Today we step into the world of art and entrepreneurship with Owen York. He is the man who refuses that one must choose between one profession and proves one can have many. He is an artist and entrepreneur and the owner and founder of the Gun Industry Marketplace and Owen York Studios. His skills extend from crafting paintings to designing high-end firearms “as art” to running an internet publishing company. Owen is a man of high morale, high productivity, and creativity. With a level of professionalism and genuine communication, he manages the complexities of running a remote company with ease. Join us today to uncover his story on becoming the mastermind behind the canvas and the Gun Industry Marketplace!
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AmSJ: Hello Owen! It is so exciting to have you here today. We have several questions to go over with you and are eager to hear your responses!Owen: For sure. Thanks for having me.AmSJ: Well that’s great, let’s get straight into it! Who is Owen York? Where do you come from?
Owen: In short, I’m an artist and entrepreneur. I came from an unusually good familyconsidering the day and age and location. I grew up around gangs and drugs in lower andmiddle-class Chicagoland. If you wanted something, you had to get it. It wasn’t given to you – you had to make the money. I started studying how to make money really young. Even from asearly as 8 or 9 years old, I was always doing something. I had my first business at the age of 17.I have 15 staff. I was hungry. I think my hometown was considered tough, or at least tougher. You learn how to navigate through that kind of stuff. I feel like those environments can breed good artists, sometimes out of sheer necessity. A lot of great artists, and even athletes and business people came from my hometown.
AmSJ: I see. And overall how was it growing up in IL? What got you to move to another state in your later years?
Owen: Illinois was great growing up. Cold, but great. I miss the areas where I grew up. But, like many others, I ended up leaving for many reasons. Mainly, I don’t move back because of the politics. I still love going home to visit, but they have ruined my state with the government there.
AmSJ: Yeah, I could see that to be true. As a kid what were things you enjoyed learning or doing?
Owen: I was definitely into the arts. When I was younger, I always considered myself, first andforemost, a writer. I was always good at drawing and painting. I was always doing music, for example, piano, saxophone, and later singing.
AmSJ: I read in an article that your logo for your art studio is actually a character you created at 11 yrs old, is this true?
Owen: Yes. He’s an alien I came up with when I was 11 years old. I started writing about him, and then around him was crearted other characters, and a stories that takes place on earth and another planet, and eventually into the the history of that planets and characters. A lot of that was the subject of my writing and art of my youth. I brought it forward as the subject matter for one of the collections of my fine art.
And an anecdote, it was in art school that I got formally “educated”. And while some of that I value, some I don’t — like being taught “this is how it is, and this is how you should do it, etc.” I call this “being an art slave”. As an adult, one day I realized that I knew what I was doing in the first place. Why did I let somebody dictate what I was supposed to be doing as an artist? So for about 10 years I felt I was off track, but finally got back in the saddle. Even though I was young, I knew what I was doing in the first place — at 11 years old. I should’ve just continued regardless of my education or people’s opinions. They were wrong.
AmSJ: So impressive. Were there any positives getting professionally trained in an art school?
Owen: I learned a bunch of different techniques and media, which for sure contributed to what I do now. Especially my style. I got to play with a lot of different “toys” and that was really cool. All of that self-discovery was very valuable.
AmSJ: I definitely could see that. What inspires you and your painting style?
Owen: Well, to start, it’s not just inspiration. If I don’t do it, life sucks. It’s something I do for myself…and for others. It keeps that creative spark alive. A lot of my art is straight from my imagination. I’ve been writing stories since I was a kid. Eventually, a whole universe sort of got formed up, so I like to paint that universe in my art as visual storytelling. I’m not sure if anyone has done exactly that. Lot of influences over this lifetime have been everything from comic books to movies or television, music, pop, culture, government, etc. Also, I was always interested in impressionism. I like lots of lights, lots of darks, lots of bright colors. In my paintings, I would rather give the impression of something than a photorealistic portrayal of it. I consider what I do Modern Impressionism, actually.
AmSJ: Got it! Now Is there any specific artist you look up to or like to paint like?
Owen: In regards to specific artists, I have mentioned Roy Lichtenstein because he had this comic strip, pop art style. I feel like my work can be similar in that it can be sort of illustrative or like a comic book. So, while he had this comic strip style, I consider I’m following those footsteps in a comic book-esque style. I’ve also mentioned Frazetta, not in terms of style necessarily, but in that he was an illustrator turned fine artist. When I went to school, I trained as an illustrator (this’s that art slave work that I picked), dumped that and moved on into fine art.
AmSJ: That makes sense. Now, more on your style. You said in your interview with Ammoland, that your art is impressionism, but with a personal touch. Could you tell more about this?
Owen: If you look up the definition of impressionism, it is really using lights, darks, colors and values of those to communicate shape and form. The work gives the “impression of the thing”, rather than a photorealistic depiction. If you look at traditional impressionism, obviously, my work isn’t like the old French Impressionists. But, the way I use color or lights and darks to give the impression of something fits the definition of Impressionism. So, I think my work qualifies. Maybe there’s a better way to categorize my work, but I don’t care. Impressionism is at my roots, so I still consider myself an impressionist.
AmSJ: We saw your newest painting “banana boy expresses himself”. What inspired this piece?
Owen: Banana Boy is an alien who I have been writing and drawing since I was a teenager. The fact that he looks like an earth banana is just a coincidence to him. Where he comes from that’s what they look like. And it just so happens that he’s vulgar. I’m sure aliens have swearwords in their languages, too.
AmSJ: haha I’m sure too, it’s a very clever piece! Where can our readers find and purchase your paintings?
Owen: On my website https://owenyork.com/ , you will find a dealer locator to find any currentart galleries or gun dealers I am working with. People can always reach out to the studio to seewhat’s available on my website’s contact form.
AmSJ: Great. Tell us how you moved into the firearms industry and eventually started agun industry publishing brand?
Owen: It started as a hobby. I grew up in Boy Scouts shooting little 22s. As I got older, it justoccurred to me that I should have a gun. It just seemed like a good idea. As you know, it canbecome a very fun and weirdly addicting hobby. That grew into a hobby business. I just appliedwhat I knew about being an entrepreneur and marketing and sales. The hobby business grew toa full-time business. That full-time business grew into staff and becoming “a brand”. We’re inbooks and magazines and radio and getting press and all sorts of fun stuff. But, originally itstarted very simply. I just thought it was a good idea. Turns out, it was.
AmSJ: Oh wow, sounds like destiny did its thing. What made you change careers from art tobusiness?
Owen: I didn’t really change careers. I’ve always been an artist of some type, first and foremost.As far as business, I was always good at it. I’ve always been good at building groups, especially.Like I said I had my first business at age 17 with 15 staff. Most people forget that art is abusiness, just like any other business. If you don’t run it like a business, you’re toast. Like I said,I never really changed careers. I just went from the art business to the art and gun business,both.
AmSJ: I can see that now that you say that. Where does your passion for the Firearms Industry and marketing come from?
Owen: I think my marketing and sales skills are simply because I’m a good communicator and I figured out how to use that communicate to promote things. I noticed that I was a good at it and others were not. This is something that you can cash in on and turn into a business, which I did. AmSJ: It seems like this is easy for you then. I also see you are very tech savvy based on some of your internet marketing services that the Gun Industry Marketplace offers. How did this come to be and how did you get to a professional level?
Owen: My interest in high-tech started with a family member who is a computer programmer. Igrew up around computers in the 80s and 90s, and you pick up a few things. But also it’s mygeneration— I grew up with tech as it was being released. One of my earlier “real” jobs, as I call it, was also in high-tech and so I got even more familiar with it. I was also a partner in another internet marketing company in the past. At one point there, I was listed as one of the top five most ethical and actionable consultants in the country. All of that experience pays off to this day.
AmSJ: You have achieved market trends, viral campaigns and industry buzzes. Could you share with us a little bit about that?
Owen: There’s been quite a lot over the years that I would consider hit this level. Once we did aviral campaign, and it started showing up in other countries in their country’s press in otherlanguages. That was pretty cool. Another time we got something for a client trending around thefirearms industry – I knew it had hit “word of mouth”, because somebody called me and said,“Hey, are you the company that’s promoting this thing?” I said yes. He told me that he had 12different people forward the opportunity we were promoting to that day! That’s what I’m talkingabout. In yet another situation, we got a product so successful and well known that it got pickedup by all these Chinese ripoff companies. At first there were only maybe 5 companies whomade this. By the end of this, there were so many rip-off products that there were like probably50 or 75 or more brands. We definitely created a trend, but that was the end of that Americanmade product.
AmSJ: Very nice! Do you feel the experience from this and all the different hats you have worn helped you become the businessman you are today?
Owen: I think with anyone, all of their experience adds up. So, of course. My experience inbusiness helps me the artist. Me the artist helps me the marketer. And so on. It all adds up. Atfirst, I kept the art career and gun career separate, but I found that as my careers became morevisible, they basically merged — one ended up helping the other. Also, being a good businessman or salesperson or marketer, requires you to be very much an artist, actually. You need to be very creative in order to sell or market something. And you need to be SUPER creative to grow a business. The ability to create is the common denominator. Many people have it. Some of the, use it for art and some of them use it for business or other things. I think it is the same ability.
AmSJ: How did you go about building the GIM? Was this what you intended to create? It looks like you didn’t want to settle and be just another company in the firearms industry!
Owen: Long story. It started as a simple website. It was a simple media site. We did news and reviews and things like that. Gradually, it turned into a marketplace promoting our client’s products. Then it grew like crazy from there. It went from just products, to services, local businesses and even jobs and all sorts of other things. It grew into the modern-day Gun Industry Marketplace. It really became a resource for the industry. No one was really doing this, and I found that when they tried, they weren’t very good at it and so it disappeared eventually. With my background, I brought certain skills to the table, where made it happen and got it to STICK.It took quite a few years. Actually, any day now we are launching the second generation of the GIM website. My intention is to give the gun industry a place where the firearms industry can come together and communicate, network, and promote without censorship or suppression. The more censorship we get in our industry, the more we are trying to counter it using the GIM.
AmSJ: What will the 2nd generation of the GIM be like?
Owen: The new Gun Industry Marketplace is a social networking platform. You can promote reviews, products, services, jobs — anything. All for free. You can create build your own community in the new GIM. We even have a place to dump memes, news, or anything else people want to do. We have an in-site messenger in this one, too. It’s been years in the planning and making. I think the firearm industry may eventually do business through the GIM site instead of through other platforms like LinkedIn or Facebook.
AmSJ: When is this going to be released?
Owen: Soon. We are working on it day in and day out. I am hoping to launch a live beta versionin weeks or less.
AmSJ: What does it mean to be a firearms business owner?
Owen: For me, it’s a Constitutional thing. I like supporting the industry that protects our freedoms. If it weren’t for the 2nd Amendment, there would be no 1st Amendment or any other Amendment. So, aside from owning a cool company and giving our staff a cool place to work and make a living, we all get to contribute to a worthwhile purpose – our freedom to speak, practice our religions, etc.
AmSJ: Tell us how you make guns as art. What inspired you to make Guns?
Owen: I got the idea during the first 3 weeks of the Covid shutdown. I had my businesses – Owen York Studios and Gun Industry Marketplace. It struck me to bring the two together. I would collaborate with firearms industry businesses to create these high-end firearms “as art”. As far as I know, I’m the first in history to do this. I just got it into my head that I should make a gun as art. Other people started remodeling their houses. I started to make a 1911. lol.
AmSJ: How many have you made?
Owen: So far, just one is done. I have 3 more in the works now. We just launched the first one this year and it is selling really well. As with any art, it is done in limited numbers. So this first one we made 25. I just wanted to do a limited number of each gun and move onto the next project and make another cool firearm. I’m not interested in endlessly making a model of gun. I will leave that up to the big gun company pros. Mine is art.
AmSJ: Are you the one making or designing the guns?
Owen: Well, both sort of. I’m definitely the mastermind behind these. I need to find partners tocollaborate with to get them created. This can get very complicated. You are dealing with sometimes many companies, different locations, etc. We’ve already had to invent something that didn’t exist. But yes, I would say I am the designer. Making them is a group effort. That’s for sure.
AmSJ: If you could briefly describe your journey to where you are right now, how would you describe it? Is it what you imagined? Is it better or worse? Owen: It is definitely not where I thought I would be. In an ideal world, I would really just be doing my art studio, making paintings, and guns. But earth is a strange place these days, and you roll with the blows. But I do like where I am. I think it’s unique and I don’t know anyone who’s done it.
AmSJ: Well Owen, it has been a pleasure to get an insight into your life and how you have mixed so many roles into one. Thank you for your time and we will see you next time! Owen: Sure, thanks for having me!
Owen York is the brains behind Gun Industry Marketplace GunIndustryMarketplace.com and the artist at Owen York Studios OwenYork.com