The Pen Guy and His Mercedes Pens Art Car

Back from Art Car Fest 09

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:39:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:27:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:23:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:18:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 05:00:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:37:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 05:19:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:14:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:09:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:32:00 +0000

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.

Mercedes Pens Spotted by Jennifer Grayson in St. Helena

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:33:00 +0000

Mercedes Pens Spotted by Jennifer Grayson in St. Helena

photo by Jennifer Grayson

Last week I was in St. Helena helping out at my father in laws business while he took some time off to go backpacking. When I finally got there, I decided to park the Mercedes Pens out on Main street, because with an art car like mine, hiding in the back would be a crime. I got lucky that day and was spotted by Jennifer Grayson who wrote me up on her blog. Jennifer is an operatically trained singer with a degree from the New England Conservatory of Music and founding editor of theredwhiteandgreen.com. She also just started writing a column for the HuffPost called EcoEtiquette, so kudos to you.

Pen Guy and his Crazy Pen Covered Wool Jacket - Art Car Fest Video

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:16:00 +0000

This is a video was taken at last years Art Car Fest opening night for Harrod Blank's movie Automorphosis in ElCerito CA. Here I am sporting my funky pen covered wool jacket that I created just for this special red carpet event to see an art car movie, only I didn't see any carpet. We did manage to get some free pizza from a guy a few business down from the movie theater running for supervisor. So it was a good night and I kept warm with my jacket. In the video there is also another car that was Halloween themed, very nice.

Donated Gel Pens from Queens NY

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:35:00 +0000

Donated Gel Pens Inside the Pen Guy's Hard Hat

This batch of pens were donated and sent in by Nick and Steph all the way from Queens NY. One thing I ask is that when you send pens in please include an email or find me on Facebook so I can properly thank you.

Any ways I got a bag full of regular pens and also two bags full of Beifa Gel Ink pens jell pens which are great for projects that require benty pens. I covered my hard hat with them and created a pen tree on the inside driver door of the Mercedes Pens. They bend smoothly when heated with a heat gun which is good for me but not so good for the person who paid money for a pen that soon died. I always seem to get Gel Pens full of ink which means they don't seem to last long and tend to dry up fast. If you find your self in that situation, no worries, once you send them in to me I will make sure they get a second chance in life to pursue other goals and purposes. Nick and Steph thanks a ton

Fish Pen Finds Final Resting Place Inside Mercedes Pens

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:26:00 +0000

Fish Pen send in by Mari finds final resting place inside Mercedes Pens

A fish pen from Santa Cruz that found its way to the Mercedes Pens Art Car two years later is a remarkable story. I met Mari during Art Car Fest in Santa Cruz two years ago who came by to see all the art cars on display down town. Her fish pen finally run out of ink and she sent it in the mail just the other day. I have another fish lure pen made from the same company on the inside of the car, I think another one would be nice for company. Thanks Mari and keep sending in those old pens pens, a million is just around the corner.

"I met you last year driving the Art Car show on Pacific Ave. in Santa Cruz. I wanted to send you this pen (not working) for your collection. Keep on Arting!"- Mari

Mercedes Pens Art Car during Art Car Fest in Santa Cruz CA

Redwood Gospel Mission Thrift Store - Pen Recycling Center - City Kids Festival, August 22, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:30:00 +0000

Good news, the Redwood Gospel Mission Thrift Store has just agreed to become a pen recycling drop off center for the one million pen drive. There will be a two bins, one located inside the thrift store and the other one in the back were donations are dropped off. So remember, don't just throw away all those dead ball points, dry erase and marker pens, instead recycle them along with your other donations at the Mission Thrift Store on 1064 Piner Ave. in Santa Rosa, Mon - Sat, 10 am to 6 pm.

Alice Lowe who agreed to collect pens for the Million Pen Drive is the outreach and fundraising events and is also the contact person for the City Kids Festival that will happening Saturday August 22, 2009, at Juliard Park in Santa Rosa. The City Kids Festival is an all-day outreach, primarily to needy children in Sonoma County. There will be Free backpacks and school supplies! Free books! Balloon animals, miniature golf, snow cones, face painting and much more more! Many Sonoma County churches volunteer their time and effort and money to provide the supplies for the kids and run game and food booths during the event. In 2008 1800 backpacks were given away and this year they expect more that 2000 boys and girls to attend. The event is free and open to all with no charge for the games and food. The free backpacks are given to those children who pre-register for them at RGM.They are also currently accepting donations for more school supplies needed for the City Kids Festival.

I have had the pleasure of attending this event with my Mercedes Pens now for past couple of years and plan to be there again this year hanging out as the Pen Guy. This event would also be good time for you to come out with your kids and drop off any old pens that you would love to get rid off.

Pen Guy on Air with Brent Farris and Debbie Abrams on KZST 100.1

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:51:00 +0000

Brent Farris and Debbie Abrams wearing the Pen Guy's Hat at KZST

Today I had the pleasure of being on air at KZST 100.1 with famous radio personalities Brent Farris and Debbie Abrams first thing this morning. I met Debbie at the Pick of the Litter Silent Auction event last June and after seeing the Mercedes Pens she asked me if I would like to be on the air. The answer of course was a big yes, and what time? I had the opportunity to share a little bit about my Mercedes Pens art car and my next big project to collect a million pens to make giant murals called "pen-tings". Being on air was a lot of fun and if you missed it you will have another opportunity to hear my interview with Debbie on her Sunday morning show called "Sonoma County's Talking", 6am to 6:30am Sundays. Thanks Brent and Debbie for having me over this morning to spread the word about the Pen Guy and the next big pen collection project, it was a blast:)

Pen Guy to Collect a Million Used Pens to Make Art

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:41:00 +0000

PRESS RELEASE

PEN GUY TO COLLECT A MILLION USED PENS TO MAKE ART
The Pen Guy has a goal to collect a million used pens of all kinds, to create giant art murals called “Pen-tingsä.” He hopes to redirect the flow of some of the millions of used pens that end up in landfills every year into a reusable art medium.
Santa Rosa, CA – July 26, 2009
Every year millions of discarded, used pens end up in landfills. So far no one has come up with a possible eco-friendly solution to this problem until now. Costas Schuler, a.k.a. the “Pen Guy”, from Forestville, CA, is asking for used pen donations to create art- namely giant murals called “Pen-tingsä.” A few years ago Costas started gluing pens to his 1981 Mercedes Benz, creating an art car he dubs the “Mercedes Pens”, which now has approximately 10,000 pens on it and is a regular feature at community events around the Bay Area. Costas is now embarking on a more ambitious project to collect and reuse a million pens for his "Pen-tings”: The plan is to partner with individuals, businesses, organizations and schools to establish regular collection sites, or to help by hosting a donation drive, where Costas would appear with the Mercedes Pens to talk about the project. Contact Costas at costas_schuler@yahoo.com or join his Facebook group RecyclePens.
The Pen Guy and the Mercedes Pens are regular attendees of events such as the Maker Faire, Art Car Fest, Harmony Festival, City Kids Festival, as well as local grade schools and senior centers, where he encourages people to pursue their talents and dreams in life. He goes about his normal day asking for used pen donations, and there are several schools and businesses which participate regularly in collecting pens for his cause: the Forestville Water District, O’Reilly Media, Sutter Hospice Thrift in Sebastopol, Pick of the Litter in Santa Rosa, and Goodwill Industries in Santa Rosa.

The Mercedes Pens Art Car is a globally recognized art car, with features on TV, print and the internet: NBC, ABC, the Science Channel, Smithsonian Channel, Wealth TV, and Mag Rack, The Press Democrat, Sonoma West Times, Today’s Vintage, Forbes.com, PC Magazine, Neatorama, Green Living Tips and countless blogs from around the world.

“Thank you for bringing your pen car and being part of this years’ Maker Faire again. Both kids and adults went nuts over your car.” –Sherry Huss, Director of Maker Faire

"Pen Guy, we loved your car! Your presentation was fantastic, engaging, funny, and personable. We can't decide who liked the experience more - the kids or us! Thanks so much for sharing your amazing project with us. We want you to come to our class EVERY year for Earth Day!" –Mariah M. (1st Grade Teacher)

Costas Schuler was born in Athens, Greece to a Greek mother and English father who met in Australia. He lived in Greece and England and in 1985 emigrated to California. He met his wife Sandy in San Jose 13 years ago and now lives in Forestville, CA with their three daughters Emma, Sophia and Giovanna. Costas has been a professional graphic designer for over 15 years, but hopes to make this “Pen thing” a full-time gig: collecting pens, creating works of art, speaking, making videos, appearing at events, maybe writing a book about his adventures and saving a few million pens from the dump. He wants to see an entire industry that further explores other pen possibilities.

Pen Guy Lecture at Sebastopol Senior Center

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:23:00 +0000

The Pen Guy posing with donated pens inside the Mercedes Pens

Last Tuesday I had the privilege of doing my first "Lecture" at the Sebastopol Area Senior Center who provide activities, classes and events for adults of all ages. My lecture was really a short visit to talk about the Mercedes Pens Art Car and the my future plans to collect a million pens collect and have a couple of root beer floats:) It was a lot of fun and after wards we went down to the Pen Car to take a closer look inside. I was invited to come by Emily Webster who also publicized the lecture in the Bohemian including a mug shot in the front to my complete surprise. The day after I got this great email from Emily and this is what she had to say about it.

"Aren’t you wonderful! Good job here at the Senior Center . You are a good personality, energetic and very very likable. Everyone is for you. We all want to see you succeed with your wonderful pen ideas. We want to see you all over the world collecting pens. Oh, by the way, thanks for volunteering your time here. We all had a great time with you."-Emily Webster

85 year old man inadvertently donates his pens

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:38:00 +0000

This box came to me me wrapped in blue wrapping paper all the way from Sweet Home Oregon with a great story. The box came wrapped in blue paper and once I tore open the box I found this great note sent in by Jill.

"Dear Pen Guy,

A good friend of mine who is 85 years old recently had to move away from his home to go stay with his children. Once he was moved out I was asked to clean the house to get it ready for its new owners. In the back corner of a closet I found this box, and when I opened it I saw more pens than I had ever seen before in one place! It was amazing! It seemed that for the past 10 years or so he had kept every pen he had ever owned, even after it had run out of ink.

I hope these can be used in your artwork. I know my friend will be happy to know that all his old pens went to a good place:)"

Thanks for what you do!
-Jill W.

Wow what a great story, I think that has to be the first one of its kind. I was thinking about it the other day and I realized that every pen has a story to tell. Imagine if you could capture all the things that were written, from the mundane shopping list to the life changing invention. I think it would be great if people started sending their pens and a story written about it.

Donated Pens - Silver Spur Elementary and The Green Team

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:15:00 +0000

Donated Pens From Silver Spur Elementary

These pens came a couple of weeks ago from Merin D. a parent from Silver Spur Elementary School in Rancho Palos Verders, CA. Merin is also part of The Green Team an interactive educational program to help students and teachers to help the environment through waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting. These are but a few of the pens she collected last year but Merin volunteered to incorporate collecting old pens at Silver Spur as part of her crayon and glue stick recycling program. Merin thank so much and may you be the first of many around the country who are willing to take the time to collect and send in their old pens for the million pen project.

Pick of the Litter Silent Auction with Debbie Abrams & Brent Farris - June 28th, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:46:00 +0000

Video of my trip to pick pens up from the Pick of the Litter Thrift Store

I really can't say enough good things about Pick of the Litter, a thrift shop dedicated to getting feral cats off the streets and finding loving homes for the forgotten felines of the Santa Rosa community. They have a spay/neuter program for tame, stray cats and formerly feral kittens pulled from the wild; Then they give them the opportunity to go through "Good Samaritan" clinics. There is a nominal fee for this service, but for the most part it is subsidized through a bequest left by Jean Mekemson.

To make a long story short Pick of the Litter has has basically adopted me the Pen Guy and have now for over two years collected stray pens and given them to me for the Mercedes Pens Art Car Project. I went in there one day looking for old dead pens and now go there every couple of weeks to collect a big bag of recycled pens that would otherwise get thrown in the garbage. The video I did was on one of those days when I went to pick up some pens.

They are having a fundraiser this Sunday June 28th from 11a.m - 4p.m, called Pick of the Litter's Rollin' out the Red Carpet & Puttin' on the Ritz! a Celebrity Silent Auction featuring donations by Debbie Abrams, Guy Fieri, Levi Leipheimer and Odessa Gunn "What does Debbie do?" Luxury Silent Auction. There will be Music by North of Malibu and special guests Debbie Abrams & Brent Farris of KZST. Pick of the Litter was voted Sonoma County's Favorite Thrift Store by KZST Listeners and so KZST is promoting the event all week. Hope to see you all there, go an support a great cause, and don't forget to bring all your old and unwatned pens.

O'Reilly Media Recycling Pens for the Pen Guy

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:56:00 +0000

O'Reilly Media Tarsier Sculpture by Patrick Amiot

Photo by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

O'Reilly Media just agreed to collect old pens for me the Pen Guy for my million pen project that I will be working on in the next 5-10 years. My plan is to collect millions of pens to create works of art that will then go on display at various locations around the country, and that's just to start with. My other big goal is to begin exploring other pen possibilities in solving future problems such as affordable energy efficient housing. Would it be possible to build an entire house from recycled pens and markers or at least a big part of it??? Who knows what is possible right now, but we will never know unless someone starts asking questions.

Having O'Reilly Media on board with such big project is a big deal to me and an example to other business who might want to join in the Green Pen Revolution and help keep a few million pens out of the dump in the coming years. They collect old batteries and have a Goodwill donation drop off, why not pens? My contact within O'Reilly told me that she sent out a company wide email letting everyone know that old pens are now a wanted commodity by yours truly. I can't wait to pickup my first batch of recycled pens. To all of you at O'Reilly Media thank you for dreaming big with me, because without dreamers the world would be a boring place.

Jason Winshell - "Creating Sanctuary" with the Mercedes Pens

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:49:00 +0000

This is what joy look likes to me

The Inside of the Pen Car on the Road Again.

Last weekend at Maker Faire I had the pleasure of meeting some really interesting folks and one of them happened to be Jason Winshell, an amazing Photographer from San Francisco. During the event Jason approached me about letting him photograph the Mercedes Pens and me as part of his latest photo essay project called "Creating Sanctuary". Jason is on a journey to explore the things that we do in order to create sanctuaries around us as we deal with the day to day stress, demands and routines of everyday life. Basically a world in which we rejuvenate and recharge our batteries, by looking into our passions, interests, and vices.

Jason came up last Saturday and he spent about four hours driving around with me in my Mercedes Pens Art Car and taking photos in different settings in order to capture what it is that I do. He managed to capture my every day sanctuary on wheels on a sunny Saturday afternoon in my front yard, Walmart, the gas station and on the road. I love the picture of the inside while I am driving, because It's a perspective I have never seen before.

Frame of Mind Pen from Forestville

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:36:00 +0000

Frame of Mind Pen from Forestville on the trunk of the Mercedes Pens

I run into Leslie Zumwalt owner of Frame of Mind in Forestville Ca Today. She is this years Forestville Parade organizer and asked me if I was going to be in the parade tomorrow. I don't think I can make it since last week was Maker and next weekend I am going the Harmony Festival 2009 in Santa Rosa Ca. Anyways Frame of Mind is local frame shop and art gallery right down town and features some of the most interesting local art you can imagine. Actually one year they entered a motorized couch with a frame around it to promote their business, and that same year the parade was so small they went around twice.

Pen Donantions from Arizona - A Million Pens here we come.

noreply@blogger.com (Costas Schuler) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:33:00 +0000

Pen Donantions from Arizona

These donated pens where mailed in by Michelle from Peoria Arizon, thanks to her the search for a million pens continues. Keep sending them in:)