Here's the interview of me with CanvasRebel. Enjoy!
Alright, Greg thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
This is a pretty complex question for me. I’m assuming you all reached out to me because of my woodworking business, but I’ve actually been a creative professional for a long time.
So I’d say I’ve known I’ve wanted to do creative work since high school. I became enthralled with the idea of being a web designer in the late 90s and early aughts when flash websites were incredibly creative and well….flashy! But of course, it wasn’t as easy to design websites back then as it is today and I really couldn’t afford to go to school to learn, so I joined the Army in 2003 primarily for the GI Bill. I served in a technical role in the Army and learned quickly that technology really wasn’t for me, so when I did get out and pursued my undergrad degree in 2007, I decided Biology better suited my needs because I’ve always been outdoorsy and had a “steward of the land” mentality. So I thought a scientific degree would help me branch out and find new opportunities that better dovetail with my interests.
After graduating in 2012 I hadn’t really done much creative work, either personally or professionally. The last artistic pursuits I tackled were probably four years prior when I was still in the Army and, during my deployment, I illustrated a book my wife was writing and I got to create a huge poster advertising some UFC fighters that were coming to visit us in-country for a moral boost. In fact, I still have a copy of that poster rolled up in my closet somewhere. But I digress – being from a rural area, I had a hard time finding work with my newly earned biology degree. I was actually unemployed for about 6 months and was getting pretty desperate. After failing to find any work that I felt would interest me, I came across a graphic design position in a print shop. Again, I hadn’t done graphic design work for a long while but I interviewed for it anyway. I might have puffed up my technical prowess a little bit on my resume and during the interview but I got the job. During the two weeks between my interview and my start date, I learned the entire Adobe creative suite and I was more proficient than anyone else that worked there which still makes me laugh to this day.
After working in the print industry for about 2 and a half years I got the opportunity to become a web designer. Finally, that spark of a dream from 15 or so years ago became a reality….I just had a really roundabout way of getting there.
So that’s the story of when I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path…BUT that has nothing to do with the woodworking side of things, which again, is why I assumed y’all were reaching out.
That all started because of the pandemic. I’ve always been a handy DIYer and worked in construction in my youth but I’ve always been fascinated with the artistry of fine woodworking. After the world shut down in 2020 I was feeling the burnout from my day job pretty hard and I found myself with extra time on my hands, so I decided to pick up a new hobby! I started making some resin & wood charcuterie boards and posting them on social media for kicks. I continued to make some things for friends and family and eventually, an old CO of mine from my Army days reaches out to me and asks “Hey, can you make humidors?” Well…at this point, I had never made a box that complex but I’ve never shied from a challenge. I made my first humidor and it was beautiful. I was so proud. At this point, folks kept urging me to turn my passion into a business, and well….the rest is history
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I dove into this a bit in the previous questions but here it goes!
I’m an Army vet that’s worked as a graphic designer for the last 12 years of my professional life. I’m an avid hiker and a lover of the outdoors. I’ve always been a pretty skilled DIYer and there are few home projects that I fear tackling. I think those two factors always made me love working with the natural beauty of wood. I especially love a primitive/rustic style. Anything that feels at home in a rural or cabin setting. So I started a fine woodworking hobby to help with the creative burnout of my day job. Creating high-quality digital work for people day after day was taking its toll. I was no longer interested in creating digital artwork but I’m a creative person at heart so I needed an outlet.
I officially started my woodworking business back in September of 2021 at the urging of others. I was happy to keep my woodworking as a hobby but then certain thoughts kept tickling my mind….”What if you could do this all the time? How cool would that be?” and so I made it legit. To be fair, I haven’t accomplished that goal yet. I’m still a full-time designer and I might never be a full-time woodworker, but I’m accomplishing small weekly goals with the hope that maybe, one day, I can live that dream.
I started my business making charcuterie and cutting boards because that’s what was super hot at the time. My products were unique in that they were thicker than what you could find on the market and were live-edge boards. I also incorporated mountain laurel, a beautifully twisting evergreen shrub, into my designs…typically as handles or feet. But I didn’t really have any personal connection to those pieces or any real desire to make them other than “it’s woodworking” and “they’ll probably sell and you’ve gotta make that money now.”
So as time went on I’ve built so many things trying to find a niche that doesn’t have a totally saturated market and that actually means something to me. I discovered I love making boxes. There’s something so satisfying about the process. So when my old Army commanding officer reached out to me about making a humidor, I jumped at the chance. It was just enough out of my expertise to be challenging and boy was it fun. I was hooked after that. I wanted to focus on humidor building exclusively but again I didn’t really feel like I could own that niche. Other than they’re complex, expensive boxes that are fun to build, I don’t smoke and I know almost nothing about cigars. So I couldn’t really effectively market to people. Like I’m not going to be able to create great content for folks in that ecosystem because I don’t live that life. You’re not going to get a “Top 10 cigars I’ve smoked this year” kind of email from me….so I went looking for another meaningful niche again.
I honestly struggled here…a lot. I actually read the book “The Art of the Impossible” by Steven Kotler to help me out with this. I was looking to develop more grit in my life (that is, an emotional resistance to setbacks) and come up with a meaningful niche and this book helped me. I sat down and created robust lists of my interests and where they intersect and came up with the idea of these cool laser-engraved maps. I toyed with everything from local hiking trails to illustrations of flora & fauna but eventually settled on something that was more marketable….lake maps! I market to lake homeowners and provide Real Estate agents with a great closing gift idea that isn’t yet another gift basket or cutting board. My maps are all handmade and high quality. I actually create all the artwork of each of my maps and will add a personalized location icon to that map of where your house is. So, as a gift, it’s pretty unique and meaningful. I also engrave the agent’s information onto the back of the map so the recipients never forget who gave it to them and maybe in the future I’ll have more folks coming to me for custom pieces of furniture.
I’m most proud of how my skill in the craft has grown in the past two years. I’ve learned so many new techniques and refined my skills so much, that I can bring the artistry that lives within me to life.
What would I like clients/followers/fans to know about me? Let’s see…
My customer service is incredible. I strongly believe in the customer experience and how much value it can add. I’m trying to focus on making personalized wooden maps for people now so each of those builds are unique to the owner. I own a small shop so you get to work with me personally and I’m easy to contact. I want folks to get excited about their order so I made sure to invest in custom, branded boxes that fit my maps perfectly. Who doesn’t love opening a nice mailer box?
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
For me, I really love appreciation, which is kind of hilarious to say. I know there are a lot of folks that make for their own well-being/creativity and need no justification for their work. They could care less if you understand what they’re making or why. Me though? I like to make functional art. All of my creations have a function and a purpose. They are to be used as well as appreciated. So really, nothing that I create was made just because I was inspired or solely for artistic flair and because of that, I really do find it rewarding when others appreciate my work. And really, there’s no greater display of that appreciation than someone opening up their wallet and forking over some cash to show it. Buying from a maker is so much more than a transaction. It’s meaningful to us. That simple act says to us “other people value my creations enough to sacrifice something” even if it’s just a bit of money. It says to us “what you do is worthy and you should keep doing it.” The biggest reward I feel is when someone buys something from me as a gift for someone else. There’s something incredibly humbling about that. Those people are choosing to use a piece you made as a symbol…to make a statement. The customer is saying to the maker “I value this enough to give as a gift” and to me that’s incredible. Again, most folks probably don’t realize what their actions mean but that’s how I feel.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Buy from them…in whatever form that takes. Sounds simple right? Well, it is! Monetary support is probably the primary driver in so many makers’ lives. Even if they’re independently wealthy or maybe retired and don’t “need the money”, buying from a maker says that “your creations are good enough to be out in the world” and that will very likely keep them going. There are few things as disappointing as disinterest when you’re a maker.
You can check out the live article here
https://canvasrebel.com/meet-greg-loebick/
