Author: Nick Ringelstetter

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WITH EVERY ENDING COMES A NEW BEGINNING.

The abrupt change in weather just before November was accompanied this year by an abrupt change in chapters for Atomic7 Studio. Immediately following the final two events of the season, Fall Art Tour Stop #29 and the 2nd annual Monster Bash at The Shed, the move to our new space at the former Blackhawk School began… but not before we made some great memories where it all started. 

At our stop, #29 on the Fall Art Tour, we opened our workspace to visitors from near and far, and welcomed back most of the help that has made all of this possible for a bit of a final farewell. We set up our traveling graffiti wall, which is quickly becoming a crowd favorite, having now visited 4 locations! We were joined early Friday afternoon by a bus-load of AP art students from Jefferson High School, and they spent nearly an hour experimenting with different techniques and covering nearly every figure on the wall with something new and beautiful. The weather was perfect, traffic was heavy, and we were able to meet our goal for the event by Saturday afternoon, before rain fell on the parade on Sunday. Nevertheless, we appreciate the friends and buyers who braved the downpour to support us on the final day of the tour. 

On Saturday, the 28th of October, we hung out at The Shed for the 2nd annual Monster Bash, a fundraiser to benefit the Spring Green Arts Coalition. Participants each created a monster that will be featured in Nick Ringelstetter’s next original painting, and donation levels coincide with a canvas print of the finished piece. This year, we raised just shy of $600 and thank 20 participants for joining us. 

In addition, we are incredibly grateful for a recent donation of lumber from Cathy at SICO. We now have one room of our new space nearly ready for operations to resume. This move amplifies the capacity, potential, and overall freedom of the studio exponentially, and we all look forward to getting back to work. Team Atomic7 certainly won’t be hibernating this winter season.  

Tara Falk

Marketing and Content @ Atomic7 Studio

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LEAVES AND PIECES FALLING INTO PLACE!!! :D

Hello, fans and friends! As the fall tour season nears an end and we prepare to shift gears back to studio and strategy work, we have some updates and thank-you’s. This has been one of our busiest months to date, with as much opportunity as we can seize!

Long ago, in late August, was the 13th annual Day in the Park to benefit 4Pete’sSake, a volunteer-run organization in our community that provides relief to distressed residents facing extraordinary financial burdens, through no fault of their own, and who are unable to provide it themselves.  The committee chooses at least one recipient each year, and Nick’s aunt was the second to ever be chosen. So grateful for the assistance when his own family was in need, he’s been on board to assist this cause ever since, donating items regularly to the silent auction. This year, his three works of art raised $1800.

Day in the Park also includes a 5k Run/Walk, 26k bike ride, live music, food from local vendors, kids activities, a raffle drawing, a cake walk, and more.

 

Beatlefest, another community event in our headquarters of Spring Green, was especially busy on the 4th. In it’s 9th year, this was the best yet. The free, family fun day features live music, great eats, local brews, and this year, live and interactive mural painting with Nick Ringelstetter at the Spring Green General Store. Nick assisted many pairs of hands in the the creation of a graffiti style mural. If in the area, consider taking a picture and tagging us with some feedback, and don’t forget to stop into the General Store for so many great treats! We can’t thank owner Karin Miller enough for allowing us to be part of her “labor of love.” As she states on her website, “It truly takes a village to put on a music festival,” and yet it wouldn’t be possible or nearing a decade running without her. This was Nick’s second mural, the first a commission completed just a few weeks ago in a private garden in Middleton.

Mid-way through each September comes another one of Nick’s favorite events… not because *any* art is sold… but because he gets to take the day off and FISH for charity! The 29th annual Junk Fisheree was held on the 16th. In true Junk fashion, Team Atomic7 also donated a pair of custom bag toss “JUNK BOARDS”  featuring found items from around the shop and their tackle boxes. The proceeds from this event are donated to The Giving Tree, an organization helping out families in need around the quickly approaching holiday season. This year, $1200+ was raised.

Most recently, we packed up the van for a 7 hour drive to the Funky Ferndale Art Fair – a maiden voyage to Detroit and MY maiden voyage as a team member, though I’m a long-time supporter and friend of Atomic7! This was one of the last runs for the trusty chariot, a vehicle that has seen nearly the whole nation with Nick over the past 8 years. An upgrade is due, and soon, although it’s still kicking. Confirmed on the inbound trip, you don’t actually *need* a pedal to use the gas, giving new meaning to the phrase, “to the metal.” The uncharacteristically high temps for late September were trying, but camaraderie was running high. We’re grateful to have received coverage by two local papers, as well as an interview with Hot Talent Buffet’s, “Freshness TV.” Stay tuned, we’ll be posting the episode to our social channels!

 

Remaining yet on the fall tour are stops in Louisville, Kentucky and the Chicago Pinball Expo.

After that, it’ll be time to hunker down in the studio and focus on the fun projects  that have been piling up during the tour. Lots of these are still under wraps, but here’s a teaser: we’re preparing a pitch and some samples for a major national wholesaler that wants to see our stuff, hopefully in time for the crazy holiday shopping season.
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The past month moved quickly with a smorgasborg of events, connections, and new opportunities for Atomic7 Studios. At the heart of the action is community, collaboration, and an artist’s dream! With so much to look forward to and reflect on, this is the perfect time for our debut blog post. From now on, we’ll check in regularly with these kinds of updates to keep you hip to the Atomic7 agenda, and hopefully as excited for what’s to come as we are.

 

By: Tara Falk
Marketing/Content Team @ Atomic7 Studios

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NO PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR!?

It’s true. Nick is not making any plans for next year… because he wants to check off a long list of to-do’s and achieve THIS year’s goals SO badly!

The main idea right now is kicking off the next, and last, leg of the summer/fall tour. At it’s close, we will be finding new space to open a new shop. It won’t be just any shop. Yes, the public will be welcome to visit and experience the energy and connection that only comes from seeing the art in person, where it’s created. Of course, you can purchase the art. But our vision is of welcoming people who want to do what we’re doing, space to accomodate the people we meet who want immediately to get on board. The dream is of a central location where creative people can come for advice, to plan, and to work. We want to connect local creators with the contacts gained in eight years of travel and networking across the country. Atomic7 Studios will connect artistic people, with those who can help them thrive.

First things first. The next stop of these travels is Uptown Art Fair in Minneapolis, one of the most prestigious shows in the country. In the little time left before rollout, Nick is working on three commissioned works, including a mural gracing a private garden in Middleton, inspired by Dr. Suess and Avatar.

We’re also working our charity muscles to the max this month, displayed in the form of custom bean bag boards and he and Atomic7 team have designed to raise money for a fund called 4PetesSake. This is a volunteer organization that pays medical bills for community members in extreme need. For more information, visit http://www.4petesake.com and come out to Day in the Park on August 20th for the silent auction, music, food, and fun including a 5k Run/Walk, cake walk, kid activities and more.

Around the corner, also, is the Junk Fisheree, a spectacular annual fishing event calling for another set of custom boards. This one benefits families in need of support during the holidays… and well as our desire to fish all day and call that work.

We’re looking forward to seeing so many of you at these community events, as well as Minneapolis, Detroit, and Kentucky around the corner.

 

By: Tara Falk
Content/Marketing Team @ Atomic7Studios

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SIA Snow Show

We need to talk about the SIA Snow Show, one of the coolest events Atomic7 has been involved in to date, an event symbolic of the action and ever-upward direction we’re taking. Our participation and slice of this life wouldn’t have been possible without our budding partnership with Royal Racks, a company started by Madison native Brandon Bauer. We were afforded the huge opportunity to combine Nick Ringelstetter art with his product, The Gnar Bar, perfectly representative of the Skate/Art lifestyle we’ve fallen comfortably into over the past year of designing, producing, and distributing custom boards.

The Gnar Bar is a high quality board display – an easy solution to vertically hang your skate, snow, long and electric longboards. Its ease of use and sleek design, along with a fully customizable back plate, provides consumers, retailers, resort operators as well as artists and athletes the ability to personalize their Gnar Bars. With three models including the low-key “Slim,” the original “OG,” and the multi-functional “Home,” style, there will be a model to fit the needs of every boarder. Back plates are easily branded with graphics and logos, making the Gnar Bar a helpful tool for both collectors and daily riders.

Brandon is based now in Denver, Colorado, home of the annual SIA Snow Show. The SIA Snow Show is one of the largest snow sports industry expos in the world, . At the Colorado Convention Center, a collection of Snow Sports industry leaders and up-and-coming brands work together with technological innovators and entrepreneurs to progress the industry as a whole. The multitude of brands, manufacturers, and influencers together in one place is an ideal scenario.

From a small corner booth on the massive convention floor, Royal Racks made a big fuss, commanding attention from all walks. The boards and art were a huge hit, and raffle entries to win Nick’s 20×20 Stop Sign flooded in far beyond our expectations. Interest in Royal Racks, as well as the art, boards, apparel, and potential of commissioning Atomic7 artists like Nick and Tiera Jackson reaffirms our confidence in building a team of talented, passionate, unstoppable artists and partners. A huge thanks is due to skateboarding legend Greg Ludzka. He loved the Gnar Bar and purchased a stop sign. One quick snap was posted, and over 2,000 likes later on Instagram, the ball keeps rolling. Inundated with requests to collaborate, mural commissions, and potential product designs to consider, we have a lot of work to do.

We at Atomic7 are grateful to be associated with Brandon Bauer and Royal Racks, and extremely excited for what’s to come. The connections made at this show will undoubtedly put both businesses on the fast-track to higher slopes.

This excitement, coupled with great food, music, and vibes made Denver hard to leave. Though we’re bound for warmer weather staring down the winter tour in Florida, SIA was an obvious indicator that we’ll be back in the snow soon enough.

Tara Falk
Content/Marketing Team @ Atomic7Studios