Pope Francis Philadelphia

We are creating a series of art prints celebrating the unabashed joy that Pope Francis uses to disarm discord and invite love to be at center stage! WHY???

Pope Francis Souvenirs... WHAT? How is it that Todd, a Quaker kid from Overbrook Farms and Fred, a vintage hot rod / surfer artist from Oslo, Norway, Christian yet unaffiliated with a church, get together to create some crazy cool prints of Pope Francis? I'm Todd, and I brought all this together. Though I'm plenty human and often fall short, I really try to celebrate joy, acknowledge joy, be joyfu

l and share joy. Might sound cornball to some and if so, tough! Though non Catholic, I've been fascinated with the changes at the Vatican. The former Pope and his frustration at not being able to make the changes needed in the structure of the way the Vatican is run, and all that, opened up a world to me that I didn't know existed. Pope Francis' election and his ability to step past rather than step into the sargasso perpetuating those desperately needed changes I found inspirational and brilliant. His method of walking into that situation and in addressing every major issue since is to not even acknowledge the entrenched parties with their howitzers dug in, and throw down his opening salvo with a message of love, and a question asking if we are living up to that love as called for by God? I loved that and from the beginning was not shy about bringing that up for lively conversation with friends. These were and are conversations with substance, and have been all the more exciting because of it. Soooooooooooooo, I discuss some ideas with one of my favorite artists in the world, Fred Lammers out of Oslo, Norway. His illustrations use the sort of wild style of early 1960s American cartoon hot rod and surf culture, but he has rocketed that to heights of cleverness and a sense of humor that always brings a smile to my face. My whole family loves his work, and every time I see something he's done, either sketches for fun or a poster for a rock and roll beach event in California or whatever, I am inspired by the disarmingly simple approach to design that makes you, sometimes, miss the well thought out sophistication there on the page. The discussion has been lively. We want to celebrate Francis' joy without in any way taking away from his message. We want to present him in a way that celebrates Fred's style, and put together a slowly growing body of work that when seen here on our Facebook and Etsy pages, you immediately get where we're coming from. I wanted to create large prints that people would look at 10, 20, 50 years from now and smile a warm smile. Now I know the people who will really be making money at the 2015 World Meeting of Families here in Philly will be the hot dog vendors and people selling little flags made in China. For most of the folks visiting, that is enough. We can't go to the vendor area with large prints and sell them, sending people home with cardboard tubes which would drive the security folks batty. Therefor we've set up this little shop on line. If you like the work, please share with friends and family here and far away. I sure like it, and everybody who has seen it, especially my Catholic friends and neighbors, has been pretty excited, and have made sure that is very clear to me! Speaking of my Catholic friends and neighbors, is there a MORE Catholic neighborhood in the Delaware Valley than Overbrook Farms? We've got St. Charles Borromeo Seminary where Pope Francis is staying two blocks in one direction, St. Joe's University four blocks in another direction, Our Lady of Lourdes church two blocks in yet another direction, a small friary around the corner (where me and my wife during a holiday meal asked a shorter, handsome older fellow if he played guitar, and upon hearing 'Yes' with a bright eyed grin we asked him if he was, in fact, Charlie Gracie. He was!!!) and my favorite, The Sisters of The Visitation. They're cloistered so I've only met one of them, but she's great. We met when I offered to come by and prune all the branches away from a statue of Jesus who was preaching to the underside of a canopy of pine boughs! Thanks, and enjoy! Check back regularly, as we will occasionally add another delightful print as inspiration strikes! We do have another shop on Etsy, by the way, with a very broad selection of pretty amazing historic prints. Called The Grand Review, you can find us at this link...
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheGrandReview

11/25/2017

CHRISTMAS 2017. Yes, we still sell these and they are still very popular from coast to coast. Happy to say a few were bought here and carried to friends and family in other countries. They are now on our Etsy shop The Grand Review. Here is the link... https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheGrandReview?section_id=12584413

09/24/2017

Hello, friends. As most of you know, the Pope Francis works are being handled over at our main site, The Grand Review. We just reached out to the organizers of a big Philadelphia Archdiocese Oktober Fest to show both the Pope Francis series and the fascinating collection of German specific works in The Grand Review catalog. Here is their event.

Anthem Oktoberfest We're all about bringing people together to hang out and show off our lederhosen.We're pretty sure that one of the best ways to do that is beer, German food, live music and having the place all to ourselves.Where: Frankford HallWhen: October 6th, 2017Time: 7-11pmWho: You and your friends who are old...

05/30/2017

Hi folks, I wish to make a gift of one of these Pope Francis prints, any of the prints from the whole series, to all the schools in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. Free. Any suggestions about who I might present this idea to? This work was, is and will continue to be so much fun and to me, personally, a tribute to the power of joy. Please feel free to respond here or via FB messenger. The print here in this photo hangs on the wall at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary right around the corner form my home and studio, a gift some months before the Papal visit, and one that was delightfully received.

12/17/2015

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING... ON LINE AND IN CENTER CITY, PHILADELPHIA! If you order on line, we can ship out ASAP. If you want to stop by and see us, as well as the whole series, LAST CHANCE BEFORE CHRISTMAS IN THIS SATURDAY, at 8th & Markets Streets. We're set upp with the adventurous Franklin Flea inside the classic department store, Strawbridges! Below, see all 14 prints. Enjoy!!!

12/17/2015

12/02/2015

REMEMBERING THE GUY WHO INSPIRED THIS PROJECT!

After the Pope left Philly, people were a little freaked out what with the cray cray marriage license gal and all that sh*te. A reminder that the guy was and is still amazing, click the link below. He is in the Central African Republic, in a war zone, in his open Popemobile, saying hello to everybody. He was just in Uganda where the most extreme lunatic fundamentalist Christian AMERICAN zealots have been preaching death to all gay folks, making it known, being THAT voice, that that is not what it is all about. Just because he is not in the headlines here right now doesn't mean a thing to what he is doing and continues to do... every day. That we chose a light hearted way to celebrate that is our way to participate in and share with you the joy that exudes from Pope Francis. Amazing!
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/11/30/pope_francis_visits_besieged_central_african_republican_mosque.html

11/09/2015

Recent photo from Headhouse Square...

Our set up at Strawbridge & Clothier's magnificent old department store in Center City, in cahoots with Franklin Flea, will be every Saturday, late November through the Holidays. It will be the grandest display we've ever put together, featuring newly restored gems, beloved evergreens from our catalog, and both the Pope series and some amazing new works by Norwegian groove illustrator, Fred Lammers.

Photos from Pope Francis Philadelphia's post

10/30/2015

Four great prints designed to fit into LP record cover frames. We have all four on our wall in the living room. https://www.etsy.com/shop/PopeFrancisSouvenirs

10/30/2015

OK, now I feel better. There IS a grinning version, and here it is. Also, for those of you that would like to connect to the Etsy link, here it is as well... https://www.etsy.com/listing/240421662/pope-francis-philadelphia-and-the-tour

Pope Francis, Philadelphia and the Tour de Francis 2015. Even Pope Francis must pause and become...

10/30/2015

A personal favorite! There is a framed copy of this on the walls of the dormitory at Saint Charles Borromeo, a gift from us months before Pope Francis arrived and made it his home for a few days... (Yikes! There is a frowny photo and a grinning photo that I posted together for fun on this link. Figures the frowny photo is what shows up here!!!)

Pope Francis, Philadelphia and the Tour de Francis 2015. Even Pope Francis must pause and become... PRESS ZOOM ABOVE TO SEE A MUCH BIGGER VERSION. PLEASE TAP ANY OF THE SMALL IMAGES JUST ABOVE FOR MORE VIEWS AND OTHER GEMS FROM THIS SERIES.

Pope Francis in Philadelphia 2015, Tour De Francis, The World Meeting of Families

10/30/2015

For those of you who were here in Philadelphia, and for the millions more who would have been if they could have been...
(Please share with friends, family, coworkers and members of your church!)

Pope Francis in Philadelphia 2015, Tour De Francis, The World Meeting of Families PRESS ZOOM ABOVE TO SEE A MUCH BIGGER VERSION. PLEASE TAP ANY OF THE SMALL IMAGES JUST ABOVE FOR MORE VIEWS AND OTHER GEMS FROM THIS SERIES.

10/30/2015

To our 698 Facebook 'likes'... PLEASE SHARE OUR POSTS OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS WITH FRIENDS, FAMILY, COWORKERS, AND MEMBERS OF YOUR CHURCH. We consciously chose to avoid the merchant mayhem during Pope Francis' visit to Philly. It was the opposite in spirit of how we conceived this project, and especially not how we wanted to engage with you all, the true fans of our Pope Francis prints. Now that things have calmed down, we are presenting the whole series for your enjoyment and consideration all over again. These are MEMENTOS rather than souvenirs, and will bring smiles 10, 20, 50 years from now. We would like to reach some of the 1 million visitors who came to experience this spectacular yet contemplative moment in history, and I ask you all to be a fun part of our reaching out to those folks who made it here and those who wanted to but could not. Please share these posts as they go up over the next few days. Thanks! https://www.etsy.com/shop/PopeFrancisSouvenirs?ref=hdr_shop_menu

PopeFrancisSouvenirs

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