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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 . Which path will you choose? or ."
Choose a path...
Second clue: "Choose your path carefully. Lower Downtown or The Highlands... how far are you willing to adventure? has an amazing abundance of both and , so after you find me, have yourself an afternoon. Some are even side by side. Happy hunting! or "
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!
" painting 1 of 3 happened upon by . 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. " found 1of 3 original pieces from the creative . 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 and begin at noon. Today, let's explore 17th! At 12pm noon, start at 17th and BROADWAY. Then choose your path. "
Head west...
Head east...
WHITE PAINTING #2 STUMBLED UPON!
"Congratulations to and her lovely little lady who found , painting 2 of 3, at ! 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 and for having an eye for treasures. Im loving these group/family puotos that have been happening lately. ."
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 .p._better_rhymes for successfully completing each task to find me and the last 2 and paintings of the ! Runners up are , and (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...
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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