Changes at Pele

Happy Summer! In the midst of all the hectic day-to-day rigmarole at the Pele studio, I've been giving a lot of thought to how things are structured here...what's working, what's not. It's good to take stock and make better use of the time I have available. Side note: when someone figures out how to create a time machine that makes more time (instead of simply sending me backwards or forwards through time), I want to be the first to know. One of the biggest changes at Pele in the last few months is that I have two (yes, two!) part-time studio assistant printers on board. This is a huge step for Pele...many thanks to Holly Childress and Carly Kurka for doing such a great job. Without these lovely ladies, many of the great things we do at the studio wouldn't be possible. Another big change is that I'm restructuring Pele Workshops. Our popular Make & Take classes will still be available quarterly on a set schedule. But all of our other studio workshops will be available with a brand-spanking new flex schedule. This will allow more access and more affordability for folks who want to take classes. More to come on that soon... And finally, we are saying goodbye to the local outdoor/tent art fairs for Pele Projects. We had a good run at these local fairs, but it's time to move on to bigger and better things. I'm looking forward to a renewed focus on the prints and sharing them outside of St. Louis.

A Glimpse Inside

Every artist approaches their work from a completely unique perspective. We get to enjoy the final results of their ideas as viewers, but we often don't know how they got from point A to point B. At times, this can actually add to the mystery of a great piece of art. On the other hand, sometimes we want to know more.

This video features Pele artist, Carmon Colangelo, chatting about our collaborative project and the exhibit at Bruno David Gallery. It's the perfect chance get a glimpse into the thought process and concepts that he explores in his work. The Glocal Diptychs series is made up of nine monoprints...check out our online gallery to see them all!



Film by Eric Minh Swenson. Music by Sergey Drobyshevsky.

Collaborations: Works from Pele Prints

Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do at Pele Prints. As a fine art printshop, we invite artists to work with us at the studio to create limited edition prints and original works of art. Each project is a new adventure in printing. In the end, it’s the partnership between artist and printer that allows for some amazing possibilities and unique discoveries.

Collaborations: Works from Pele Prints is up at Mad Art Gallery in St. Louis through the end of April. If you won't have a chance to see it in person, there are a few images below from the show. And you can always take a look at the prints in our gallery on the Pele website. Enjoy!

Ben Pierce and Alicia LaChance

Gina Alvarez, Lora Fosberg, and John Wahlers

Amanda Verbeck

Grant Miller, Jessie Van der Laan, Laura Berman, Ben Pierce, and Alicia LaChance

Women and the Kemper Visit

Periodically we get the chance to entertain at Pele, and yesterday we had a lovely visit with the Women and the Kemper at the studio. Women and the Kemper offers its members opportunities to learn about and encourage women’s participation in the visual arts, and we were very excited to host one of the first "field trips" for the group.

With tea and pastries to celebrate the first day of Spring, we had a short printing demo for folks to learn and enjoy, and everyone was able to take home their very own Pele print. We ended the day with lunch and some great conversation.

If you're interested in visiting Pele with your group or organzation, just let us know. We'd love to have you!

Too Long....

When things get busy in my world, that's when I get disconnected...big time. That said, it's not a surprise that my last post was way back at the beginning of December, because so many great things have happened since Pele's trip to Aqua Miami. Time for the cliff notes!

• two weeks of shipping art out to collectors and consultants after Miami (completely unexpected and amazing that so many folks loved the work)
• printing orders galore from Skif...dots, panels, stars, and blocks, oh my (many thanks to our intern-turned-part-time-printer, Holly Childress, for her great work with Skif!)
• more printing with Alicia LaChance on her New Village series of prints (we've only scratched the surface)
• our biggest sale yet of eleven of Laura Berman's Umbra prints to the Rosewood Hotel in Abu Dhabi (who's up for a visit?)
• organizing an upcoming Pele show at Mad Art Gallery (shout out to Jeff at Hartz Gallery for putting it all together)
• a crazy anniversary trip to Las Vegas (thrown in, just for fun)

So when one of you incredible folks comes up with a way to add more hours to my day, I want to be the first to know. In the meantime, I will do my best to stay in touch :)