Today we’d like to introduce you to Faith SCHEXNAYDER.
Hi Faith, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Flatfork Studio was born out of the creative mind and soul of artist Faith Schexnayder in 1990. Design, engineering, construction, sculpting knowledge, casting and painting – combined with a very strong work ethic – are just some of the things that go into a build and design art business. Over the years, Faith has assembled a great team of artisans, and has created, along with her amazing team an astounding body of work all over the country for diverse entities such as Disney, Austin’s Trail of Lights, restaurants, bars, various music festivals, movies and advertising agencies. Rooted deeply and personally in Austin’s creative past and present, Faith is truly an Austin OG! She is a 7th generation Austinite; in fact her family was one of the founding families of Austin, arriving here in 1832. And Faith is a 3rd generation painter, so both art and her community have been deeply ingrained from birth. Her family was a very simple, hardworking lot with no silver spoons or anything else to rely on but their own determination and sense that as long as they took care of each other, they’d be okay. As the only child of a mother who was the 1950 March of Dimes Poster Child, sometimes the extended family did need to step in and help raise Faith when her mother went through trying times stemming from her polio-related disabilities. The kindness of relatives helped instill in Faith a sense of honor and a historical sense of her family’s place in the community and taught her to do good for the world no matter what her life’s path would be.
By the age of five, Faith was already hooked on art, literally having art in her genes. She grew up in the heyday of Austin’s music and arts scene – she even learned to roller-skate in the rink at the site of what would become the iconic Armadillo World Headquarters. She came of age during the most pivotal years of Austin’s vibrant music scene, which profoundly shaped her view of the world and subsequently her vision of artistic creations to come.
Along the way, Faith got her education, took jobs to make the rent, did the time and waited patiently until she felt it was her time to shine. She began in the events business, then worked under master craftsmen to learn various trades that helped her attain her goal. But from the earliest age, she worked side by side with her uncle, learning how to build things and how to make things functional and beautiful.
When Faith founded Flatfork Studio over 30 years ago, the focus was immediately on an odd and unexpected niche of art, with a specialty in large-scale foam carvings, design and fabrication. She always hoped her children would one day look at something cool and say – MY MOM DID THAT! Thus became her drive and purpose. Faith has been married to her amazing husband of nearly 30 years, John Schexnayder, has owned Action Screen Graphics since 1987, providing custom t-shirt screen printing and custom embroidery for schools, teams, businesses and for many of the most famous local bands and clubs, as well as printed for many of the Poster Artists from the Armadillo days. They have two children, who have grown into amazing young adults. And yes, they can point at the giant skull that adorns Gibson’s Bar at Halloween, or the iconic armadillos pulling Santa’s sleigh over StarBar during the Christmas season, Austin’s historic Trail of Lights (also at Christmas), the upside-down roller-skate-clad leg at Stagger Lee Bar, and now at the giant cowboy boot at the new Moody Theater and say, MY MOM MADE THAT! But most importantly, husband John and offspring Emily & John Wiley have been Faith’s biggest supporters, providing her with the steadfast strength and stability that every artist needs and yet so few receive.
Faith has had many mentors, friends and extended family to thank, such as David Amdur, Bradley Design Studio, the Bob Wade and Eichenbaum Displays.
And now? The soon-to-be iconic Austin bar, aptly named Sign Bar, which pays homage to many of the long-gone establishments from Austin’s history, will be full of original signs, art and relics, and with many lovingly recreated by Flatfork and their team of artists. What a joy it will be for Austinites old and new to go back to the roots and experience our beloved past and present.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
When I started many years ago, I tried to find a job but there were very few places that could use my talents, so I ended up carving out my own niche. I never really had the opportunity to just go work for someone else, because those jobs were not out there. I try to look at challenges in fun and creative ways. Although they may not be fun at the time, it is important to keep a good positive mental attitude while tackling challenges. The smooth part in my road has been unwavering confidence in knowing what I want to do, the hard part is knowing how to get there. I believe in working from the ground up, working my 10,000 hours over and over. Breaking down each component into its smallest pieces and conquering that and with a little faith, the rest usually falls into place. Each project presents its own complications, learning new materials, best practices to get pieces made as cost effective as I would make them.
Finding places to do my work has through the years been a fun challenge. When I needed more space, I tried to find someone to build what I needed, but ended up building it myself. That might sum up my whole career and life. It can get lonely, at the end of the day, its my name on the line. So I had better make sure its done right and have the courage that if it is not correct, tear it apart and do it again.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Staying in business: I firmly believe that part of staying in the game is about working smart. We have a small core crew, myself, my partner Ryan Day, and Tracy Bibby, our painter.
We keep a lean core crew, and we believe in spreading the love, we partner with many fabricators with various expertise as a community. This way helps us not to have to have extra staff and allows other creatives to do what they do best. i.e. Mike Bennet, who is an amazing metal fabricator, does all of our internal structure for our pieces.
We gear up on large projects when we need to and we are able to gear back down when work is slowing down.
Choosing the right work for us- we tend to choose work that has a more creative lean to it. That one iconic piece that makes our client unique and showcases them best. This is the niche we fill.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
With constant curiosity, and a good attitude, doing what you say you are going to do, never miss a deadline, keeping an eye on detail I believe you make your luck. That is in business and personal.
Personally- just myself, I feel extremely lucky in the fact that my upbringing was humble, and anything I do is because in my core, I am lucky to have my health, my mind and creative spirit (only slightly eclectic) and the courage to keep at it, along with a healthy dose of delf- deprecating humor. You get what you give. If you are a genuinely a nice person, you will be met with nice people in return and that filters down through your whole life and career.
Career wise, a fantastic team of folks working together is nirvana. You cannot do this all alone.
And a wonderful support team with family make it all worth it!
Contact Info:
- Website: flatforkstudio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flatforkstudio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Flatfork
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faith-schexnayder-18351815/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/flatfork-studio-austin?osq=Flatforkstudio&override_cta=Request+information
