Flint Expatriates T-Shirts Still Available

There's a whole new batch of Flint Expatriates t-shirts available in a new color — dark brown and aqua.

HERE'S THE ORIGINAL POST:

At long last, Flint Expatriates has official t-shirts, thanks to artist extraordinaire Jessica Lynch at Slow Loris Designs. They feature the infamous Genesee Towers, the Mott Foundation Building, the historic Vehicle City arch, the Citizens Bank Weather Ball, and my Grandma McFarlane's Buick Electra 225 all lovingly rendered on a slate gray American Apparel shirt in deep blue ink. The original art for the shirt is hand drawn by Jessica.

Click here to order your shirt now. Just click on the "For the Love of Flint" shirt. 

Please note that I don't make a dime off these shirts. Jessica generously waived all her usual fees to create them, and she covered all the costs for materials and labor herself. That means she needs Flintoids to buy shirts to make her costs back and turn a small profit.

Umm, I sort of implied that she had absolutely nothing to worry about, proclaiming that Flint types were a proud and generous lot who would certainly reward an artist who took such a strong interest in the Vehicle City. I also mentioned that people who log a lot of time in bars tend to be free spenders. So don't let me down.

I first noticed Jessica's work when I was visiting my girlfriend's hometown of Anacortes in Washington state's San Juan Islands. Her drawings immediately reminded me of Flint, and I've bought several of her shirts over the years. I was even wearing one in a photo of me at Angelos that ended up The Flint Journal. (Very slow news day.)

Then I just happened to meet Jeanne Lynch, Jessica's sister, in San Francisco. We got to talking about Flint, and she suggested I contact Jessica about making a shirt. And, well, here we are.

How about a little more info on Slow Loris.

Slow Loris came to life in Oakland California in the spring of 1997. Inside a very small storage room (located in the back of a parking garage) of an old cannery building, the very first shirts were printed.

After graduating from CCA(C) in 1998, Slow Loris founder Jessica Lynch left Oakland and returned home to Washington state. Re-locating to Guemes island, Slow Loris continued to thrive, screen printing drawings onto shirts, paper and clothing for people around the world, and for touring bands like "Tv on the Radio" and " my Brightest Diamond." While keeping true to the hand made quality (no computers are ever used for design making)

Jessica had her "hands" full and in 2007 teamed up with good friend Arlo Rumpff. Arlo had been a fisherman in the Bering sea, and brought his hard working enthusiasm to Slow Loris just in time. He learned how to screen print, (he's better than Jessica now) models most of the shirts on the web site, and deals with a lot of the business side of Slow Loris, a part of the job Jessica was NEVER good at. Team Slow was now complete.

Any average workday in the studio consists of drawing, singing, printing, and beach walks with a bunch of dogs. There's also a pig named Marnie-biddles who likes to observe through the windows and get into things, (this makes Jessica somewhat crazy, but she still loves him). The adopted motto "feeling strong and not in a hurry" reflects the pride Team Slow feels standing behind a quality hand made product .

We screen print on Alternative apparel organic cotton clothing and American Apparel sweatshop free clothing, as well as various FLA (fair labor association) brands.

Click to enlarge all images.

Flint Photos: On the Road with an Expatriate

St. Mary's graduate and former Eastsider Duane Gilles sports an official Flint Expatriates T-Shirt in front of the downtown Halo Burger. Oh, wait, I guess that's the Taj Mahal in the background.

Flint Expatriates T-Shirts in Lapis Blue

Due to popular demand, artist Jessica Lynch is making the official Flint Expatriates t-shirt available in a new color — Lapis Blue. (Check out the color to the left with a different design.)

You can only get the original slate gray color in XL at this point.

And, yes, I realize that the official Flint Expatriates t-shirt doesn't actually say "Flint Expatriates" anywhere on the shirt. It's really more of a t-shirt ode to Flint than a branding opportunity.

I don't make any money off these shirts. Jessica covered all the cost for design, labor and materials, so she needs to sell the shirts to make her money back.

Go here to order the shirts.

And go here for more info on how the Flint Expatriates t-shirt came to be.

Flint T-Shirts

Flint Expatriates has official t-shirts, thanks to artist extraordinaire Jessica Lynch at Slow Loris Designs.

They feature the infamous Genesee Towers, the Mott Foundation Building, the historic Vehicle City arch, the Citizens Bank Weather Ball, and my Grandma McFarlane's Buick Electra 225 all lovingly rendered on a slate gray American Apparel shirt in deep blue ink. There are also extra small sizes available in blue ink on white shirts. The original art for the shirt is hand drawn by Jessica.

Click here to be redirected to the Slow Loris homepage. Once you are there, just click on the "For the Love of Flint" shirt and complete your order.

Don't Be Fooled...T-shirts Are Still Available

Don't be alarmed...Flint t-shirts are still available. We sold out the initial inventory — hence the SOLD OUT message some of you may have got earlier. But we have more and they're available from the Slow Loris homepage. But they do seem to be selling fast and supplies are limited. Okay, I should stop because I fear I'm starting to sound like a Flint car salesman.

Just click here and select the "For the Love of Flint" shirt option.

UPDATE: Now you can get an Extra Small version in white with blue ink.