Events

Every Monday night, excluding holidays, Etsy has a FREE craft night where they provide materials and instruction on all sorts of creative projects. I was asked to do a stencil how-to event and I jumped at the chance. I love Etsy and was curious to see their Labs.  Well, the facility is an artists dream-  fabrics, paints, silkscreen station, three huge work tables, sewing machines,  tons of supplies…could play all day in here. So we were scheduled to do the event from 4-8pm and I have to say this was the best event I have ever done! The crafters who attended were my true audience, some eager to learn, some insanely talented artists, all doing their own thing with the stencils. I instructed people throughout the night and then Julie, our Etsy lab Leader, led me through the Virtual Labs how-to. This is where Etsy over-delivers! If you were not in the area or couldn’t make it, you could login and “pick a seat” in this virtual auditorium. It was part chat room, part video conference, a great application for extending the craft community.  Viewers could ask me questions, chat together, then share what they made on a flickr site.   Well, I can’t thank Etsy enough for a fun time and all the people that attended in person and virtually. So Let me know, would you be interested in attending an Etsy event virtually?

Recently, I have been commissioned to do artwork in various rooms at the Ace Hotel in NYC. I am very honored to be doing this work since the Ace aesthetic is this perfect combination of classic design meets street art. It is also a graphic designers dream as there is clever signage and wonderful typography galore used throughout the space. And  It’s actually a fun day in NYC for me when I get to do this. I go to the hotel where a dapper yet trendy doorman greets me and I get a key from the front desk lovelies for the room I will be working in. I drop my things in the room and run back down to StumpTown Coffee in the lobby. This is my favorite coffee shop in NYC. As a people watcher, I like it because the baristas are tattoo covered and look of a time gone by. The coffee is perfect and the packaging of their products are beautiful. They also have oddly shaped pretzels and great pastries. Ok, once caffeinated, I can head back upstairs to start.

I have done two rooms thus far. In Room 1101, I did a piece inspired by Dolly the sheep who was cloned some years back. I stenciled Dolly a few times over the headboards then I added a sentence diagram above the cloned sheep (I have had a sentence and Venn diagram obsession since grade school).  In Room 1009, I created a stencil of a 7 foot tall grizzly bear, my tallest stencil to date! I used Benjamin Moore paints and a dense foam roller for both the sheep and the bear.  When you sit at the desk in the room (yes, with record player!) , he stands behind you, guarding you.  I have a few more rooms to do and will post again with updates.  Make sure to visit the Ace!

That’s right, it’s time for to celebrate the launch of Stencil 101 Decor, our second book published by Chronicle Books! I will do a demo while you eat stenciled edibles, drink from the bar, and stencil on cards or grasscloth to make your own art print! I’ll be signing books, this is a great holiday gift for the creative and decorative people in your life! Hope to see you there!

Saturday, December 5, 2009, 4-6pm

powerHouse Arena, 37 Main Street, Brooklyn

Ed Roth and Stencil1 offer a DIY event for all ages with stencils from Stencil 101 and Stencil 101 Décor.