I started talking with Derse, a representative for a potential client, early in the fall. While everyone else was planning Thanksgiving, I was planning the first phase of production for my new gig. I would be doing ebru for faucet and fixture giant, Moen. They wanted live ebru art as well as a hands-on experience in the Moen lounge booth at KBIS(Kitchen, Bath, and Interior Show) for 2015. I was also commissioned to create multiple pieces to be used as display around the Moen lounge booth, the Moen show floor booth, and a special Moen Spa event outside of KBIS. Thats not all. I was also tasked to create an exclusive custom edition of 500 handmade ebru papers for Moen to hand out at KBIS 2015.
Using the big tray for a big order.
I started by making the display pieces for the Lounge area. I designed and printed pieces on kozo paper(my favorite) to be scanned and reproduced on a larger scale. Then quickly jumped into production of the custom edition papers. Moen requested multiple blues with white in a freestyle pattern printed with a ripple effect.
Check.
I had to dedicate a whole room to prepping, drying, and cutting paper to fill the order within the deadline. Not only did I skip out on Thanksgiving but I also worked though Christmas while marbling away day after day. I was able to fill the custom edition order, ship it out and move on to the next phase of the project.
Custom edition details.
The next phase was to create custom original ebru art to display in the Moen show floor booth. I was given a design guide for each section, so I could work within the interior designers vision to create a impressive comprehensive display.
The colors really pop off all that black.
The curve in the swirled ebru kinda reflects the curve in the faucet.
With all the custom orders filled I turned my full attention to the show. I still had to prepare everything so I could travel to Las Vegas and not only perform for the two million people roaming around the convention floors that week but also host a hands-on demo for thousands of curious/adventurous/artsy people too. So I boxed up a good portion of my ebru art studio and workshop supplies then shipped it to Las Vegas in preparation for the show.
Moen lounge booth
As you can see the Moen lounge booth was quite large. In the center was my workstation where I did all my performance work. We had a camera capturing everything I did and displaying it live on a monitor over my head. I produced 8-10 big paper pieces a day during my performances. The pieces I created were then won as prizes in a social media sweepstakes held during KBIS 2015 by Moen.
Moen lounge performance.
stirring things up for convention goers.
Their was a style guide controlling the colors I used, but I use the chosen colors a lot anyways so it was still fun and natural. I made some pretty nice pieces during my live performances.
Live art.
Live art dripping on my arm.
As I mentioned before, there was also a hands-on demo for the artsy and adventurous convention goer. We had eight smaller trays for the hands-on demo set up on the left side of the Moen lounge booth. The demo area was being run by a trained crew of four that I brought with me to the convention so I could focus on my performances. People were invited to put on an apron to protect their clothes and were shown how to make there own little ebru paper to take home(or take to the office I guess).
The lovely Chelsea Rose at the hands-on demo station.
Over on the right side of the booth we had treats. There was infused fruit water and gourmet marbled chocolates to enjoy while catching a live ebru show or waiting for their own papers to dry.
Packaged and ready to go! Plus Marbled chocolate!!
The show was a great success. I made some amazing ebru pieces. We handed out all my postcards. People all over the KBIS 2015 convention were buzzing about Ebru. And we saw plenty of repeat visitors.
Big thanks to Moen, Derse, and my Las Vegas crew for helping make it all possible.
Hard to believe I spent three months on the Moen Project. But thats not all I was up to. I also held two sold out workshops, and participated in three different group art shows around Portland. I will be talking about all those events in a separate blog entry.
In Other News
----Workshops----
I have my second paper marbling workshop at the Spark Arts Center in NE Portland, Oregon. Coming up on February 13th 7-9pm. We will be hand marbling paper to the theme of Valintines Day while enjoying sips of wine.
*sign-up for workshops in advance.
Are you interested in commissioning custom art or booking an ebru lesson, workshop, demo, party, or performance? Contact me at art@dannyebru.com
Peace & Love,
- Danny
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