Hello friends! This is the first post of the new year, 2011. No, I have not forgotten about you or In Develop[ment. One of the main goals of starting this blog was to spark my own imagination and creative development as well as put a spotlight on some really great artists creating in a multitude of fields. That goal still stands and so does my original promise, “I write with wanton focus.” Well, that goal is paying dividends for me now. Since January I have been focusing all my energy on an idea that came to me last July. Many of you know that my writing talent lies mainly in poetry. For those not familiar check out the ongoing series, “Poetry Without the Smoke and Mirrors.” Poetry has been a part of my creativity for over twenty years now. I graduated with a BA in it and, in my humble opinion, I am damn good. The ability to convey emotion, image, location, and resonance within a single line of poetry has been my aim and struggle. I have a passion for this medium and this passion has sparked this new idea.
A little background–I do like well-designed t-shirts. I buy well-designed t-shirts. I think if there is an image that I have not seen and it’s on a t-shirt, that image will say something about me as an individual. Mainly, that I look for art in the most mundane of articles. We all have to get dressed right? Some of my favorite t-shirts I own have have very little printed in words and use unique imagery. I also like the idea that a t-shirt can become an iconic image. Jean Luc Goddard’s first and ground-breaking film, Breathless, featured a young American woman selling The New York Herald Tribune on the streets of Paris. She wore a t-shirt displaying the moniker of the paper. That iconic t-shirt worn by American actress Jean Seberg came to symbolize the birth of the French New Wave.
I have always wanted to get my poetry read by more than just my immediate circle. Any poet who tells you they’re writing for any other reason are lying to you and themselves. However poetry as a written medium has a limit to the audience it can reach. Let’s face it, unless a poet is slammin’ on Def Poetry Jam or are not already a laureate of some sorts in academia the writing falls only on other poets…a dwindling population. The idea that my poetry can be both image based and read is the foundation of this idea. The t-shirt element came as a natural extension of my interest in finding well-designed clothing. While driving to Michigan last July, these concepts collided and Versed Apparel started.
Versed combines my talent for poetry, photography, and my search to find a meaningful well-designed t-shirt. In this modern world where literature and poetry are ceding their traditional paper mediums, I’m printing my voice on clothing.
My original designs are screened with environmentally safe materials by the wonderful people at Replica Chicago on American Apparel 50/50 t-shirts. The poetry lines are chosen to convey the immediacy of a moment. I truly believe a poem can be a short film that reflects a state of mind. A line in a poem can be a still of that film. The resulting t-shirt design will have a different meaning for each wearer and a different interpretation by each on-looker. I have set up a facebook page for Versed Apparel for now while I work on my shopping cart website which will launch on April 18th. I will be releasing the first design at Rapt in Maille’s Spring Studio Opening this Friday, April 15th. Read all the details for the event here. With each shirt bought from me or through www.versedapparel.com a postcard will be included with the design image on front and the complete poem on the reverse side. Buy the shirt. Read the poem. Avoid clichés. Get Versed.
