MAZEPPA, Minn. -- In the digital age, a sign painter in southeastern Minnesota is proving the old fashioned way still works.
Mike Meyer of Mazeppa started making hand-painted signs in 1977.
"Back then, everything was hand painted," Meyer said.
When he was little, Meyer would watch his father, a barber, paint signs in-between haircuts. Besides three years in the Army, it's the only job Meyer has ever held.
"It's all I've ever wanted to do," Meyer said.
But sign painters experienced a decrease in business when technology took off. Meyer weathered the storm.
"There was a time where they said, oh computers are going to take you guys out. There's no more for you, blah, blah, blah," he said.
Meyer says we are now seeing the renaissance of hand-painted signs saying, "People are sick of the digital stuff. They want to see it personally hand done."
For nearly two years, Meyer has been offering beginner and advanced hand lettering workshops. This weekend, about 12 students from across the country and Canada are learning from Meyer at his studio in Mazeppa.
"It's a dying art and, you know, you just don't see people doing it anymore. I didn't know how to find somebody to do it. I've been waiting a long time to find somebody and I found the best," said Lisa Politz of Columbus, Ohio.
Gary Johnson of Basking Ridge, New Jersey finds himself on the opposite side of sign making.
"I've been in the business for 30 years. So when I started out, there was a sign painter there but I was always on the computer side of the business. So I'm trying to rediscover the old ways," Johnson said.
According to Meyer, he had to teach himself how to sign paint.
"When I learned, there wasn't anybody around to help. It was a hidden thing where no one would show their secrets to anyone else and it was rough," he said.
Meyer hopes to pass down his knowledge to the next generation of sign painters. Since starting his workshops, he has taught in 12 different countries, including Germany and New Zealand.
His advice for artists who want to become sign painters -- "Think of the obvious and do the opposite. Where the sign isn't a sign anymore, it's a landmark."
