The PONSHOP "Grasshopper" Onesie...

I'm excited to announce that the PONSHOP clothing line has expanded to include baby tees. With our son, Cairo, now at one year old we have no other choice really - he's demanded to wear cooler clothes...Check the photos below:

Cairo modeling the Fall 2009 "Grasshopper" onesie.

Cairo wears original art screen printed on American Apparel clothing:
Size: 12-18 Months Color: Black.

$20 at the PONSHOP (916 Liberty Street, Fredericksburg, VA) $25 to have it shipped to your door...(the tee shirt, not Cairo).

PONSHOP Pagoda Hoodies Have Dropped...

Finally! The First PONSHOP Hooded sweatshirt is on the racks now at our studio. $55 and you own an original piece of artwork and stay snuggly warm...The Hooded Fleece Zip-up is made by American Apparel and comes in unisex sizes: Small, Medium, Large, and X-Large.

Custom Munny Show: October 30, 2009

From the left: "Mini Munny Bear", "Lil Luchee" 4-inch, "Money Munny" 6-inch

I've finally posted some pics of the Munnys that I did up back in October. These we're all part of the "Custom Munny Show" hosted by the Spaghetti Project here in Fredericksburg. More Pics from the event soon...

"Reggiamo Munny" 6-inch"Money Munny" 6-inch

Latest Painting: "Hush"

"Hush", Collage, Acrylic, Spray Paint on Wood, 18"x24" $475.

"Hush" (detail)

I'm excited to announce that "Hush" will be part of a juried exhibition at LibertyTown Arts Workshop during the month of October. About Face: Portraits In All Media will feature works from artists in the region in a variety of media. Check it out:

About Face: Portraits In All Media October 2- November 1, 2009
LibertyTown Arts Workshop, 916 Liberty Street, Fredericksburg, VA
Opening Reception: Friday October 2, 6-9pm

Intro to Street Art: September 2009

I had the pleasure of working with Simon throughout the month - facilitating him in the art of spray paint and stencil-making. Originally, he was one of my "Adult Drawing" students, but on his own initiative - he came to me with some sketches and an idea, and we took it from there. Below is a detail of his Oarfish painting. Congratulations Simon!

For a current PONSHOP class schedule, click here. Classes in Street Art, Skateboard Design, and more are held every month.

Bells of Doom....

"Masked Villain", Collage, Acrylic, Spray Paint on Wood, 24"x24" $375.

September 2009: This is the latest piece up at Spaghetti Project (1025 Caroline Street, Fredericksburg,VA). For those that are fans of the Metal Face Doom - enjoy and "remember ALL CAPS when you spell my man's name..."

"Summer Kisses, Winter Tears..." - Part 2

Scarlettwares Ceramics: New Work

After a maternity leave of several months, Scarlett returns back to the studio with a whole new collection of ceramic work. In fact, this summer she's been working at home and the studio. Above is a snapshot of Scarlett and Diego's "artist loft" in good ol' Hartwood, VA. By any means necessary...

The Rocket Ship Cookie Jars have landed in the studio. Inspired by our son Diego's love of space and sweets, this is unique vessel is out of this world. approx. 12"x7" $80

The Wind Bowl is by far our most popular wedding gift this year. It can be glazed in a variety of colors.
approx. 14" diam.

Igloo Bud Vases and Votives - A local interior designer has recently commissioned Scarlett for several ceramic pieces to complete her latest project. Sixteen Igloo Bud Vases and Votives in four different sizes adorn a new fireplace mantel. The more the merrier...

For more of Scarlett's work, visit the scarlettwares website or come by our studio at LibertyTown Arts Workshop
916 Liberty Street, downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia.

From There 2 Here Exhibit

I'm excited to announce that I'll be participating in "From There 2 Here" an art center exhibition exchange celebrating the 35 year anniversary of the Torpedo Factory. "From There 2 Here" will feature ten fellow LibertyTown artists as well as artists from Goggleworks Center for the Arts (Reading, PA) and the Prizery (South Boston, VA).

From There 2 Here Exhibition
Exhibition Dates: September 10-October 18, 2009
Opening Reception: September 10, 6-8pm Gallery Talk: 7pm

For more info, visit the Target Gallery.

Intro to Street Art: August 2009

My "Street Art" student, Hunter, gave it his all last month - ripping out an arsenal of stencils to construct his painting. From sketch, to stencil, to spray paint, he got the job done. Below are more progress pics...

Hunter used a modular brick pattern to array on his board during the second session.

Cutting stencils (above) can be the most painstaking, but he pushed through right on schedule.
Hunter's "Phoenix" graphic pays tribute to his local soccer team.

Detail (click to enlarge)

Recent Work: August 2009

"Hive Mentality" , Mixed Media on Wood, 16"x20" sold

Summer came and went and I'm still trying to knock off things on my list from May. Here's a painting that has been "simmering" around my studio over the past months and as soon as I finish it, photograph it, and varnish it - the thing's sold....I wish I could get more paintings to turnaround like that...

August also means that we take a trip to Berryville, Virginia to reunite with our family of friends from Virginia Tech's Architecture program (class of '97 baby!). I pitched in on this collaborative piece below. Can you find the golden mean? This canvas graces the rec room of our good friends Micki and Will who make some pretty beautiful things themselves - click here to visit their site.

Collaborative Canvas 2008-2009, Mixed Media on six canvases, approx 74"x48" Collection of the Martindale Family.

Open Paint Event

August 21, 2009: Agio Clothing and Spaghetti Project hosted an "Open Paint" event at the University Cafe a couple weeks ago. Three artists from the region (including myself) got their paint on for three hours while the crowd moved to the DJ sounds from Turnstyle (Richmond, VA). There was even a communal canvas going on which got visitors up on stage too. I apologize for the lack of pics - but hey I was busy working... To view more, click this link to FredPicture, a photo blog of the Fred-burg or hit up Agio's Blog.

Special thanks to all those who came out that night and watched, painted, and gave me a hand with all my stuff! Congrats to the Agio guys and Spaghetti Project as well as the other participating artists:

Sean Kelly ( Spark Plug Tattoo/Fredericksburg)
Jack Ladadi (VCU/Richmond)
Jeremy Gann (Liquid Air/Fredericksburg)

Jack Ladadi's piece (click to enlarge)

The truly "Open Canvas" - painted on by many throughout the night...

Jeremy Gann's cityscape included some LED action too...

I did up this collage piece that night and it's hanging at the University Cafe for the month of September:
"Grasshopper #1", Mixed Media on Canvas, 24"x36" $275.

August 2009: Mural Commission

August, 2009: I picked the hottest days of the year to get out there and do this mural commission in Falmouth, Virginia - but it was well worth it. Below are some images taken over that week. Thanks to our client, Professional Maintenance, and thanks to my assistant Jeff who whose help was exceptional. If interested in commissioning PONSHOP for any interior or exterior mural project - contact me here.

The completed piece....

Artists working to better their country through the construction and appreciation of art.

2009 Rappahannock Independent Film Festival Tee

The Rappahannock Independent Film Festival (Riff) begins next week (August 27-30) and I couldn't more excited. This is the second year for Fredericksburg's global motion picture event and it looks to be quite promising: Check this link for a sneak peek at some of the films.

I did the graphic for this year's Riff Tees - so if you plan on checking out the festival, pick up an exclusive art tee and support the cause. -G

Men's and Women's tees are printed on American Apparel organic cotton shirts. Sizes (S,M,L,XL,XXL) $15 each.
Shirts available at the Festival Site: Central Rappahannock Regional Library (1201 Caroline Street)

Inspiration for this graphic came from thinking about how in order for the media of motion picture to work, there must be some form of rotary mechanism: from the film reel to the the hard drive, there's something spinning...

If you look close at the graphic, you'll see an amalgamation of different components that come together to produce this wonderful thing called cinema. The light blue background merges these elements with Fredericksburg's cityscape and essentially, the Rappahannock River.

Work In Progress

mixed media work in progress - August 14, 2009 (Detail) - click to enlarge

"Summer Kisses, Winter Tears..." - Part 1

Mural Workshop: July 2009

July 13-17, 2009: The PONSHOP Student Mural Workshop was a great success. For one week, students had a chance to conceive and execute their ideas on a 12-foot by 8-foot canvas. Below is the (2 part) video chronicle of that week as well as some photos. Congratulations to all the students ( Ben, David, Finn, Johnny, and Jeff) as well as our photographer/videographers Allison and Zeph.

Part One:

Part Two:

From the PONSHOP class listing: "The mural is an effective way of bringing people together to create artwork that is intended for the public realm. This workshop will encourage students to work as a team to conceive and execute a large-scale mural. Imagination, self-expression, and cooperation are the keys to achieving this goal. Students will have access to explore a variety of media (acrylic paint, spray paint, stencils and collage) to adorn their collective wall."

For a current PONSHOP Class Schedule, Click Here

Spaghetti Project: Grand Opening in Fredericksburg

Saturday, August 8 is the grand opening of "Spaghetti Project" (1025 Caroline Street, Fredericksburg). Spaghetti Project will be a store unique to this region in that it carries the stuff that all the kids search out and drop whole paychecks on when they visit New York City:limited edition vinyl toys, exclusive clothing and sneakers, as well as a healthy array of contemporary art books and periodicals which will keep my Christmas List long this year.
After meeting with the owners, I had a feeling that their efforts are similar to ours in some respects - they want to share and exhibit all the things that give them their joy and inspiration. Whether it's stemming from hip-hop music to contemporary urban and street art to youth culture and fashion, it's what they love.

I'll be exhibiting some of my work in their shop for the upcoming months - and I'm excited to help them usher in a fresh idea to the downtown scene. In fact, they'll be open for this month's First Friday Art Walk - so make your way down there and check it out!

Through an Architect's Eyes: July 2009

This workshop took advantage of the remarkably comfortable July weather. For three 2-hour sessions, I took my student on an architectural walking tour of downtown Fredericksburg. I gave instruction on map-making, perspective drawing, and projected drawing (plan, section, and elevation) and demonstrated different techniques on representing space and structures.

We also did contour drawings of the city's skyline - here students are instructed to (without looking at the page) follow the building terrain from the rooftops.

Trey shows off his sketchbook during the final class...

We also studied the local train bridge and talked about building form, material, and structure (above and below).

The local train station was the ideal place to give an exercise in perspective drawing (above and below).

For a current PONSHOP Class Schedule, Click Here

Skate to Create: July 2009

Usually a kid's first skateboard is some water-logged Nash handed down by an older brother - this is not the case here. Chris's first deck features his own signature character as well as my classic "Maiden Mono" lettering for his griptape art. Chris picked up the rules for stencils quickly and proceeded to make a 4-stencil composition ready to ride. Good Work - Now Go Shred!

Details (click image to enlarge)

For a current PONSHOP Class Schedule, Click Here