Bio:June Ponte
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Artist and author June Ponte's early memories are of a small apartment in the 1950s post-war veteran's housing projects of Union City. The place was filled with her mother’s sculptures and watercolors. She was seven years old when her mother died, and the loss changed her life. June was sent to live with her devoutly religious grandmother, and raised in a traditional Portuguese household. The artwork her mother left behind became a way for the young artist to connect with her mother.
She was fascinated by tales of Grandfather Joao, who drew schooners with pen and turquoise ink on grandmother’s white linen tablecloths. There were stories of Great-Aunt Mary who secretly sprinkled a mixture of herbs around the outside of her home at midnight to ward off evil spirits; and the stories of her mother Gracie, who saw the future in tea leaves.
June’s ancestors from Madeira are remembered for their creative eccentricities. Family members would don each others clothing, and perform plays of their own creation for the local villagers.Family, art and mysticism played a major part in June’s spiritual and creative growth.
As a child, June became aware that she was an artist too when she drew an image of her dog, using the charcoal from a burnt matchstick on the inside of a matchbook cover.
June briefly attended both Jersey City State College and the School of Visual Arts. Over the years, the artist has evolved from a simple realism to her current work. She creates fantasy paintings of anthropomorphic animals with underlying themes of anti-war sentiment. Much of the artwork is laced with mystic symbolism, evolving from her work as a spiritual medium.
June’s artwork has appeared in the Window Box Gallery in NYC, O-Roe Electric Art Space in Hoboken, City Without Walls in Newark, NJ, True Fakes Gallery in NYC, and the Sussex County Arts and Heritage Gallery in Newton, NJ.
She has written and illustrated a series of nine children’s craft books, recently published by Enslow Publishers. Adal Maldonado and June wrote "Your Instant Chef's Delight", which was published in Heavy Metal Magazine in December, 1982. June appeared in "Your Instant Chef's Delight", and Maldonado's "Stolen Moments", which was published by Heavy Metal in February, 1982. June created cover art for Enslow's children's biography of science fiction writer Ray Bradbury. In addition to Heavy Metal Magazine, June's creative work has appeared in Parents Magazine, Architectural Digest, Weird New Jersey Magazine, and others.
The artist lives in an 1860s era farmhouse in Stillwater, NJ. Her studio looks out over the calm, flowing waters of the Paulinskill River.
[This was taken from the description given for an upload of a photograph of the artist by User:Visualizepeace.)