I’m Ed Stone (formerly Robirds ), an artist living and working in Cincinnati, Ohio. I have been creating art for most of my life and working as a designer/developer since the mid-90’s. I’ve also released a couple of books that I’m extremely proud of, and have a couple more in the works.
Before becoming a designer/developer, I was a Navy Hospital Corpsman/Field Medic ( ) working with the Marines for nearly ten years. I had spent most of my young life in emergency medicine ( ) but near the end of my Navy career, I had ultimately gotten stuck in a factory making glasses ( ) in the largest optical fabrication laboratory in the world (the Naval Ophthalmic Support and Training Activity) in Virginia.
While there, I met some amazing souls ( ) who have profoundly impacted my life in positive ways. I’m a lucky guy.
It was during this period when I began teaching myself how to design, animate, and to code…which allowed me to escape the military. And I’ve been doing it ever since.
My artwork
My Art = My Life
The things I create constantly evolve: from concise ideas of what I wish to create or capture, into just allowing random sequences of thoughts to take shape and letting the art create itself.
I rarely describe the meaning behind my art — I prefer my work to be wide open for interpretation. Feelings and meaning over a piece of art can evolve over time, but if I define a piece for someone with my own meaning, I might also prevent this evolution from happening and change how someone connects with the art.
I create my artwork solely for the process itself and try not to worry so much about the finished piece.
Taking pictures
Simple beauty is everywhere.
My camera is my muse, and just the simple act of carrying it often forces me to look for and see moments that I might often miss. It’s a pretty magical device.
I try to use my camera in a way that requires little or no post-processing, especially with my more abstract photos. I feel that “fixing” bad captures or manipulating photographs to make them more appealing in Lightroom/Photoshop makes me a lazy photographer.
Prints & things
My stuff…on other stuff.
I don’t create art, take photos or write books with the goal to sell them…but for the process itself. I just love making things that wouldn’t have existed before and if I can offer it to someone else who might enjoy it, even better!
Instead of selling things on this website, I have a separate site at EdStonePrints.com which is managed by an excellent print-on-demand provider, SmugMug, where I dump all of my hi-res images and let them handle the sales, printing, returns, etc., and the product quality is fantastic. Making money from my art is a huge distraction and I avoid thinking about it as much as possible.
I also have a Redbubble account if you want a t-shirt. Or a sticker. Or a coffee mug. Or some other kind of weird thing.
If you’d like to buy an original piece of artwork, please send me a message.
My recent name change
From “Robirds” to “Stone.”
As it turns out, I don’t have a single drop of “Robirds” blood in me.
However, looking back through my scattered family tree, I have a great-great Grandmother, Eda Stone, a Native American Cherokee who died on my birthday in 1914.
When it came to finally changing my last name, not only did I have a great sense of relief…but I also felt a great sense of pride in knowing I was carrying on a name that was actually part of me.
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