Back from Art Car Fest 09

Its been almost a month since I blogged, because frankly I needed some rest from all the work I put into getting ready for Art Car Fest 09. But I had to post about a surprise visit I got from my best friend from high school, Ralph. It was great to see him on Saturday at the Salsa festival in Redwood City were I was parked right there on the sidewalk at a major intersection melting in the sun. It was good to catch up with Ralph and show him my new Mercedes Pens ride and the latest pen upgrades.

Pen Donation Barrel Now at The Bay Model in Sausalito

Last Saturday I went down to Sausalito to drop off my 5th pen recycling barrel at The Bay Model. I was there from 12-3 hanging out with the my new fans. I then drove over to San Rafael for free music in the park for another three hours. It was a great way to spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon. A big thanks goes to Mari Tamburo who made it possible for me to be there.


Submitted by Shelley Champine

Pen Recycling Barrel Now at City Life in Santa Rosa

City Life community center has a for a long time now graciously allowed me to have pens mailed here at 2425 Mendocino Ave in Santa Rosa. They were even more gracious when I asked them if I could put one of my pen recycling barrels in the front lobby. Now not only can you mail pens here but you can if you want go down and drop them off your self. They have been very supportive with my Million Pen Drive so I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

City life community center is a very unique place, it used to be a Heald college location and now its a place where many organizations meet and hold meetings during the week. They have ballet and martial arts classes, 5-6 churches meet there such as City Life Fellowship , Giving Tree Church and others. Hope Works is also located there, a non profit organization that is gang intervention and inmate reentry program. Its a great place to find great information about local events and meetings that are happening all through out the week.

Pen Rainbow Inside the Mercedes Pens on the way to Art Car Fest

Its nice to finally have enough pens collected to be able to create an entire pen rainbow on the inside of Mercedes Pens Art Car roof. I just finished this beauty yesterday and with a colorful interior like mine, a rainbow seemed like the right thing to do. The inside is the safest place to do this considering the sun and weather eventually destroy all pens on the outside of the pen car. I know its a weird shape but I still have more space to fill out the area around it with more pens. I have less than a month to get ready for the big art car event called Art Car Fest September 25-27th, so I need to get busy repairing the missing and damaged pens. Art Car Fest is three days of hanging out with other art car folks showing our creations to the public. I will also be collecting old pens so if you have them please fill free to come and drop them off, I would love take them off your hands. Think of all the free space you'll have for more stuff.

This year you will be able to enjoy art cars at Art Car Fest at these locations:

Day 1 - Friday, September 25th

• Sports Basement - San Fransisco, CA
  
• Amoeba Music - Berkeley , CA

Day 2 - Saturday, September 26th

• Salsa Festival - Redwood City, CA

Day 3 - Sunday, September 27th

• Berkeley's Last Sundays Fest - Berkley CA

World's Largest Ball-Point Pen Collection

I have to give kudos to Angelika Unverhau from Dinslaken (Germany) who has managed to collect more than 220,000 ball-point pens (excluding duplicates) from 146 countries. She has been collecting pens since childhood, but in 1990 decided to take her hobby more seriously and go for the world record. She meets twice with other pen collectors through her ball-point club and trade pens with each other, fun. She currently holds the Guinness World Record for largest ball-point collection. I got my work cut out for me with my Million Pen Drive but I am collecting anything with the word "pen" in it, so I think might have a fighting chance.

Fancy Shmancy Pen Recycling Barrel at Forestville Elementary School

I just delivered and installed a new fancy shmancy pen recycling barrel at Forestville Elementary School which was originally at Analy High School but was too big so I made them a smaller version. This pen recycling beauty is located smack dab in the middle of the entrance to the school as you go past the main office. Can't miss it. Its going to be a good school year.

Three Pen Recycling Locations in Marin - Thanks To Mari Tamburo

A big thanks goes to amazing singer and online friend Mari Tamburo (please check out her music and support her new album) who organized three pen recycling locations and two appearances by me the Pen Guy and my Mercedes Pens Art Car, September 19Th. Mari is also part of Artsboretum an organization dedicated to the preservation of a rich music legacy and to the cultivation of independent music artists and audiences. There goal is to inspire independent music artists to produce their best works, expose them to new audiences and empower them to become self sustaining by offering education, collaboration and performance opportunities.

1) Appearance and pen pick up
September 19, 2009 from 12-3pm
The Bay Model Visitor Center,
2100 Bridgeway (on marinship)
Sausalito, CA 94965"

2) Appearance and pen pick up
September 19, 2009 from 3:30-6pm
San Rafael Music in The Plaza

3) Pen recycling location
Red Devil Records
894 4Th Street
San Rafael , CA 94901

Pen Donation Barrel at Analy High School

Analy High School in Sebastopol now has pen donation barrel covered in pens ready for the new school year. I met Brigitte at the Forestville Business Expo who was very excited about starting a collection over at Analy. I placed the second barrel in front of her office mainly for the student body and staff to have easy access to for pen recycling. I wish you all the best in the coming school year and I thank you for participating with me in the one million pen drive.

If you too want one of these pen covered barrels please email me to order yours today.

Pen Donation Barrel at El Molino Pharmacy in Forestville

Pen Donation Barrel at El Molino Pharmacy in Forestville


My first pen recycling barrel covered in pens just went in last Thursday right after the Forestville Business Expo sponsored by the Forestville Chamber of Commerce. Pete Summers the new owner of the El Molino Pharmacy in Forestville agreed to be the first business to place one of my pen recycling barrels in front of his store. During the business expo I got a chance to talk to a lot of folks who were very pleased to have a place to donate all their old pens. I also talked to others interested in placing one of these custom pen barrels at their business or schools in the surrounding area. I would love to find more locations all over west county and beyond, so please email me to order yours today.

The Pen Guy's Million Pen Drive is now on its way to realization with the help of the community who catch the vision of this peculiar project of mine:)

Pen Covered Donation Barrels Hit the Streets of Sonoma County - Order Yours Today

Pen Covered Donation Barrels Hit the Streets of Sonoma County


I just completed my first two pen covered donation barrels ready to be placed in locations around Sonoma County. I prepped the surface fist then went through about two tubes of silicone glue to decorate these formerly ugly looking 55 gal plastic drums. I will be unavailing these today at the Forestville Business Expo from 4 to 8pm looking for a business that will agree to become a pen donation location near down town.

The nice thing about these free once used plastic barrels is that they allowing me to continue making my pen art and expand my dream of collecting a million pens here in Sonoma County.
The pen barrels are custom made for each location making it easier to recycle pens on a regular basis and generate more traffic for those who want it. I also book an appearance to come by for a meet and greet with folks who want to drop off recycled pens and get a chance to see the Mercedes Pens Art Car.

If you are interested in participating in pen recycling please email me to order your pen recycling barrel for your business, school or other organization.