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Photo by Hans Hallgren

Logan Otis shows off one of the trio's designs on his shirt, a stencil of a brass knuckle. The group has begun taking custom orders from friends and spending their time after school making shirts.

Three BMX bikes are parked in front of Kevin Hickson's house on Russell Street.

In the backyard, on a cement strip in front of an underground garage, three Moffat County High School students, dressed in skate shoes and fitted, backward caps, are hunched over their new project.

Instead of sitting on the couch or riding bikes at Sherwood Forest, the trio - Matt Herschberg, 17, Logan Otis, 14, and Kevin, 14 - have tapped into their artistic side and started designing and making their own T-shirts.

"I think it's great," said Kevin's mother, Julie Hickson. "It keeps them out of trouble. And, you never know. It might go somewhere."

About three weeks ago, Herschberg said he was bored and decided to start designing shirts.

He went online to find unique designs and developed a technique of cutting out his own stencils on a transparency sheet. Then, he transfers the designs onto plain T-shirts with spray paint.

Herschberg, who is the only one of the three with a job, pays for the supplies to create each of the T-shirts, but he sees it as a worthy investment.

"We wear them to school and people come up to us and ask about them," he said. "It happens a lot. I'm used to it now, though. It's nice to make a few extra bucks."

He said someday he hopes the group can buy a silk screen and produce more unique designs.

Logan said the project was started out of boredom has turned into a blend and business and pleasure.

"We got three new customers just today," Logan said.

Wendy Otis, Logan's mother, works at the high school as a study hall teacher. She looked on as her son and his friends fed off one another's ideas.

"When they started this, I was thinking about how kids' artistic side can sometimes get forgotten in school," she said. "I think it's great they came up with this on their own."

She said it's important not to criticize differences in students because "everyone is good at something."

"Some kids aren't good at math or science or things like that," she said. "Sometimes people forget about the idea of creating."

The three usually use their own designs of grenades, skulls or brass knuckles.

However, the group has begun taking custom orders from friends, and some have taken them outside their comfort zone.

A girl named Abby called for a shirt with a different kind of message.

"She wants hearts," Herschberg said. "Hearts are the only thing I can't draw."

He worked for a while on the stencil and tried out his new design on various surfaces around the garage until he was satisfied.

Even then, the shirt didn't come out perfect on the first try.

But it's all worth it when he sees his designs in the hallways at school, he said.

"That's the cool part," he said. "When you see people wearing them around and it's like, 'Damn, I made that.'"

As Wendy looked on, she could see the students' enthusiasm for their new project taking them further than they could imagine.

"I mean, look at Chaos Ink and how far they've gotten," she said. "It could turn into something bigger if they want it to. But it's just great to see them create something all their own."

Nicole Inglis can be reached at 875-1793, or ninglis@craigdailypress.com.