Heart of Lincoln Land

"Immortal Words at Gettysburg" Lincoln T-shirt by Lincoln Apparel

It’s fun as an artist being able to live your passion, and see how other people enjoy your work. It gives me a sense of pride, and accomplishment, knowing that other people enjoy my artistic vision that I put so much work into.

Last Saturday, I sold 3 of my Lincoln T-shirts to a tourist from Chicago. I sold them through Springfield Novelties and Gifts, the shop in downtown Springfield where I have some of my shirts for sale. I was on one of my regular walks through downtown, stopping in the store checking on them, when the owner told me that they sold. He stated that the tourist thought that my artwork was "really good", and that the tourist enjoyed the fact that I am local. I sold one of my "Back to Springfield" T-shirts, one of my "Equality" T-shirts, and one of my "Immortal Words at Gettysburg" T-shirts to that tourist that day. I was ecstatic when I found out that it happened – I felt proud and humbled at the same time that there are perfect strangers who love my Lincoln artwork!

Then on Monday, I sold a T-shirt on my website to somebody in Brazil. It’s neat thinking there are people in other countries who enjoy your work! The Internet is a neat place sometimes, isn’t it? Slowly but surely, it seems that my work is getting out there, and it proves that Abraham Lincoln is admired in many different places. I started Lincoln Apparel because I wanted to spread Lincoln and his message through my wearable art T-shirts, and now it’s happening. Isn’t that cool?

I’m thinking of putting a world map on the Lincoln Apparel website showing all the places I’ve sold T-shirts to. It’d be fun to see how many states and countries have ordered at least one of my Lincoln T-shirts!

Interestingly, "Immortal Words at Gettysburg", a T-shirt I made to illustrate Lincoln’s multicultural appeal, remains one of my most popular sellers. I’m going to make more of them (since I’m selling out of the ones I have), this time with the design printed as an oversize "full-front" print, so that more of the detail in the fonts in the Gettysburg Address text can be seen. I think it’d turn out great that way – it’s a design that’s begging to be printed so that it fills up the front of the shirt. I’ll let you know about this and any other cool Lincoln designs I have coming. T-shirts are a great way to spread Lincoln’s message, and that’s one reason why I love making them!

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The original "Purpose" Lincoln T-shirt design, using pink.

Sometimes, life is difficult. I was going through a rough patch a couple of months ago, when I felt as though I wasn’t getting the proper recognition for my art. Out of that rough patch I created this inspiring Lincoln T-shirt.

I’ve admired Lincoln for almost 15 years, and one of the reasons why I admire him is his sense of purpose, and how he always struggled for the things he believed in even when it appeared as though he would not succeed. His words, experiences, and actions have served to inspire me even during the darkest periods of my life – like in school during the 1990s, a time period I’d rather not remember now (or ever). Abraham Lincoln is like my personal motivational speaker – I gain all the motivation and inspiration I need to continue, during good times and bad, from him.

During the creation of this T-shirt I used bright, inspiring colors to present Lincoln as an illuminating, inspiring figure. I added bright brush strokes to areas like Lincoln’s hair and beard, to further “illuminate” Lincoln and draw attention to him and his sense of purpose. The dark blue colors I used in the background represent the sadness and difficulty of the Civil War and the evils of slavery, crises over which he would ultimately triumph. I based the design off of a photo of Lincoln which I feel shows his confidence and determination well. I could feel Lincoln’s sense of purpose, and his courage and tenacity, as I was creating this painting-like design.

The modified "Purpose" design, which uses turquoise, for guys.

The quote, “Adhere to your purpose and you will soon feel as well as you ever did”, comes from a letter Lincoln wrote to a Civil War cadet during the summer of 1862, who was feeling badly at the time, advising him to stick to his purpose. The summer of 1862 was a difficult time for Lincoln, too – the war was going badly, casualties were great, and he would soon deal with the political fallout from the Emancipation Proclamation, which many, even in the North, did not approve of at the time.

Originally, this design was created using pink as the bright color. I decided after it was completed that I should make a version that wasn’t so feminine for guys, too – and so there is a version that uses turquoise as the bright color as well. As a result, this Lincoln T-shirt is available in both men’s and women’s sizes. The men’s Lincoln T-shirts use the turquoise design, and the women’s T-shirts use the original pink design. Enjoy!

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