Printing a Personal Portrait

“This is a time of more opportunity than ever before!” – Paul Gardner

Printing a Personal Portrait

“It’s the hardest job I’ve ever loved!” Paul’s message said.

Of course, this message piqued my interest, so I quickly accepted his generous invitation to get together to “catch up.”  Our get-together happened just yesterday in a quaint Japanese eatery.

“I was intrigued by what you said to me about your work.”  I said.  “Tell me more about what you’re doing.”

I already knew that Paul’s career has been focused on printing.  His experience is broad.  I also know how creative he is.  Perhaps the most important thing I know about Paul’s career is that he absolutely loves printing and the unique value it has added, and continues to add, to all our lives.  Through it all, he remains unabashedly excited about what he does professionally.  His face still lights up like a runway at an international airport whenever I talk with him about his work.  I’ve found that to be refreshing and a little curious, especially in today’s shifting economic environment.

My drive to our meeting was the perfect illustration of the more common view related to the state of today’s printing business.  While driving I passed several legacy, defunct printing businesses as I progressed toward my engagement with Paul.  Such vacant businesses and their still uninhabited buildings seemed to act as monuments to the printing business’ last gasp; printing as it was once done.  To many, they stand as tombstones, memorializing the end of a business era. They offer a vivid contrast to Paul’s youthful belief in and success in a new printing business era.

“Those who haven’t embraced new, available technology are also the ones who haven’t been able to identify the shifting waters of demand.”  Paul explained to me.  “This is a time of more opportunity than ever before!  I just love it!  There’s just something about holding a high-quality representation of your life or product in your hands.” he explained.  

Then he printed a more personal portrait of his enthusiasm, a picture worth more than all the words we had spoken.

“My father was really into genealogy during his retirement years.  He literally went all over the country, as well as overseas, to collect information that was about to be lost forever.  People would often just say, ‘Here. Please take this and preserve it.’ So, he carefully curated all of it through documentation and photography. The result is a miracle, made possible by new personalized printing technology, and I was able to assist him to create beautiful, bound, custom printed books containing all of his work.  My father is gone now, but I can pull one of those books off the bookcase shelf in my home, whenever I want and it’s like, feeling him in my arms once again!”

With that, all of my questions about Paul’s exuberance for his work had been answered.  His personalized portrait had been imprinted and framed deep within my heart.

“It’s the hardest job I’ve ever loved!” Paul’s message said.

Of course, this message piqued my interest, so I quickly accepted his generous invitation to get together to “catch up.”  Our get-together happened just yesterday in a quaint Japanese eatery.

The food we ate was good.  But the portrait he printed was invaluable food to nourish our hearts, minds and spirits.

“We need to do this more often!” I said as we ended our time together.

After all.  The opportunity to learn a master printer’s secrets and have a new personal portrait printed can never happen often enough!