this paper post up.

"Soul Providers" Exhibit: March 2010

Fellow co-op artist Ana Rendich and I are the featured artists for the month of March at Art First Gallery. "Soul Providers" offers up a collection of work inspired by our personal experiences and insights. Click Here to preview some of the pieces from the exhibition.

This show has significant importance since it will be my last exhibit with Art First Gallery before I depart the co-op to focus on the new PONSHOP location. Please come out to the opening reception this Friday, March 5 from 6-9pm. The show runs through March 28.

Art First Gallery, 824 Caroline Sreet, Fredericksburg, VA.

PONSHOP is on the Move

Scarlett and I are excited to announce that we’ve acquired a storefront in Downtown Fredericksburg (712 Caroline Street), and will be moving from our studio at LibertyTown this month to have our doors open in our new space in April. The PONSHOP mission remains the same – creating and educating through our respective arts, however we’re expanding to accommodate a retail dimension which will offer up artisan made and eco-friendly items for all. This has been an aspiration of ours since living in New York and we’re happy to be taking such a big step. On behalf of Scarlett and I, we’d like to thank all of the people that we’ve worked with and supported us over the past five years and look forward to strengthening the arts community in Fredericksburg. The new PONSHOP location opens April 2010.