About

Who is this Paul guy?

Hi. My name is Paul Ocepek (o-sep-ik) and I make Art Thingys. In one form or another I guess I've been making art thingys my entire life - from egg crate centipedes to wooden airplanes to giant fishing lure halloween costumes. I have a degree in industrial design and have run my own design studio for the past thirteen years, after toiling in the corporate world for ten. I created Art Thingys as a way to combine my product design skills with my love for illustration and graphic design. I also saw a need in the marketplace for fresh, affordable home decor as described in the following true story:

It all started during the remodeling of my young daughter’s bathroom.

Things were going great until the time came to address the blank walls. What to do? I needed some nice art accents to complement her floral theme.

Framed prints? Ho Hum. Vinyl decals? Nah. Wallpaper? OMG

Yikes, is there really nothing different out there - something non-cheesy with a little modern artistic sensibility - I said to myself, googling the night away.

- cue the cartoon lightbulb going off over my head - 

Hey, I’m a designer - slash - artist - slash - shop hack, why don’t I make some cool wood flower cutouts that pop off the wall in a 3D kinda way? Sure, great idea Paul. So, 6 bandsaw blades and half-a-finger (kidding) later I had managed to create the first prototypes. They were ok, but I knew I could do better. So, I did what any middle-aged guy would do and went out and bought a laser-cutting machine. Some guys buy boats or motorcycles during their mid-life crisis, I buy industrial equipment. I guess I always did like burning stuff.

Anyway, the whole process from design to fabrication, turned out to be pretty addicting so I started making more and more of these...thingys...these art thingys.

I hope I can make one for you...or 10;)

Thanks for visiting.

Paul