The Fresno Arts Council sponsors ArtHop, an event which educates the community about the local arts. In this column, freshman Ryan King chronicles his twice-a-month visits to ArtHop.

For this month’s South ArtHop, I went to Downtown Fresno to see artists with whom I had previously scheduled plans to see their artwork, Dec. 1.

Since this ArtHop takes place during December, the event revolved around a Christmas, taking place at Full Circle Brewing Co., LTD. and The Grayson Building, where junior Alexis Ellis displayed her artwork.

First, I ventured towards the Grayson Building to get a glimpse of Ellis’s drawings and paintings. Ellis’s artwork was distinctive and distinguished because they came from a perspective younger than a typical artist.

Ellis has always had a passion for drawing, but really started to develop her skills when she took an art class from teacher art teacher Sharon Scharf. During her freshman year, Scharf taught Ellis more about watercolor paintings, which is her main medium.

In order to promote the Grayson Building for real estate, Ellis’s uncle, Howard Ellis, wanted to host ArtHop, where Ellis could present her art among several other pieces.

I thoroughly enjoyed Ellis’s artwork, which she dedicated in memory of her cousin, Gabby Ellis, who passed away in a car accident a few years ago. The piece pictures a stop sign of the intersection where she lived. Near the bottom of the stop sign sits a memorial that states: “Never forget Gabby C. Ellis.” I appreciated this statement because it allowed Ellis to open up to others in a small part of this painting.

Other art by Ellis could be described as abstract, but also containing a cultural theme. I think it is wonderful that students from our school could participate in ArtHop and showcase their work in the community.

Next, I entered into the cold Full Circle Brewing Co., LTD, a bar which had lost it’s electrical power as a result of the strong winds Fresno experienced early in that day. The bar was lit with candles and contained artwork everywhere in sight.

Once I arrived, I visited Richard Harrison, who was both a featured artist for this week and the previous ArtHop — during the last event, he invited me to view a wider aspect of his art. Harrison’s art surprised me even more because I got to learn a little bit about the Central Valley’s community in each art piece.

The other featured artist at the bar was Christine Frick, a photographer whose art uses different perspectives from the things we see everyday. Her pictures were a contrast to the Central Valley-themed art Harrison presented, as Frick took her pictures from a range of places like the East Coast and even Greece.

The JazzHop scheduled to play that night was unable to perform because of the loss of electricity, but the facility was filled by the sound of a violinist and a pianist, who sang some of the songs. Most of the songs were Christmas tunes, which I thought put a a good touch to the holiday theme of this ArtHop.

Though this ArtHop had difficulties due to the weather, these problems were solved to make an even better ArtHop experience than I had expected. Ellis’s art did not fail any of my expectations and exceeded most of my standards because of the small details within each piece.

I would say this ArtHop has been one of my favorites because I got to see more than one gallery in a day, allowing me to perceive all the talents that Fresno has to offer.

This is the the last ArtHop article for this month. Check back for the next article on a South ArtHop, which will occur on Jan. 5, 2012.

For more information about ArtHop, read the Nov. 22 article, Artwork displays Central Valley’s intricacies. For more information on campus students displaying their work at ArtHop, read the May 4 article, ArtHop to feature aspiring photographer.