What were you doing before Screen Printing?

[Chadwick]

All sorts of stuff that had no relation to this trade whatsoever.

But, I've been doing art forever, and was 'commercial' ( haha, yeah right ) since I was 15.
As in..I got paid to do art, so that's always been around since I've been trying to earn a living.
I'm almost an old fart now, so it's been awhile.

Screenprinting ain't no barrel of monkeys, but it's the most ancient of reproduction techniques.
And it's still around!
Refined and full of sh*t, but it's still around, in pretty much the same mechanics as it was created in.
If you're in it for the money, I've got some bad news for you sunshine.

Put that in yer pipe.
Cheers.

[Evo]

Drumming (for no money)
Grocery stock boy
Carpenter's punching bag
Carpenter's helper
Commercial drywall hanger (ouch)
Screen printing (general shop monkey)
Back to drywall (not for long)
Back to screen printing (full time printer, manual and auto)
Sandwich shop (hey it was free food...)
Back to screen printing (printing, screen room, ink room, shipping, etc)
Drumming (for a little money)
Bike shop mechanic (weekends while screen printing)
Corporate event stage hand (quit printing)
Drumming (for a little more money)
Bike shop mechanic (occasionally when not doing stage hand work)
Corporate event project manager
Corporate event equipment rental manager
Purchasing agent for high-end outdoor clothing and equipment mfr
Bike shop mechanic (weekends)
Started screen printing again on the side with my own equipment (selling my wife's designs)
Grapevine nursery shipping manager
Purchasing agent for high-end outdoor clothing and equipment mfr (different one)
Running my own print shop
Drumming for enough money (finally)
Sold the shop, hit the road (occasionally) and the studio

[beanie357]

Vp of operations for a linen supply company wife and I own. Still implementing the projects over there.
Commercial real estate owner
Party rental company owner
Rental center manager

In younger days did field work, electric motor rewind,garage mechanic, hunt,s Ketchup line mechanic, delivery guy, God humor ice cream man

With am I doing here?

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

If I ever find out what I what I was actually into BEFORE screenprinting, I think I should have to fire myself...just  on principle.  Heck, I'm not sure what I'm actually doing NOW!  If I ever do find out some of the stuff I've been pulling on myself lately, I'm gonna get a pink slip from myself for sure... Then who will make all the requisite monetary contributions to our lazy moocher culture... er, wait....investments... which ensure the smooth flow of well paid idiots into government. Idiots who only have one tenth of the life experiences of most anybody I have read about on THIS thread!!

Wow! You guys have had some amazing life experiences!

But I digress.....


Instrumental Music Instructor, Government Schools 15 years.  Music is woven into the fabric of my being...the fabric which will soon find its way into the huge bin of Scratch Shirts. Pellons, I guess. (I still direct a church orchestra in Wichita.)

Full time Farmer, for 10+ years. Wheat, primarily. I started at the worst possible time and couldn't survive full time.  Learned a whole bunch of stuff. I just had to. Carpenter, General Mechanic, Diesel Mechanic, Plumber, General Repair-handyman style, Salvage Yard Scrounger, Welder (pretty good, actually...for a part timer.  REAL WELDERS are artists!!!) and Heavy Equipment Operator. Wife's brother, with our middle son operate the family's farm in Oklahoma.

Full Time Sign Shop Owner/operator for 17 years. Full Service, including electric signage, all done in house with the exception of vacuum forming of our panned plastic faces. We never had an oven.  I grew up in my fathers sign shop and learned sooooo much from him. Wife and I took over after his decline, and my resignation from public school teaching and continued until we sold the shop, sign cranes, welders and sheet metal shop. We retained very little of the equipment  we would need to run the screenprinting and embroidery shop, which we bought soon after selling the signshop.

Oil & Gas Landman 6 months. Now there's a story!  But I'll skip most of it. It helped with the transition from Signman to Garment Decorator. Might still be doing it, except the price of hydrocarbons is just whackadoodle. My wife intended to run the garment decoration biz, with me buying mineral leases....but I got laid off at the end of 08, when our group went from 30+ landmen to just 3 (three) after the 2008 crash. Unemployed(!) for the first time since 7th grade. We had this garment decoration business, so I was actually unimployed no more than about 15 seconds. Okay...maybe and hour, but that's it. 

I hired myself as a full time screenprinter/separator immediately, and I can fire myself just as fast. So watch it, Mister Schizophrenia... okay? 

Yessir...

I have to wear so many different hats in a day, when I leave my office--which doubles as the vinyl cutter room--to go fix the Tajima, or photograph a Van for decals, or to fix somebody's computer or printer, I often wind up asking "now, why am I up here?"  "Ummm.... We dunno...., but you have emulsion on your hat." 

"No problem, I'll just grab another hat."   We have lots of hats, most of them are flubbed up anyways.

[stitches4815]

Pumped gas
Pumped gas and turned wrenches
Shipping/ receiving in a factory
Drove a truck
Drove a limo(for two whole days)
Laborer
Firefighter(part-time)
Firefighter/Paramedic(full time)
Drove Charter buses(part-time)

There are probably more that I did but I am getting old and can't remember.  I am still doing the fighting full time (only because I need to come to the firehouse to get some rest) and the embroidery/screen printing on my off days.  We have been in business for 6 years.

[Parker 1]

Punched a time clock,  and had hobbies.......

[tpitman]

After college, worked in a photo processing lab retouching the zits off of sailors, sailorettes, and army dudes from their basic training graduation photos. Did freelance for a Penney's Portrait Studio making old bags look like 16 year-olds.
Started freelancing for a banking association magazine, doing the occasional illustration, mechanical art, and photo development and printing.
Got a job at a financial software company in the publications division, doing flowcharts, input forms, and user and DP manual mechanical art for offset printing.
Got a job at an in-house ad agency doing illustration with rapidogoraph pens and newspaper ad production and design, plus a bit of typesetting. This was actually the best job I've ever had.
Got a job at an advertising agency as "graphics coordinator", whatever the hell that meant, doing design, layout and a bit of typesetting. The woman whose name was on the shingle wasn't there much, but was loathe to let go the "art director" title.
Took a job at an offset printshop because the ad agency (above) was too cheap to buy a Mac system and software and I knew where things were going. Stayed there for 2-1/2 years until the fat old bitch that lorded over the place drove me nuts.
Started working for myself. Did all of the pre-press as a consultant for a medium-sized offset shop whose owner didn't want to get into the computer end. Actually made good money at this.
Bought a tee shirt in 1999 at The Last Resort in Port Orange, FL (the bar where Aileen Wournos was picked up), and, not finding a better one for a few years, decided I could do better. I still haven't found a better one at all of the events I've wasted my time at. I found out there was a little bit of money to be made printing for OTHER people, though. Paid for my first press with my first job.
Biggest mistake I ever made was not following through on a graduate degree in fine art. Was all set to go to U of South Florida/Tampa, but decided to get married instead. There's no reason I couldn't have done both, but I was a dumbshit at 22. As Johnny said, "Old too soon, smart too late."

[Scobey Peterman]

Restaurant waiter & manager for 13 years

[Doug S]

Army 4 years
pizza delivery,
plumbers assistant
theater projectionist
UPS delivery driver for 10 years
Owner/operator and operator of Windshield repair and replacement shop and also tinted windows
I helped my dad run a sign/tshirt printing shop for about 5 years "he taught me plenty" sometimes I wished I would've paid a little more attention
Now, I'm the owner/operator of the same shop except with some upgraded equipment.

[tonypep]

Before screenprining? Didn't know there was anything else!

[virgil427]

Lets see, farm laborer
             electronics assembly
             mobile home industry
              truck driver (till my daughter was born)
             heavy equipment operator
             screen printer
             welder
             cematary (?) plot salesman
            millwright
            tool & die maker
            toolroom and maintinance supervisor
            machinist, millwright, welder
           
           opened my screen bus.
           backto school for graphics and web design( just signed up for fall semester)
            prison gaurd (for the beni's 2 days on 2 days off not a bad gig except you can trust the prisoners more than the other gaurds)
            machinist agian till we get our shop going how we want it
Not to hijack thread but I couldn't beleive the screen printing  set up they had to make prison uniforms.

[Im-Magic]

Elefctronics Officer Royal Australian Air Force
Electronics Engineer NASA
Computer Programmer Australian Dept. of Defence
Computer Trainer Fujitsu
Owned my own Computer shop for 10 years
Manager Samsung Qld
Manager Alstom Qld
Got made redundant and considered too old for the Computer Industry so started this in 1995