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- [00:09]
Narrator
Imagine being a successful sign shop owner for most of your adult life. You're running your business with the latest technology and the skill of a seasoned craftsman. Then one day, on a whim, you start experimenting with drawing and painting. And to your surprise, your work wins an award and people are willing to pay good money for your art. Suddenly your career embodies a fascinating duality. It's this business of sign making with the free flowing creativity of fine art. This was not a planned shift, but rather a natural evolution shaped by life's events. And you come to realize that both sides of your work have been influencing each other all along. Well, that's the story of my guest today, Scott Owen, owner of Owen Art Studio.
- [01:06]
Dave
Hello and welcome back to another episode of Locally Owned. Today I'm speaking with Scott Owens and the owner of Owens Art and Signed Graphics in Columbiana. And I've known Scott for quite a while. His career has led him from starting out in art to becoming an expert sign maker. Now to bringing art back into the picture. And we're going to hear all about his journey today. So, Scott, welcome to the show.
- [01:33]
Scott Owen
Thanks for having me. It's an honor and pleasure to be here.
- [01:37]
Dave
Yeah, well, it's an honor and pleasure to be your friend. So get to know you over the years. So in looking at your history, you started out with this influence of your mom, seeing your skills in art, seeing at an early age that you've got something there. And your dad was maybe a little old school where it was like he's got to have a good work ethic. That was your dad's job, was to make sure you were.
- [02:00]
Scott Owen
Yeah, absolutely. It was really an interesting deal. Mom always, every birthday, every Christmas, always got art supplies for a gift. And so I really wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, but I always got them. I was always encouraged by a loving mother and she always said, if you don't use it, you'll lose it. But on the other hand, I had a dad who was all about work ethic. He had three sons and I was the middle son. And how do you keep us going and how do you keep us out of trouble? So he always taught us. We started working, trying to make our own money when we were pretty young. We had an uncle that had a local sawmill and he would take us up there early as seven, eight years old. And we were picking up blocks of wood and this kind of thing and taking it off and selling it to people though, to burn in their stoves and stuff to keep to stay warm during the winter months.
- [02:46]
Dave
Seven or eight years old.
- [02:47]
Scott Owen
Seven or eight years old.
- [02:48]
Dave
Still got all your fingers, huh?
- [02:49]
Scott Owen
Yeah, this was before osha, so it was a wild place. But so anyway, we kind of learned to work pretty early on and so I took the skill that I had, that what my mother saw in me and that work ethic my dad instilled in us and, you know, and just kind of put this whole thing together. And it all kind of started when I was maybe 12 or 13. Dad walked in and he said, I told the man down the street you would paint him a sign. I said, really? I didn't know what that even meant. And so mom went with me to the grove, to the, to the hardware store. We bought a 4 by 8 piece of plywood, painted it white, and I'm literally a kid. It took me two weeks to put this up. Then auto sales and a phone number on both sides of the sign. And I got paid 20 bucks for it. So that sort of led into.
- [03:41]
Dave
And you still went into the business.
- [03:43]
Scott Owen
Yeah, you would have thought I would learn my lesson. But anyway, I didn't understand time management.
- [03:51]
Narrator
Scott's parents had a huge impact on the person and artist he became. His dad instilled a strong work ethic while his mom nurtured his creative talents. This balance was clear in Scott's first sign making gig at just 13 years old. He approached it like a seasoned pro, taking almost two weeks to deliver a finished product. Even at that age, Scott showed a commitment to quality that would define his career.
- [04:17]
Scott Owen
So anyway, we. So from that point on, I was just the kid in high school that when they need a backdrop for something for a play or something like that, that I was always called upon to do that. I had this unique ability to. This is long before projectors were available to me or anything, but I could look at a small drawing and had the ability to scale it in my mind and could draw something I was looking at maybe an inch tall. I could draw it 10ft tall and it would come out to scale. Don't ask me how I could do it, but I could do it.
- [04:49]
Dave
Wow.
- [04:50]
Scott Owen
And so that was the thing that made me think about making signs. And that wasn't the thing that I did when I was. That my dad came in, that was just something I did. But this ability to draw things really big and I thought, well, that's unique. So when I went on to college at University of Montevalla, I was like, I said I wasn't very good at a lot of things. I didn't do well in English and I didn't do well in math. So I just put down art is what I was going to study. And so wasn't a very good student there either. But I went to class and I did really well in the art classes, but I seemed to enjoy partying more than I did going to some of my classes. So I went to University of Montevallo and then we. But during that time I started, I'd gotten. I'd run out of money, I was paying my way through college and so I got a job in a little sign shop in downtown Birmingham called Art Sign Company. There's a little man named Timmy Rocks who gave me the opportunity to come. And really all I did was sweep the floor and look around and I didn't understand what was going on. But he sent me over to the supply house one day and I bought a. I bought a little number six lettering quill and then I came back, I poured off a little bit of his lettering paint into a little medicine bottle and I took it home and I practiced and I practiced and I practiced and I practiced. So it just became something that I was learning. I didn't know where it was going to lead. I really didn't think it was ever going to lead into a business, especially in those days. This was 81, 82, 83, somewhere along there. So I was in my early 20s and everything was still being done by hand. There wasn't any technology, there wasn't any vinyl cutters or any vinyl. None of this stuff even existed. Not even remotely existed. I can remember saying to someone, well, the computer will never replace the ability to paint a sign. Well, that's not what happened. They replaced the paint. So the way I saw the world was not very forward thinking. But I was lucky enough to keep my eyes and my ears open and to be involved with some other people around the country and some magazines and this kind of thing that I could go, this is what these guys are doing and this is what's going here. Or I pick up a phone. I was pretty adamant about trying to find other craftsmen. And I called a guy out in Oklahoma and said, can I come visit you? And he said, sure. So he was building wood signs and dimensional signs, which I thought were beautiful. I'd seen his work in a magazine and I went out and spent a week there in Moore, Oklahoma.
- [07:26]
Dave
So you saw his work in a magazine. Was it a magazine that showcased people that make signs or.
- [07:33]
Scott Owen
Yes, Signcraft magazine, based out of Florida. And it came out only in like 1980, 81, about the time that I became interested in all this. And so I picked one up at Art Sign Company and I kept looking at it, looking at it and the. And so I went out and visited this guy and he was beta testing a vinyl cutting machine. Never seen anything like it in my life. And when I came back to Alabama, I called the company and said, how do I buy one of these things? So my dad reluctantly signed on a note for me to buy this. This is 1982. This machine was 12,250 bucks. That was a lot of money. That was a lot of money in comparison. That'd be like spending $50,000 a day.
- [08:13]
Dave
Yeah.
- [08:13]
Scott Owen
So I had this thing and it's this machine. And then along with my talent, I started blending technology and old school types of things into sign work.
- [08:27]
Dave
And then it's interesting. So what was just to get into your mindset a little bit. Most of us drive by signs every day and we don't think of them as art, as a work or something that an artist would do. But you did, at that point you understood that, that this is art. And I guess. Does everybody in the world of making signs and doing graphic work understand that this is artwork or. No, you're more of an artist to me than some other places that I used before I met you.
- [08:58]
Scott Owen
Most sign companies today, in particular today are strictly production. You hand them your logo wherever, and they just reproduce it onto whatever materials or whatever you want wanted to do. You know, it's a functional product at that point in time. But I never looked at it that way. I always looked at it from artistic or a lettering point of view. And I saw all the beauty in what I saw. These craftsmen from around the country.
- [09:23]
Narrator
While Scott is undoubtedly talented in sign making and graphic design, I really feel like his true gift is his dedication to mastering his craft. I mean, you think about it, he got hired to sweep the floors. And from a job like that, he begins perfecting his skills and his abilities for sign making. And he travels to Oklahoma to apprentice under someone that he'd never met. Because it was just about the learning. It was about becoming the best he could be. You know, most people see signs as simple markers, letting you know your at the right business. But Scott sees them as an opportunity to elevate a brand, blending beauty and functionality in a way that tells you you chose the right business. His ability to see the potential, it's got roots in his early work ethic.
- [10:17]
Dave
And his artistic drive.
- [10:21]
Scott Owen
And I thought that's Just absolutely gorgeous. What I saw some of these people doing, and they were using all these materials that I'd never even thought I'd even seen. You know, gold leaf. And then the wooden signs I was telling you about, the guy in Oklahoma, he was sandblasting these wooden signs he was making. They were just. To me, they were art and they were beautiful, but they were also functional. And that goes back to when I was brought up, is that, yeah, it's okay to have this talent, son, but it's also important to know what to make a living, how to. How to work with it.
- [10:56]
Dave
Yeah.
- [10:56]
Scott Owen
I saw the sign industry as a way that someone like myself, that was. I felt like I had a gift, that I could use it and still make money with it. You know, I'd maybe visited the Birmingham Museum of Art once. You know, you see a Picasso, you know, I couldn't get there from where I was at. Right. Even after studying art in college, I couldn't get there from there either, but I could. But I could make signs. People, you know, the people that I knew that owned an oil company or a gas company where they were doing work on old cars and these kind of things, these guys needed someone like me. They didn't know where else to find anyone that could do what I was doing. And it just created an opportunity. And then with the little simple technology that we brought into the shop early on, it helped me expedite certain jobs that were monotonous. Instead of sitting there painting all those little letters by hand, we could do that with the machine. While the machine was working, I was doing these other things so I could see where technology could help. But I didn't have a clue as to where it was going. I was probably just as dumbfounded as anyone as things evolved, but I was just young enough and dumb enough, if you want to call it. Maybe it was a blessing when a new technology would come out that was applicable to that industry. I'd go, I gotta have that. And so I would buy into it. And then once folks that knew me or other people that knew what I was doing said, well, he can do that. He's got this way to do this or that. I would get phone calls from all over the place going, can we get you to do this? And so that's really what turned that love of artistic things or whatever into a business, was this combination of new technology. Which was exciting then, right? It was very exciting. It was something we'd never seen. And then inkjet came along some years later, and so that that changed it again. So we kept having all these little paradigm shifts, and I just would jump on these things as I saw fit, you know, and it worked out.
- [13:04]
Narrator
Scott viewed equipment not just as a productivity tool, but really as a way to push creative boundaries. He embraced technology to experiment with color combinations, 3D renderings, and design options, enhancing both precision and artistry. It wasn't just about working more productively or working faster. It was about exploring the possibilities that are out there so that he could deliver something artistic and extraordinary.
- [13:36]
Scott Owen
Sometimes it was good, sometimes it wasn't so good.
- [13:38]
Dave
So it sounds like you started there and you visited and built relationships with people that were really great artistically at their signcraft, and you built a business around this talent because you saw that it's not just a talent. I can offer value to people for things that they need, you know, for signs and for. You lettered up my vans, and I never really was quite sure what you specialized in. I thought it was probably more signs than vans. It was a little bit of all of it.
- [14:07]
Scott Owen
I don't think we ever specialized in anything. It was what I. If I could go back and say that I specialized anything, it was just taking folks like yourself and saying, okay, you've got a general idea about what you want. What I got the biggest kick out of was helping you create an image that was cleaner or better or whatever.
- [14:26]
Dave
Yeah.
- [14:26]
Scott Owen
And then the application to a van, whether we were painting it on there, we were using vinyl graphics or wraps or whatever, was irrelevant. That's just what worked best for that application. So if same. By the same token, we weren't going to approach a van the same way. We're going to approach a sign by the road. So all those were different. So we're using different materials, different methods of process. All this was different. So what I really enjoyed was helping customers take an image, or we could take an image that we could evolve, we could create together and then see it go through their business, and it inevitably always made them money. Most of the time, the customer didn't understand why I was so adamant about, let's take this and let's make it a little bit better. What I would see with a graphic or an image that they had that they wanted to use in their business because they, quote, unquote, liked it. I always hated that, that you wouldn't. It needed to work for you. It needed to separate from your competition, and then it appealed to your clients. That was the goal. And how we got to that was irrelevant as far as the materials and the Processes as far as what you know, those were just the cost factors that went into that person building their business and always got a big kick out of being able to work with folks like that.
- [15:47]
Dave
Yeah, on that level, I think so, because I remember you, you might remember this too. You actually created my logo. I had an idea, but I remember you came back with an idea for the logo and I just thought, oh, that's really good. You know, like that was better than what I had. You saw the color of the van and so you had to work with that, but the colors you came up with around it really made it pop out. And so over the years of using you, which like I said, I use some other people before you because I didn't, I never heard of you, you know, and I would have never found you. If any one of them was good, I would have stuck with them. But I just couldn't find anybody that, you know, just the workmanship just wasn't there and the quality and just didn't feel like I was getting what I was paying for. And I remember as soon as I used you, it was like, oh, I'm probably never going to use anybody else again. Like the work was that good. And you're care that went into it, you're a little hard to get a hold of or you're behind on sometimes, you know, but, but it was, you know, obviously, you know, you were worth it, you know, so. And, and then I got to the point where I'd drive around and I'd see a sign and I'd go, I'll bet Scott did that sign. You know, because it was really good. Like it looked that good.
- [17:03]
Scott Owen
Thank you, that's very kind. Yeah, that was what was fun. You know, I do remember that. I do remember us creating that. And that was the fun of working with folks and seeing that it worked in your business.
- [17:14]
Dave
Yeah, I had a little bit of.
- [17:15]
Scott Owen
Part of your success. I felt like, you know, whether, whether you could, you could monetize that in numbers or not, that was irrelevant. It was just as that we would get to ride around and say, okay, we did that or we did this and look how much better that looks than this or whatnot. And so that was, that was a fun thing to do and that was the most rewarding part of it all.
- [17:36]
Dave
Yeah, yeah. And you know, you know, I've always meant to ask you because you seem to have this, you know, you talked about a gift for scaling a 1 inch image into a 10 foot image, but your ability to pick colors that go Together that make something stand out. Is that like a. I don't know.
- [17:53]
Scott Owen
See, color was. To me, it was something that I always struggled with, really. Even as an artist, color is something I still struggle with. There are just so many variations on color. You know, reds, not just red. White's not just white. This is where computers really made life. I could sit and play with it, and I would, you know, what's going to work well on that color van? Because the van you had was an interesting color. Blue. It had a lot of green.
- [18:16]
Dave
Yeah.
- [18:16]
Scott Owen
So what's going to step off of that? That's not going to compete with that. So I could see those things pretty easily. And then once we worked it into the job, it worked out pretty well. So, you know, not say we didn't have our failures and successes, but over time, I've learned, you know, what works well for certain businesses. If you're a service industry, like the company that you had or heating and air company, there's certain ways that you need to look and feel that maybe a music company is not going to want to look or feel.
- [18:47]
Dave
Those are different colors.
- [18:48]
Scott Owen
Those are different line values in the text. Those are different impact that that graphic is going to have. Some things need to speak softly and some things need to be speak loudly. Now, that was always difficult to convey to your customer. When all I wanted to do is letter my van or get a sign made. They didn't want to listen to that. I didn't even understand what we were talking about. There was two different languages. And so sometimes we just had to take whatever was given and said, okay, we're just going to reproduce this the way this person wants it and accept that. But as much as I could, I wanted to help somebody. Let's let this evolve. It's pretty easy. It's not going to cost you anything. And then when you get through, you have anything that's better, it's going to be better for you, not better for me. You know, it was that kind of thing.
- [19:31]
Dave
So how long were you in business?
- [19:33]
Scott Owen
Started Sign Graphics in August of 1983, I think.
- [19:37]
Dave
Oh, okay. So that.
- [19:38]
Scott Owen
Yeah, that was.
- [19:39]
Dave
Started that a long time ago.
- [19:40]
Scott Owen
Yeah.
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Dave
How long did it take you before you saw that this is actually going to work out?
- [19:44]
Scott Owen
A long time? Yeah, probably 10 years.
- [19:47]
Dave
10 years?
- [19:48]
Scott Owen
Really? My oldest son was born in 92, and I really don't feel like I made a living until after he was born. So, yeah, close to 10 years. When he was born, something clicked. I was like, okay, you really got to get busy You've got a family to raise here. And I'm going to take what I learned how to do in those 10 years of experimenting. I can turn this into a business. And then the technology in 93 changed again. That was the first time the 486 came out. We had a computer that we could actually see the screen and we could design. And I was one of the first guys in the country ever buy one and had vinyl cutting machine that went along with it. And then around 95, thermal printing came into being. First ones on that again. And then 97, I bought a big CNC machine. So I just started investing in my business and then it started to pay me back a little bit. So it. But the first 10 years, I just call that an experimental that was having a good time. You know, sometimes I spend as much time hanging around on the lake as I was working.
- [20:48]
Dave
Well, you had to be doing something right because I was spending. It took me about 10 years and I was working my butt off.
- [20:55]
Narrator
The early years of any business are challenging, and success is rarely a straight line. Scott's journey is proof that the detours, roadblocks, potholes, all of that shapes us into better, more resilient entrepreneurs. So if you're trying to get your business off the ground and you feel like you just keep hitting roadblock after obstacle after challenge, stay with it. You're in good company.
- [21:19]
Scott Owen
Yeah, I mean, I think it takes most companies, maybe not now, I don't, you know, now there's so much information.
- [21:26]
Dave
But that information, until it's assimilated into experience, it's hard to make that information worth what it's really worth.
- [21:35]
Scott Owen
Yeah. I tell the young people that I'm around, I say, you guys are kind of informed. And they go, why? I said, because you've got all the answers and none of the questions.
- [21:44]
Dave
And so that's a good way of putting it.
- [21:45]
Scott Owen
So, I mean, you know, they can ask their phone anything and it gives them an answer, but they're not really in that position that where they have to really search for an answer. Well, like I said, when I would call somebody that's halfway around the country and go, hey, how do you do this means enough to you that you seek it out. That's different information than what you get just what's on Google.
- [22:05]
Dave
Right. It's different, right? Yeah, yeah. And you're getting that information from a relationship as opposed to, you know.
- [22:12]
Scott Owen
Yeah.
- [22:13]
Dave
Now AI.
- [22:14]
Scott Owen
Yeah, they're not, you know, those folks weren't trying to steer anyone wrong. They're Going, these are what my experiences are. And they want you see you succeed.
- [22:21]
Dave
Yeah, that was.
- [22:22]
Scott Owen
It was different.
- [22:23]
Dave
So the difference at 10 years was you just said, okay, I've got a family to raise. I've got this business. I've got a start.
- [22:31]
Scott Owen
Things have got.
- [22:32]
Dave
Treating it like a business.
- [22:33]
Scott Owen
Yeah. You know, I've had my failures in those 10 years. I'd. I'd had a shop at Impellem, and I'd had some salespeople, had another older gentleman that worked for me as a. He was a sign painter and had a couple other sign painters that worked for me. And I was. I mean, I was 25 years old and had five people working for me, but I really was goofing off. I wasn't. I would pay them on Friday, and then I would have 50 bucks left over or whatever it was. So you'd hit it again on Monday and just hope it was going to be a better week. And most of the time it wasn't. I didn't have much structure to it, but I didn't understand it as a business. I was a bit of a prima donna that I thought, well, I just want to create stuff. I just want to make stuff. And I didn't understand the business side of it. And I think once I got into my 30s and I was a little older, I started paying attention to what it's going to take to make this a business.
- [23:24]
Dave
Yeah. So what's some of the work that you're really the most proud of?
- [23:29]
Scott Owen
Oh, gosh. We've done so much for so many different people. I mean, I've been truly, truly, truly blessed to have had such loyal friends and clients over the years. But, you know, we've done. We've done big subdivisions from. From Tennessee to Florida. You know, we've done a lot of that. We've done. You know, I did the. I think it's still there. A welcome to Oak Mountain sign. It's old, wooden, so that's been there for 35 years.
- [23:58]
Dave
Really?
- [23:58]
Scott Owen
Yeah. It's been there 35 or 40 years now. I think it's still there.
- [24:02]
Dave
You know, you should sign it.
- [24:04]
Scott Owen
Yeah. That longevity of things. I passed one while ago on the way here. I'm going, I did that thing 40 years ago. Wow. Yeah. It was just down on 31. It's still sitting there, and it's. The business is gone, but the sign that we did out of it, it was an old redwood sign that we sandblasted in 1985. It's been there for 40 years.
- [24:22]
Dave
Wow.
- [24:23]
Scott Owen
And it's still there.
- [24:25]
Narrator
What business is that?
- [24:27]
Scott Owen
It was some doctor that's right there.
- [24:29]
Dave
By the hospital, really.
- [24:31]
Scott Owen
So it's got this old sign. It's still sitting out there on our brick columns that we had built back in the day.
- [24:36]
Dave
Wow.
- [24:36]
Scott Owen
So it's interesting to see all these things, but the ones that stick out, I don't know, I mean, there's been thousands and thousands and thousands of them, you know, and really it's been more about the people that I've gotten to work with over and over and over again. And the friendships that I've been able to develop.
- [24:51]
Dave
Right.
- [24:52]
Scott Owen
Have meant more to me than the projects that I've done. It's interesting. The projects kind of come and go. So as I've seen my work that I thought was incredible be torn down because it was no longer applicable, or that business was no longer in business or they moved or whatever. You just kind of learn to let go of those things. But I've had some projects that have won some international awards. Of course, those stick out in my mind. I've been featured in magazines. The Signcraft magazine that I mentioned, that was always a goal of mine to try to be in that magazine.
- [25:24]
Dave
Wow. Wow.
- [25:25]
Scott Owen
It was really interesting. I was in Bloomington, Indiana, at what we call the letterheads meet and you always take your portfolio and I had it laying there and. And so somebody standing next to me goes, which one's yours? I said, the one you're looking at. He says, well, Hi, I'm Tom McIntrot from Signcraft magazine. He's the editor of Signcraft magazine. Would you send me some pictures? So I've been featured in that magazine now three more times.
- [25:48]
Dave
Wow.
- [25:49]
Scott Owen
So that was pretty interesting. I manifest that, I think so all of those things have been great. But to say that there's one project and or the other that stands out, I mean, I've been able to do some big ones. We done some beautiful things for entries to subdivisions. We've done raps that I thought were the coolest thing in the world. We've done, you know, real intricate gold leaf projects and things like that. So they all have. They're all different and. But they're just signs at the end of the day.
- [26:16]
Dave
Yeah.
- [26:17]
Scott Owen
You know, it's the relationships that I've been able to compile over the years and people that still come. I mean, it's odd. I'm working now in some cases for families that I've worked for. The grandfather, the father, now the son or daughter, whoever. So three generations and this Is not just one. I can name this in probably 10 or 12 different families that own businesses that I've worked for. All. All three. That's pretty incredible.
- [26:43]
Dave
It is, because you don't look like you're old enough to do that.
- [26:46]
Scott Owen
Well, I am, but, you know, when you get started as early as I did, I was 20 years old when I started the business. And so 42 years in and to work for all those folks and to have them, you know, their kids called me, hey, Mr. Scott, can you do this? You know, it's. When there was a granddad, he was like, hey, boy.
- [27:03]
Dave
Yeah.
- [27:03]
Scott Owen
And then it was their father, and we kind of met on the same deal. Now I'm Mr. Scott. So it's been kind of an interesting deal, but there's a bunch of. Sometimes I'll come in, so I'll show the grandsons. Look, here's. Here's the project I did for your granddad 30 years ago, a photograph of it, and they go, oh, how cool. Can I have that? I said, yeah, I'll make you a copy of it or whatever.
- [27:23]
Dave
Yeah.
- [27:23]
Scott Owen
So that's kind of neat.
- [27:25]
Dave
Yeah. No, that's amazing.
- [27:26]
Scott Owen
Yeah, it's kind of neat to be able to do that and still continue to be able to. To do what I'm doing.
- [27:31]
Dave
Right?
- [27:32]
Scott Owen
Yeah.
- [27:32]
Dave
Oh, that's awesome.
- [27:33]
Narrator
So.
- [27:34]
Dave
So you've managed this whole time. You've built this business, and. And it's been great. You've had some great accounts, and you've had done work for a lot of people that really appreciate your work, but through it, you've managed to keep this artistic side that adds value to what you're doing. I mean, it really does.
- [27:52]
Scott Owen
I think it does. Yeah.
- [27:53]
Dave
And then you mentioned that you had gotten to the point where, I don't know, the technology or something. You said you felt a little. Started not feeling quite so inspired, and so you shift. I mean, some people pivot in their business and take their business in a bit of a different direction, but you really did something that was a drastic change where you started doing art, and not just art, and tell me about the art, but the live art is. I can't wait to hear a little bit about that as well. So tell me what you were feeling that made you go, you know what? I think I'm gonna start doing art as well as this.
- [28:35]
Scott Owen
Well, it just happens. It's an interesting story. You know, up until, you know, we started 1982. 83. Every year from that point up to 2008, it increased in business and it was in dollar amount. Whether it was a little bit or a lot or whatever, it went up. And it got to the point where I had a pretty good business. I had 10 employees in 2006, seven, 10 employees. We had, you know, shop vehicles. We had the shop, had an airplane at the. At the airport that we were flying back and forth to Florida and to Tennessee or whatnot, looking and checking on jobs, and had a salesman in Florida, salesman here in the state, in Alabama. So it was crazy. And things was good. Things were really good. You were turning a lot of money and doing all the things you think you're supposed to do as a business person. Seems like we're paying the bills on time and this kind of thing. But then when the economy crashed and at the end of 2007, yeah, then going into 2008, I went from having a pretty sizable company to be sitting at my. Setting my shop by myself and without enough money, literally, because I owed a lot of money. I was just like every other small business. I'm carrying a lot of things on accounts and this, so forth and so on. And when it was over, it was over. And so I held on to employees for probably longer than I should have. And it kind of broke the bank. And so I'm there going, what. What do I do next?
- [30:03]
Dave
You know?
- [30:04]
Narrator
Scott asked himself what he's going to do next, and I don't think his answer was what happened next. The 2008 market crash was a defining moment for Scott and his business. Signed graphics. And he faced an incredibly difficult decision to lay off his staff, but somehow he managed to keep the business alive. Well, this period marks the beginning of his fine art journey, a testament to his ability to adapt and grow, even under challenging circumstances.
- [30:37]
Scott Owen
And then you have money. Turn the heat on. So I'm going out there every day. I'm answering the phone, I'm doing enough to kind of keep. Keep the lights on and this kind of thing. And. And so, out of sheer boredom, I just started drawing, and I picked up a photograph that my wife and I had gotten married, and I just drew it, and I thought, that's cool. So I stuck that on the wall, and somebody would come in and say, that's neat. And so. But then I really, really. But that was not what I was. That type of drawing was not what I was really wanting to do. So I started doing all these little weird faces and just wasting time for the most part. Well, Taylor, my wife, picked up one and said, said, you want to put this in this local art show. And so I did and it won. I won a little thing and I thought, that's cool. And so didn't think a whole lot about it. So I just kept playing with these things. The next year I did it. I put one in again. It won it again. Well, then I got asked to do. Will you do an exhibit somewhere? So I did an exhibit somewhere and then another one and another one. So I've had, at this point, had five or six solo shows, you know. And now at this point, I've sold art from Los Angeles to New York to Chicago to. Wow. And I've traveled a little bit with it.
- [31:51]
Dave
That's a great story of how it got started. I was hoping you'd tell me. You picked up the brush and just this rush of blue light came down on you like, this is Scott. This is your destiny.
- [32:04]
Scott Owen
In a way, it kind of. It has been that. So we were signed graphics for all those years. Okay, you knew me as signed graphics. This is signed call, signed graphics, Signed graphics to do this and all this. But I'm a one man show at this point. I don't have all these employees. And to be honest with you, I'd gotten to. By this time, I'd gotten used to it. I'd gotten accustomed to being just doing my own thing. The building was paid for and I had the. All the equipment that I had was paid for. So I'm sitting there going, what can I do with this stuff that I don't have to wait on somebody to call me and say, do this. So art was the thing. I had all the utensils for it, if you want to call it.
- [32:42]
Dave
Right, right.
- [32:43]
Scott Owen
So that's sort of what I did. So I started taking my CNC equipment and cutting out weird things and shapes and faces and using the computers to do it with and trying all these different things and then drawing on the computer and then painting it by hand or drawing it by hand and creating it in the computer and just. Just started playing, you know, just out of sheer boredom. And so one thing just kind of led to the other. And so I would go to these. I would go to an art show or something like that. Occasionally. I didn't go. I don't go to a lot of them. And people would buy my work. And I go, that's crazy. That's cool. So I changed the name. I wanted something more inclusive. So so I started fading out sign graphics. And I'd had a little piece of cardboard that I'd had Since the early 80s that I had written Down Owen Arts on there. And I just always. I kept it all those years it was in blue paint on a little piece of cardboard. And I thought, well, just. I'm just going to be owing Arts because that's more inclusive. Everybody knows me as the sign guy. They know my name, so it's got my name in it. And then art's kind of all inclusive. I think a sign can be art, so. So that's what I did. And so it took me a couple years, kind of fade out one name, fade the other one sort of in. So at this point, most people that we do, it's all. It's Owen Arts. So. And that's sort of my retirement plan, if you want to call it that, if there's a such thing is. Is that I can kind of. I've kind of. I still kind of do both. Still making some signs along. I don't do any big projects that I. That I build in. In house. I'll farm those out to someone else, still do the design work on them, still kind of oversee them, you know, and then do the things that I want to do.
- [34:24]
Dave
Do you see in your artwork this kind of what started at an early age, this work ethic and this.
- [34:31]
Scott Owen
Yeah.
- [34:32]
Dave
And this creativity that are married up and how you might have honed that craft from years of owning sign graphics and.
- [34:42]
Scott Owen
Yeah, I think owning signed graphics for all those years and working with customers, creating their logos or creating ideas for them or whatnot, I think I was using the same muscles that you would use as an artist, the same middle muscles, the same hand, you know, working with your hands and doing the same things that we're doing. So as a matter of fact, I've had friends of mine that are artists that said how, you know, how you seem like you just came out of nowhere. Well, I did and I didn't. If you look at the group of artisans in Alabama that I've gotten to know, which are great people, I did just come out of nowhere. But I'd been doing this every day for 30 years, but in a commercial setting, rather, in the other setting. And so now I've been able to kind of marry up the two. Sometimes that's easy and sometimes it isn't. I find myself wanting more time just to create for myself. But I've already agreed to do other things for folks, too, so. But. But all in all, it's a. It's a. It's a good ride.
- [35:40]
Narrator
Owen Art Studio has this unique duality of precision and passion. It's kind of like Somehow Scott has the ability to take the same ingredients and make two completely different meals out of them. The sign making side is like a masterfully written advertisement, honed by years of studying, persuasion and design. And yet the art studio, on the other hand, has this feel like a heartfelt lover writing a love letter pouring out emotion onto the page. And together, it reflects Scott's ability to merge practicality with creativity.
- [36:25]
Dave
I could see where people thought you came out of nowhere, because when I saw that you were doing Owen Arts, I was like, okay, I know him as a successful business guy in the sign business. You know, I better call Scott, make sure he's okay.
- [36:39]
Scott Owen
Yeah, I mean, I had other people that asked the same thing. So what are you doing and why are you doing this? And, you know, I had some people tell me, you know, you can't sell that stuff here in Alabama. You know, you can't do that. And part of that's true, but they. But the Internet changed a lot, you know, so now with the access to the Internet. And so I've shown art in London, England, shown art in Chicago, and sold pieces in Philadelphia and Boston, and sold pieces in Los Angeles and Dallas, Texas and Florida and different places, some of that online, and then some of it will do a show somewhere and you know, you'll have. You'll meet. Meet people and they'll come, they go, I love your art. And they'll tell someone else about it and, hey, can you do something else for me? And so it's not enough that I can stop my day job really right now that I if focus on it all the time. And I'm not certain that I want to. I like the marriage of the two right now. I still get to work with the customers that I've had for years and years and do the things that they asked me to do and continue to have those relationships and be a part of their businesses and their lives and their families and all these other things. And then on the same token, I can flip over and create art, and if it sells, it sells. If it doesn't, it doesn't. And that takes the burden off to create artwork that falls into a particular category. I made myself a promise when I started doing this that if I can't do what comes naturally, then don't do it. Artwork. I try to remove my personal feelings about it. It's just of me, by me.
- [38:15]
Dave
Yeah.
- [38:15]
Scott Owen
And that's different than if I'm doing something for you or for some or someone else. I'm helping you create something that's going to work well for your business, and I love doing that. But the other is a different mindset for me, and I try not to let the two of them marry up too much.
- [38:32]
Dave
You know, I think of it almost a little bit like. And I don't know if this is true. This is just my theory being having a background in music. I look at a guy like John Mayer. John Mayer was doing something with the remains of the Grateful Dead under the name Dead and company, and he was going to take Jerry Garcia's place. All I knew of John Mayer was, you know, your Body's Wonderland, you know, and these pop songs, you know, And I didn't think of him as a guitarist, and so I went, and my opinion changed. Dramatic. I was blown away at his talent. He's one of the most talented guitarists playing right now, for sure. And. And I thought, okay, maybe he. What he did was he said, I've got to make some money in order to do some of the things that I want to do. So I'll write some pop songs, and if they sell, I'll make enough money where I can go back to doing some of the things I like to do. And that's what he's doing. He's touring with the Dead and company. That's not a big sellable thing. Well, I guess it is. There's still a lot of Dead fans, but he's putting out stuff that is nowhere near as popular as Wonderland. You know, it's nowhere near as popular as some of the stuff that people know. But he's doing what he wants to do. So it's almost like you figured that mix, too. You thought, okay, I can use this talent to. To give people something that's really useful. And it's been great. I've built relationships, and I've been able to provide for them something they need and give it to them in good quality. But, you know, this is something that I have a talent for, and, you know, I'm going to be able to enjoy doing this and producing this.
- [40:09]
Scott Owen
Yeah, that's exactly right. We all do what we have to do so that we get to do what we want to do.
- [40:14]
Dave
Yeah.
- [40:14]
Scott Owen
And that's sort of where I'm at. Yeah, it's a very good. Very good example of it. With John Mayer, you're doing what you want to do, but there's not anything wrong with either one of them. There's nothing right making money. There's nothing wrong with doing those commercial projects. There's nothing wrong at all. But there's Also nothing wrong with saying the heck with it. I'm going to do what I want to do today. You know, there's nothing wrong with.
- [40:33]
Dave
The problem is don't get it in the wrong order. Because if you start out as a true artist and then you do things that make money, he's a sellout, you know.
- [40:41]
Scott Owen
Well, I think that's what happens to a lot of people. You start out as a true artist. I'm. I'm the opposite. I didn't have a clue what art was when I was 20 years old and not until Taylor and I got married. And her family, she's got a family, all of them artists and this kind of thing. I'm going, well, I can do what he's doing and he's making money. By this time, I'm 50 something years old. And so I understood it only as an old guy really that art can be part of what I'm doing. I always thought that the sign work was art, but I came to a real realization at some point time that not everyone sees it that way. And so you raise your family, you do the things that you've got to do, and there's nothing wrong with that. But the combination that I've got with the two right now, it's pretty sweet. It's pretty beautiful. And the cool thing about it has been the artwork touches people on a completely different level.
- [41:34]
Dave
So it's.
- [41:35]
Scott Owen
One really feeds the soul and the other one, I guess feeds the.
- [41:39]
Dave
Feeds the family.
- [41:40]
Scott Owen
Yeah, exactly. So but to be able to do both is. It's been really beautiful. Yeah, it's the, you know, that's what's so cool. So if you come to my studio now, which used to be the shop, now it's called the studio. You know, there's art on the walls and there's all things that are going on in the mix of all the others. So it's. There's always something there to talk about.
- [42:01]
Dave
So your life right now is this reflection of, of your dad, he's got to work and your mom here's the artist. Now you said that your art is very physical and you like that aspect of it. I'm not sure. Many people describe the way they do art as something very physical.
- [42:19]
Scott Owen
Most Americans knew Jackson Pollard. For us, he called his work a physical work, you know, where he was throwing paint at the canvas and this kind of thing. Mine's some of my work similar in that, that regard. Everything that I create, it comes off of my head and my hand and it's. And I Like working really big, not that I always do. And I work fast and I work standing and almost like I attack the canvas. I like that energy for the most part when I'm doing large canvases, they're really physical. I have changed my style a little bit on some pieces that are a little bit more methodic, but when I'm really just doing my thing and I don't really care what the outcome's going to be, it's pretty physical. It's got a lot of energy into it, you know, and it's odd. That's what seems to be the thing that if you look at it from the business point of view, that people like.
- [43:07]
Narrator
Scott's approach to making art is as unconventional as his career path. From using stir sticks to cardboard, he incorporates a hands on, physicality driven process that reflects his journey. He's found a way to blend the structure of his business mindset with the raw, unfiltered nature of creativity. It's a great reminder to us all that success often comes from doing what makes sense to us, not to others.
- [43:35]
Scott Owen
Then, like you were asking, I have, I have painted a few times, maybe six or eight times. Live with a, With a band.
- [43:43]
Dave
Yes.
- [43:43]
Scott Owen
Kind of interesting.
- [43:44]
Dave
So, so tell me how like your first time doing it, like, what made you go, hey, what's missing is a dude painting something up there?
- [43:52]
Scott Owen
I didn't think of it. Bruce Andrews, I don't know if you know Bruce, that is the executive director of the Shelf County Arts Council. He kept saying to me, he said, you need to paint with our band. He had a band called Two Blue and the Lucky Stiffs. Okay. And I said, oh really? It's like, I don't know if I can do that. So anyway, he talked me into it. So the first time I, I don't know, I got there, set up a canvas and I had no clue what I was going to do. And to be honest with you, I didn't think the piece of the work that turned out that evening was all that great.
- [44:23]
Dave
Did you take a hit of acid and then.
- [44:24]
Scott Owen
No, I didn't, unfortunately. But so anyway, just, you know, so it, this, there's play and it went on for an hour and a half, two hours. And the entire time I'm, I'm painting this thing, you know, I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm nervous. It was mind boggling. So. But then afterwards, the thing sold for over $1,000.
- [44:41]
Dave
Wow.
- [44:42]
Scott Owen
Yeah. So I thought, this is great.
- [44:44]
Dave
Wow.
- [44:45]
Scott Owen
Yeah, so I thought that's. They auctioned it off. But then. So I've done that with them maybe five other times, you know, and it's always fun. By the third or fourth time I had my stick down, I knew what I was doing. I knew, okay, this is what's going to happen. They're going to be playing music and I'm just going to do my thing. But to begin with, yeah, I didn't know.
- [45:05]
Dave
I didn't know, like, anything that you start brand new. Yeah, that's. That's brave now. Now, does the audience influence what you're doing in any way?
- [45:14]
Scott Owen
I think the music, the energy to the music. I think in those particular cases, yeah. You did that.
- [45:20]
Dave
It does, yeah.
- [45:21]
Scott Owen
I mean, there's another one that I did it. I'd come all the way back from Cincinnati the night before. I'd driven all night. I knew I had to do this thing the next night. So I got back home about 3:00 in the morning, got up and went to the studio at 6 and stretched a big old canvas and took it to the arts council, set it all up. And so I was. By the time 7 o'clock came around where it was time for me to do my thing, I was exhausted. So I just kind of walked in and I just started drawing something and just painting and did this big four by six painting. And when I got through, I just walked out the door and I was tired. I just went home, went to bed. Well, that painting.
- [45:50]
Dave
People thought you were being like a standoff artist.
- [45:52]
Scott Owen
Yeah. So. But I. But then the painting sold for like $4,000 later on.
- [45:57]
Dave
Wow.
- [45:58]
Scott Owen
So, I mean, it was.
- [45:59]
Dave
Wow.
- [45:59]
Scott Owen
It was crazy, you know, so there. So that. That makes it fun.
- [46:04]
Dave
That is amazing. And. And who would have thought that you could marry up, like, you know, a band on stage with somebody, you know.
- [46:11]
Narrator
I've seen some videos where people are.
- [46:13]
Dave
Doing that and that whole visual reaction.
- [46:15]
Scott Owen
To it or whatnot, but I'd never done anything like that in front of people. So it was. It was not very comfortable to begin with, but after a few times, I got a little bit more comfortable with it.
- [46:24]
Narrator
You know, I feel like this story really highlights Scott's work ethic and artistry. Perfectly exhausted from a trip, he still pushed himself to paint with everything he had left in the tank. So it's that raw, vulnerable effort that results in a performance that connected deeply with his audience. And the painting sold for $4,000. So it's a great reminder that rising to the occasion always leads to extraordinary outcomes. Live performance is not something he's ever done. And so to do this is such a display of the courage it takes to be innovative, Letting the music influence his painting in real time so that he creates this visual experience for his audience. You know, that's not something that you can learn in a manual or a course. It takes raw, authentic courage to look at what life offers you and then act on it and risk rejection by just putting yourself out there. It just shows that taking risk is a fundamental element to being an entrepreneur or being in business for yourself. But ultimately, maybe you'll never really connect with your audience on a profound level if you're not willing to take a risk and put yourself out there.
- [47:48]
Scott Owen
I haven't done it in a while.
- [47:50]
Dave
Yeah, well, next time you're doing it, you gotta let me know. I'll be out. I want to come out to the show. I'm a heckle you.
- [47:56]
Scott Owen
That's what I need. Yeah, that's what I need.
- [47:59]
Dave
So, you know, you've gotten your. Some. Your artwork submitted into some notable collections and juried shows. And so if there's somebody that would really like to do that, do you have advice for, like, how to get that to happen or other than don't suck.
- [48:16]
Scott Owen
Don't suck? Yeah. Well, I don't know. You know, it's so subjective. You know what? Somebody may think that something I did is great, and the next person may think it's awful. My mother's my worst critic. Most of the things that I do, she tells me that it's awful. I mean, we all have opinions about what we like or we don't like. Be true to yourself. You do it for yourself first. You do it for the money last. If you ever try to reverse that, you. You won't be successful. And that's the hardest thing to keep in mind.
- [48:44]
Dave
Yeah, you're me doing artwork that you hate.
- [48:46]
Scott Owen
Yeah, that's exactly right. You get up every day. Well, you might as well have a job if you know or something doing something else that you hate, because there's not. Even if you sell a few pieces here and there for what sounds like a good. Good money, you know, the downtime kills that. I mean, you break it down. You break it down from there. So do it because you want to do it. Do it because you love doing it. And then if someone happens to come along that likes it enough to pay you for it, then that's just the gravy.
- [49:13]
Dave
Yeah. So what's next for Owen Arts? Anything that you see trending that you feel like, man, I'd like To work.
- [49:22]
Scott Owen
I just developed. You say it on the back of my phone. I mean, I've got. My responsibilities are different. My brother and I have a storage facility together that we run. And so I've got those things that I'm involved with. And then Owen Arts Studio this year will be more about marrying up my artwork, along with the sign work under one banner, rather than Scott von Owen, who's been the artist, and then Owen Arts, which is the other space. I'm really trying to get that closer together, and that's hard to do because they probably shouldn't be in the natural order of things, but they. But for my own sanity, it's easier for me to do that and have more fun with it. You know, to begin with, when I started doing the artwork, I thought it would be great to have new work. You know, it's going to show up in the Smithsonian or in a museum or something like that. And then, you know, the more that I've done it now it's been 10 or 15 years since I've been working with art and just still doing the other commercial work, is that I think it's more important for me to have the opportunity to talk to people about what their dreams are at this age in my life, and how if they have a creative spirit or if they are an entrepreneur, which I still. Which is creative. Is that. What did you do? What did I do that made this happen? I think that's that when I could look at it from an artistic point of view as well as a business point of view and be able to share both of those. Both of those journeys. They're separate, but they're both still me. I think that's gotten more impact than having a painting on a wall somewhere in a museum.
- [50:54]
Dave
Yeah.
- [50:54]
Scott Owen
You know, that makes any sense?
- [50:56]
Dave
No, absolutely. Absolutely.
- [50:58]
Scott Owen
Because there's. I think the new generation of folks coming up there, they're probably more creative or they're given more creative opportunity than what we had when I was coming along. I mean, when I said I wanted to be an artist or do anything artistically at 20 or 25, it means that was unheard of thing to do in central Alabama. That was just completely unheard of. But now I think the Internet creates more opportunities for people in the creative space, but it's a lot harder for someone to break into these things and try to make it. I think we see it with people that want to start small businesses, whether it's a coffee shop or a clothing store or whatever to begin with. It's all Very exciting, and it's fun. But if to do what I've done for 42 years and still get up every day and excited to go to work, that's a tough thing to try to have done. So if I can help someone along their way, that's a lot of fun.
- [51:54]
Dave
Yeah, it's rewarding. I've heard it put this way, where there's the first half of life and there's the second half of life, and it's second half of life stuff where you're not building anymore. You're looking at what you built and trying to figure out what to keep and what's important to you. And, you know, and I'm right there with you where, you know, something I wish I realized so much longer ago, but just how much. How important relationships are, you know, that they're the. They're the biggest. They're the only thing that's really important to invest in, you know?
- [52:27]
Scott Owen
I agree. Yeah. And that's. That's. That's the fortunate thing that we get in small business. I think we do. You were saying before we started the podcast that, you know, you had a loyal group of people that were your customers. I've been lucky to have that loyal group, too. Like I said, generational families, municipalities, these kind of folks. Some of them have come and gone. Don't get me wrong. I mean, it's not everywhere. But to be at this point in my career, in my life, and to have those relationships and the good ones stuck, and that's all that mattered.
- [52:59]
Dave
Yeah.
- [53:00]
Scott Owen
You know, and the rest of it, it was just. We were all just doing a job, so. But the good one stuck, and I made it, and it's benefited me both financially and emotionally and creatively. It doesn't get any better than that.
- [53:14]
Dave
Yeah. You know, well, hey, I know some people are gonna, you know, hear this and have some work that they want you to come take a look at or need some art for their home or wherever. How do they get ahold of you?
- [53:27]
Scott Owen
The easiest way to get a hold of me is Owen Art Studio, owenartstudio.com and then just call me at the studio. It's 205669 9700. That number's been in existence now for 40 years.
- [53:44]
Dave
I know. I actually haven't memorized, so, I mean.
- [53:47]
Scott Owen
It'S been around for a long time, but, you know, I'm still there, still doing my thing. I'm not. I'm not a big. The big guy on the block anymore. And that's Fine with me. And. But if you've got a business and you're trying to. You got graphic issues or whatever, or it's not working for you, call me. I'll see what I can do.
- [54:05]
Dave
Yeah, I highly recommend you do. I was always very happy with the work you did for us. And if the vans hadn't gotten destroyed in a flood, then your artwork would have still stood. But your sign is still out front of our shop, and the one on the shop.
- [54:19]
Scott Owen
There you go. I mean, so, you know, there's. Like I said, eventually it'll fade away, and.
- [54:23]
Dave
Yeah, that's.
- [54:24]
Scott Owen
That's the way it'll be.
- [54:25]
Dave
Yeah. Well, Scott, this has been great. I loved having you on the show.
- [54:28]
Scott Owen
Thanks for having me, Dave. I mean, it's just. It's always an honor to be able to talk about this stuff. I appreciate you.
- [54:33]
Dave
Yeah. Yeah.
- [54:34]
Scott Owen
All right.
- [54:34]
Narrator
Scott's story is a great reminder that separating our passion from our business might not always be the best idea. The there may be a way to connect it and that can create a more exciting business that we're passionate about. And, of course, it also is a great reminder that it's never too late to do that. Sometimes we leave behind talents that we don't see as useful in business. But maybe, like Scott, we just need to follow them and see where they go. You never know. It could transform your entire career. As we wrap up, maybe Scott's story has inspired you to revisit a passion or reinvent yourself. What's holding you back? What sparks of creativity are you putting out before they can ignite? How can you blend your practicality with your passion? If you'd like more inspiration, check out Scott's work@owenartstudio.com Thanks for listening. See you again. Thanks for listening to another episode of Locally Owned. I hope you found this episode to be helpful and offer quick, actionable strategies. Please don't forget to hit the subscribe button and leave a review. You can find more episodes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or go to our website, streetsmartentrepreneurship Biz to find show notes and links and more.