PonderMonster Studios: 2015

Black & White

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BLACK

WHITE

This is the LAST two colors in collection, and since they go together so well, they were released together too!

Simply put, this is a classic battle between good and evil.

This time the treasure hunts were a bit more complicated, and you had to choose which path to take to get the painting you wanted. With a few twists and turns, this hunt was quite the adventure indeed! Some found by hunters, and some surprisingly stumbled upon. To top it all off, I decided that the last two paintings of the collection would be personally given to the finder by me, PonderMonster.

Designing these were pretty fun and easier than I thought. I wanted them to be the same but opposite. Starting out with skulls for evil, I couldn't really figure out a good opposite for good that would look the same. Then I thought about angels and devils... perfect. Two cute little round figures. One with wings adorably floating above ground, and one with the classic horns and tail of a good PonderMonster piece.

BLACK = EVIL

WHITE = GOOD

The letter for BLACK (for the life of me I can't find a picture of the letter for WHITE, but you can imagine it's pretty similar, but opposite):

PAINTINGS ROUND 1

High or low?

The starting center point between these paintings was the Denver capitol.

First clue: "At 2pm, start at our city center and wait for the next clue on Instagram. Think about places that we think of when we talk about #Denver. Which path will you choose? #Black or #White #PonderMonsterRainbowCollection."

Choose a path...

Second clue: "Choose your path carefully. Lower Downtown or The Highlands... how far are you willing to adventure? #Denver has an amazing abundance of both #dispensaries and #breweries, so after you find me, have yourself an afternoon. Some are even side by side. Happy hunting! #PonderMonsterRainbowCollection #Black or #White"

WHITE - PAINTING #1 STUMBLED UPON!

Found by the spectacular @InkMonstr, and his keen eye for things out of the ordinary, this first painting was claimed by a Colorado great. If you don't know about his art-centric business, I highly recommend looking into him. Odds are, you've seen his work, everywhere. Congratulations!

"#WHITE painting 1 of 3 happened upon by @inkmonstr5280. Congratulations! Pretty awesome how the world works and what other artists notice about their surroundings as they walk the streets. Means a lot to have been found by the wonderful InkMonster. Hope to collaborate with you on some pieces this year. "@inkmonstr5280 found 1of 3 original pieces from the creative @pondermonster. Keep a look out, denver, for these pieces all over town! "

BLACK - PAINTING #1 HUNTED DOWN!

Masterfully treasure hunted by the talented @CityCat303, a good friend of mine, and another great artist who(m?) I've since done some collaborations with. Follow him.

PAINTINGS ROUND 2 - VALENTINE'S DAY

East or west?

This time, we travel the line that is Denver's 17th street.

First clue: "The treasure hunt for paintings 2 of 3 of both #BLACK and #WHITE begin at noon. Today, let's explore 17th! At 12pm noon, start at 17th and BROADWAY. Then choose your path. #GoodVsEvil #PonderMonsterRainbowCollection"

Head west...

Head east...

WHITE PAINTING #2 STUMBLED UPON!

"Congratulations to @brieannacross and her lovely little lady who found #WHITE, painting 2 of 3, at #UnionStation! Took a bit to get the photo sorted out, but here it is for the win! So adorable."

Okay... in retrospect, it probably wasn't the best idea to hide it in a train station for security reasons, and from what I heard through the grapevine, they weren't too happy with this. So if you're ever going to do a treasure hunt of your own, stay out of travel hubs. Lesson learned, but still... just trying to spread a little love y'know?

BLACK PAINTING #2 STUMBLED UPON!

"Spectacularly happened upon by this amazing family! Congratulations @ithinkupdemons and @cambriemartinez for having an eye for treasures. Im loving these group/family puotos that have been happening lately. #BLACK #PonderMonsterRainbowCollection."

This super amazing family was already out and about looking for a geocache, which are apparently pretty popular in Denver. They noticed something out of the ordinary atop a pillar on the off beaten path. This find really surprised me, but I'm realizing that I may not give the world enough credit sometimes, I hope these kinds of things happen more often. Grats!

PAINTINGS ROUND 3

This one is for all the marbles.

To celebrate the completion of the #PonderMonsterRainbowCollection, I decided that I would make this a competitive race to the finish. Everyone who finds me would get something, but the first one would get the grand prize of BOTH black and white paintings. Oh, and did I mention that I would be handing them over personally? Complete the 3 tasks and they're yours.

TASK 1

"INSTRUCTIONS: Task 1... Tomorrow (Saturday) DM me a selfie of you in front of a Denver mural between noon and 12:30pm. I'll DM back your next task. There will be 3 tasks to find me. The first person to do so will get BOTH paintings. Feel free to go take a selfie today to send to me tomorrow. Good luck!"

I was hoping this would create excitement, and it did, but didn't yield the response I had dreamed of in my head. Continuously trying to taylor my hunts for all of you, many people have told me over and over again to do weekends. So, thinking Saturday would make everyone happy, and give them something to do, this would be perfect. The build up was great, but the turnout was a struggle to say the least.

However, who am I to complain? The one's racing were neck and neck to the bitter end and I am actually really moved by the passion and efforts put in to this hunt by the contestants.

The prizes:

Contestant #1 - On a bicycle...

Contestant(s) #2 - In a car... (Had a slumber party the night before to devise a plan)

Contestant #3 - Drove down from Boulder, CO...

Contestant #4 ??? no one. :( Though the 4th crane was found by a fan later at night :)

TASK 2

Once the contestant sent me a DM (Direct Message) of them in front of a Denver mural, the second task was given privately....

"Find the Instagram post where the first #PonderMonsterRainbowCollection painting was hidden. Your next task is written here. Take a selfie here and I'll send you your 3rd task."

They had to find this picture and go to this spot.

Once I received a picture from a contestant from this location, they got their 3rd task....

TASK 3

"Your 3rd task is in THIS Westword box near you. Look inside and grab ONE of the 4 bags stuck to the inside top (they're all the same so don't get greedy or sabotage the others that are on their way by taking them all) Instructions for your 3rd task is written the crane inside the bag. Good luck!"

Look inside here...

Find one of these...

GO!

The decoy image:

The image to find PonderMonster and your prize:

The race was truly neck and neck from the beginning between contestants #1 and #2. I received messages from them in the beginning within SECONDS of each other. I'm shocked that they didn't see each other. Especially when it came time to snag a crane out of the Westword box, because they were literally standing on the same corner together trying to solve the puzzle.

The grand prize winner: The bicyclist

"Congratulations @j.p._better_rhymes for successfully completing each task to find me and the last 2 #Black and #white paintings of the #PonderMonsterRainbowCollection! Runners up are @lilpanda317 @zamboni332, and @skruse0585 (lots more photos to come this afternoon of the hunt. Too much to do right now) enjoy!"

Eventually, everyone made it and we all had a long amazing chat about the adventure as well as things to come. Here's a group photo:

It makes me a little teary-eyed to see this adventure come to an end. It's been an amazing learning experience, a crazy social experiment, an artistic challenge, a creative mind bender and a growing process from day one.

This collection took just a hair over a year to complete. It's a bit overwhelming and quite amazing to see just how far it has come in 12 short month, but it goes to show how much can change in a year.

From the depths of my heart and soul, I want to thank each and every one of you for watching the journey unfold, playing along with me, loving and supporting the process and overall adding to my purpose in life over the past year. This project has inspired others to be creative and giving, as well as change the way they see the world around them. You never know what may be laying at your feet...

Forever and always,

Much LoVE!

-PonderMonster

So what's next? This is hardly the end of treasure hunting paintings and other little treasures from PonderMonster. Keep an eye out for the upcoming #PonderMonsterCraneColleciton, where about 100 'Much LoVE' cranes will be hung around the city of Denver.

Here's some BIG NEWS...

Hope to see you there!

P.S. I'm making a first round set of prints (Signed and numbered) of the FULL rainbow collection that will be available at the show only, and possibly at a special discounted rate. If you miss it, then you'll have to collect them one at a time as they are slowly released, at regular price, on my Etsy shop page: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PonderMonsterArt

Although 100 of each print will be made, only 20 of each will be available at this show.

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VIOLET

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Leaning towards the far side of the spectrum, we dive into the briny deep that is violet. This series came out just in time for the holidays, so each painting came with and extra special present!

VIOLET = MYSTERY

Definitely a bit tricky to come up with this one. So many sketches and ideas chucked to the waste bin until this little guy came along. I fell in love. However, I did not love how many colors that I chose... with 3 coats of most colors, this one certainly took a long time to paint. Oh yeah, times 5. Pretty darn happy with how this one turned out and equally excited to release for hunting season.

There were a few of you treasure hunters that have been sending me messages from the beginning that VIOLET was the one you'll want the most because it's your favorite color. That put a smile on my face, but a bit extra pressure knowing that I'd better make something good if you've waited for nearly a year to get one.

The extra special holiday surprise ($20!) :

Being the holiday season, creating a painting for you and hiding it just wasn't enough. I had a bit of extra dough in my pockets and I thought I'd sweeten the deal for you even more by throwing some monies in there too. How it all ended up being used, I have yet to find out, but my hopes were to have the finders use it to spread the love in anyway that they see fit. I'll have to check in with them and see if they did anything with it...

The letter:

Let's get down to the hunt shall we?

PAINTING #1

This one was put out during Hannukkah near the ice rink downtown on 16th street. I found a few trees and some pretty lights, plus a landmark for the background. Perfect.

The clue:

"Look up in the trees! Stop by the menorah off 16th. Then head north past people falling on their butts. #VIOLET painting 1 of 3 is there for you. Happy Hanukkah!"

It was SOOOOO cold out that night, and as I waited across the street to snag a video of the finder, I couldn't take the cold anymore. Running to my car around the corner as fast as possible I came back to a perfectly located spot where I had just been standing. Ahhh... warmth. Per usual, I don't even get sad anymore (it's just funny now), I was somehow distracted the exact SECOND the finder came waltzing up to it. Grabbed my phone to record, and hit the wrong app button. The moment to be captured was toast.

Congratulations to Mary B. for asking a passing by couple to help her reach this treasure down from its hiding spot! Though she tried, she wasn't able to post a photo due to phone issues, but here she is. YAY!

Mary B. found this delightful little treasure while in Denver from out of town. Visitng all the way from Eugene, OR, these paintings are really making their way to every corner of the country! Continues to show the magic of being in the right place at the right time. Hope the monies inside went to something awesome for the holidays, even a warm cocoa treat for yourself. Congrats!

Next!

PAINTING #2

The clue: "#VIOLET Painting #2 of 3 dropped! The mystery is where am I? Clue: I'm along side a gross alternative to pecans. You'll Triumph when you find me, and think its amazing, but if you think its Epic, you've gone too far."

Left upon some steps across from a Truimph motorcycle shop on Walnut St., Epic Brewing company was the point at which you've gone too far.

Congratulations to @lilpanda317 and her lovely family for taking such a wonderful group adventure to solve and find this mystery! You've been one of the most diehard treasure hunters in the PonderMonster hunts, foiled at so many turns and obsticales and countless near misses, you FINALLY have one to call your own! Hope the gift inside went to something good. :)

Another victory photo!

Onward!

PAINTING #3

Moving closer to the Xmas, I decided that thelast painting should truly look like a gift. So, I wrapped it in shiny rainbow glitter paper, naturally!

The Clue: "GO! #VIOLET painting 3 of 3 is yours if you know where I am. Good luck, be safe and MERRY XMAS! (Get me before the storm rolls in. #PonderMonsterRainbowCollection"

The hiding spot.

For those who recognize the background, you'll know that it's placed on the corner of 6th and Kalamath. However, there's a crazy storm rolling in, hope it gets found fast!

Congratulations @laurenaflores and friends for knowing just where to go to find this lovely gift! I'm always surprised when I see just how many people that I'm unaware of looking for my sweet little treasures. Great to see such happy faces, and a furry little friend! Hope the extra holiday cash was helpful and went to something wonderful! Happy holidays!!!

Well, another successful treasure hunt! All 3 paintings were found and responded to, which makes me oh so happy. Although the PonderMonster Rainbow Collection is nearing the end, the hunt will continue indefinitely.

Next stop is BLACK and WHITE. Yep, you read that correctly! 2 paintings will be put out each time, but it's up to you which path to choose. Good Vs. Evil is underway and has one more pair to be released. Currently waiting for the weather to clear up and for work to settle down a bit before the VERY last 2 in the Rainbow Collection are released.

Oh, it may help get you excited to mention that I will PERSONALLY give the last two paintings in the colleciton to the treasure hunter that can find me! (Follow me on instagram for this amazing chance to collect these and meet me, PonderMonster!)

I can't believe it's been 1 whole year since this all began. So proud of how far it's come in such a short amount of time. The stories that have compiled with each color will last forever and I couldn't be happier. As soon as the colleciton is through, something very special will be up for sale! 5 of each painting was created every time. 3 to give away, 1 for me to keep and 1 to sell in a complete collection.

Want the complete collection original duplicates on canvas? Your chance will come.

Affordable prints available of the colleciton will be on my Esty page throughout the year! They will be numbered and signed. Now everyone can have their very own PonderMonster Rainbow Collection!

See what's available now: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PonderMonsterArt

Blogs to come include the everlasting #MuchLoVEtreasureHunt

Some Much LoVE pictures: