RAY SMITH: Yes, at Arkansas State University, I studied studio art, painting, drawing, sculpture, pottery, even jewelry design. My first love is painting, mostly acrylics.

 

PW: So were your intentions always to go into commercial art then? How did you find your way into our little world here?

 

RS: Actually, I didn’t know what I was thinking (laughs)! My introduction to screen printing was the year my younger brother took a job at Memphis Advertising, a small screen printer near our new home in Memphis. I was still in college and I needed some shirts for our frat party. I created the art and got them to print it. Once I saw the opportunity to make money from the other frats and sororities, I was hooked. After college my brother and I opened a small place of our own.

 

The creative process was still there, that’s what I enjoyed. Any other job I tried didn’t have that component. I knew I could always create my art in my “spare time”—ha!—and then enjoy this creative process to actually pay the bills. I did find my background in color theory has paid off with the introduction of graphic programs. Remember, my college years pre-dated personal computers and software. This industry was—and is—ever changing and ever challenging. Every day is interesting… there is no rut to get stuck in.

 

Smith has seen the industry evolve from the days designs were hand drawn and then halftone burnished.

PW: I like the way you put that. That’s very common in this industry—stumbling in and never getting out—wouldn’t you say? Why do you think that is, or, if you don’t want to put words in your colleagues’ mouths, why have you stuck with it so long?

 

RS: I think fighting, creating, conquering, hating and loving this process is why most people stay in this industry. Most of the folks I have worked with started much like I did—taking a summer job at a printer, or selling Ts to schools and so on. I know very few folks who planned on being a screen printer. I also know of very few people who have walked away from this career. 

 

I also would add that even the largest printers maintain a mindset of an entrepreneur. The creative process is always alive in the shop. This tells me that screen printing is more of a craft than a production process and that is what I like about it.

 

PW: I can tell you truly have a passion for this industry, especially when you’re writing or speaking. You seem to have an honest mission in education. Where do you think that teacher in you came from?

 

RS: When I learned how to screen print, it was training by fire. Sure, we knew enough to get by, but I always appreciated the vendors and suppliers coming by and showing us something new. Once I started training employees, I always loved the feeling when the trainee got it. I still enjoy showing folks what I’ve learned and I still continue to learn from folks every day.

 

The shop where Smith first took on managing production.

PW: The perpetual student. I dig that. But not everything can be roses, right? You had to have had some struggles in your career. Care to relive the horror and share? 

 

RS: I feel like I’ve been pretty lucky. I won’t get into any horror stories—too many people will know who I’m referring to (laughs). But I wouldn’t trade any of the experiences I’ve had.

 

PW: Fair enough. But still, if you could impart just a few words of what you learned from those situations that would possibly help your peers, what would you say your lesson was?

 

RS: I can honestly say that I learned better lessons when things went wrong than when things went one-hundred-percent right. What I mean is, when something went unexpectedly wrong, I had to dive into the processes and find out what caused it. Many times, it made me a better printer, salesman, manager.

 

PW: Good thought. One last thing before you get back to real work… I was visiting the Denver Art Museum and found myself thinking about screen printing in the midst of a room full of modern art when I came across this quote by one of the biggest influences on modern architecture, Philip Johnson:

 

This glimpse at Smith’s hobby demonstrates his love for—and talent with—acrylics.

“The word modern means up-to-date; and to use the modern style means to take advantage of the technical achievements of our age. It means using the new materials and the new ways of construction that have been developed in recent years.” 

 

Do you have a reaction to that in terms of what we (or I should say you all) do every day? Or am I just crazy?

 

RS: That is a great quote. Keeping up with new technology and techniques is a necessity, especially in this industry. Put it this way: With the exception of what I learned the first week, which was the very basic principle of screen printing, I really don’t apply anything I learned more than 10 years ago. Each year, something is introduced that makes obsolete an old paradigm. 

 

Is “are you crazy” a separate question?