Opening Note
It's Halloween season, and I'm here for it
"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth."
— Oscar Wilde
I absolutely love this time of year. October is the one month where everybody gets permission to play with how they're seen. Costumes, makeup, a whole new character for one night. People who would never wear red lipstick in March will do it on the 31st and feel more like themselves than they have all year.
I think about that a lot as an artist. Every figure I paint wears glasses, and inside those glasses there are florals. For a long time I thought of that as a styling choice. Now I see it as something closer to a costume in the best sense. It is how my figures choose to be seen, and how they choose to see the world back.
So this month is about play, about new work, and about the room we walked into at the Atlanta Art Fair. There is a lot happening in the studio, and I'm excited to share it with you.
Studio Note
New things are coming out of the Loft
The studio has been busy in the best way. Coming out of Colors of Understanding and the launch of The Art Yard, I wanted to make sure EBC Loft keeps growing in directions that feel intentional, not just busy.
Here is what is new this season:
Repeat patterns. I'm building a new line of original repeat patterns for sale, released in seasonal collections starting with Fall. More on that below.
Commissions. Four commission spots are still open for the rest of 2026.
Each of these is a different way to bring the work home. Some people want an original canvas over the sofa. Some people want a pattern on a pillow, a wall, or a product they're designing. I want EBC Loft to have a door for both.
On the Easel
Introducing the first EBC Loft repeat patterns
Before I ever called myself a painter, I was making patterns. My years in apparel and production art at Carter's, Oxford Industries, and IG Design Group taught me how a single motif can carry a whole product line, and how much care it takes to make a print repeat cleanly without anyone ever seeing the seam.
This new pattern line brings that background back into the studio. I'm calling it Bolt & Wall, and it will come out in seasonal collections of four to five prints each. The Fall Collection is first, followed by Christmas, New Year's, and Valentine's Day.
Every collection mixes two kinds of prints. Signature prints carry the EBC Loft style, the same color, florals, and personality you see in my paintings. Everyday prints are the classics I have always loved building: plaids, stripes, and argyle. They're the kind of pattern that works on an ordinary Tuesday and still feels intentional.
I'm just getting started on the first set, and I wanted you to hear about it here before anywhere else. The patterns will be available on Spoonflower, Etsy, and my website, ebcloft.com, starting with the Fall Collection at the end of October. They are made for designers, makers, small brands, and anyone who wants to put a little EBC Loft into their home or their product.
Every pattern will come with two options. A personal use license is for the person sewing a quilt, wrapping a gift, or making something for their own home. A commercial license is for small businesses and makers who want to put the pattern on products they sell. If you're a brand looking for something more, email me and we'll talk it through
A Piece of Insight
What we learned at the Atlanta Art Fair
This month the EBC Loft team spent time at the Atlanta Art Fair at Pullman Yards. This is only the fair's third year, and it has already grown to around 70 galleries from Atlanta, across the country, and as far away as Seoul and Johannesburg. As an Atlanta native, walking into a room like that in Kirkwood felt like proof that this city belongs on the global art map.
We went in with a full list. We were scouting what it would take to have an EBC Loft booth at a future fair, meeting galleries, and paying close attention to how artists present and price their work. We came out with a few lessons I want to share with you.
Presentation is part of the work. The booths that stopped us were not always the ones with the biggest names. They were the ones that told one clear story from the wall to the price list. Our intention at EBC Loft is always a cohesive story, online and in person.
Atlanta artists are not waiting for permission. The fair added ATL CURRENTS this year, a platform just for independent Atlanta artists, along with a Georgia artist exhibition called Low Grit Grins. Seeing local work held in the same room as international galleries reminded me that the gap between where I am and where I want to be is smaller than it feels.
There is room for all of us. The most surprising thing was the range. Artists, galleries, and vendors of every size and style, all in one place. This was my first year going, and I wasn't sure what to expect, but it exceeded my expectations.
One booth that caught our eye was Be Kind ATL by Kinder Paper. We brought home one of their typographic puzzle pieces, and I love the message: TOO BUSY TO HATE.
KINDER PAPER - Be Kind ATL
As an Atlanta native, that one hit close to home. "The City Too Busy to Hate" has been Atlanta's motto for decades. But it also named something I'm working on as I grow my business. It's not that I hate on other artists. It's that I need to stop comparing myself to them so much. Walking through a room with that much talent, it would have been easy to leave feeling small. Instead, I brought home a four-word reminder to stay focused on my own work.
Black Gay & Building
PRIDE COLORS AS PAINT
Pride, the second time around
Atlanta Pride took over the city on October 10 and 11. I love that our city celebrates in the fall. By October, the June rainbow merch is long gone, and what is left is community. The people who are still showing up for each other when no brand is paying them to.
That is how I want to build. Colors of Understanding started in June, but the work it asked of me did not end when the series closed. Being a Black gay man running a business means I am always deciding how much of myself to put in the room. The answer I keep coming back to is: all of it. The glasses, the florals, the story.
Here is the honest part. There are days I wonder if leading with my identity narrows who will buy the work. That it might be smarter to soften it, keep it general, make it easier for everyone.
But every time I have made work that was specific to my life, it has found the right people faster than anything general ever did. Specific is not small. Specific is how people know it is real.
SNEAK PEEK
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SNEAK PEEK 〰️
Collector’s iykyk
Thumbnails from Colors of Understanding series, and what comes next?
Around the Art Community
If you're in Atlanta, October is a big month for art.
The High Museum turns 100 (Centennial Block Party, October 18, 12–5 p.m.). The High is celebrating its centennial with a free block party on Peachtree Street, with live music, a dance party, and a panel on 100 years of art in Atlanta. I'll be there celebrating. A hundred years of art in our city is worth showing up for. If you go, find me and say hello.
Martin Puryear: Nexus at the High Museum (through January 17). A major show from one of the most important Black sculptors working today. I'm planning to spend real time with this one while I'm there for the block party.
Photography as a Way of Life at the High (now open, through February 7). Another reason to make a full day of it at the museum.
Where the Weird Things Are on the Atlanta BeltLine (October 24, Old Fourth Ward Park). The most Halloween-appropriate thing on this list, and a good excuse to get outside.
Commissions Are Open
Four spots left for 2026
I still have four commission spots open for the rest of the year, including holiday delivery.
I keep the number small on purpose. A commission is a conversation about your space, your story, and what you want to live with every day, and I want to give each one the care it deserves.
Commissions are mixed media, sized from 18 x 18 up to 36 x 36, starting at $324. Turnaround is four weeks from deposit to delivery, with the balance due at the three-week mark.
If you want your piece before the holidays, the last day to place your deposit is November 23.
Not sure what size you need? Download the free sizing guide at ebcloft.com and come to our conversation already knowing your wall. Questions? Email me at ebmurden@ebcloft.com.
Collector's Sneak Peek
A first look before the drop
As a thank you for being in the room, here is a look at where the patterns begin.
Fall Collection mood board
These are the mood boards behind the Fall Collection. Every pattern starts here: color, texture, a few references that make me feel something, and a lot of florals. Some of what you see on these boards will make it into the final repeats. Some of it won't. I'll let you guess which when the collection drops.
And because you're in the room first, you get first pick. Use code ROOM20 for 20% off the Fall Collection on Etsy and ebcloft.com through November 15.
Closing Reflection
Choosing how you're seen
Halloween gives us permission once a year to try on a different version of ourselves. But I think the real invitation is to notice which version felt most like home, and then keep wearing it in November.
This month I'm launching something new, sharing what I learned in a room full of artists from around the world, and reflecting on Pride in my city. All of it comes back to the same question: am I showing up as who I actually am?
So I want to ask you: if you could choose exactly how the world sees you, what would you want them to notice first?
I’d love to hear from you.
Keep creating. Keep innovating. Keep believing.
Thank you for being in the room.
— Edmond B. Murden
Founder, EBC Loft
