Daily Inspiration: Meet Matthew Paul

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Paul.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started as a hobby… a little USB laser engraver bought on Amazon. I would make wallets for my friends and family, and play with different materials under the laser to see how they reacted. Then as curiosity does it grows. I bought my first real gantry laser very slow and underpowered it took forever to make 1 piece and the program would often crash.

But when it did turn out it was great! So using the design of the second laser I built my own gantry laser I bought channel aluminum… stepper motors and belts and build my own. I found better open-source programs like a light burn that was more stable and the laser worked better not much faster but better. I started making small signs out of raw edge wood and other wood planks and selling them on various sites. IE offers up, a Facebook marketplace, also I have some of the most amazing friends and family who believed in me and started pushing my items. Sharing their social media pages and using word of mouth. As time went on the demand grew people started asking for wooden engraved signs as well as laser engraved items so with a loan from a family friend I bought an x-carve this was my first introduction to a faster laser as it had one attached and an actual milling CNC.

Even though the CNC made beautiful pieces and carvings the consumables were too expensive and it was very messy. people loved the carved wood signs it made they were not very keen on the pricing. So rethinking my strategy. I sold my x-carve and bought a 40-watt co2 laser… this is where I started learning to engrave on glass, slate, leather, and introduction to actual wood cutting and making ornaments and other things. Still, the demand grew people started asking if I could engrave on metal. Which I couldn’t not with my current setup. So I started saving money from the things I was selling on the k40…lots of glasses. Leather-bound books wood signs every evening my garage was humming with orders. then in 2019, my dad passed away from cancer. His headstone was the last thing I carved on that machine. Then 2020 covid hit like all other businesses people had to cut corners and save money so my running production stopped. As a full-time single dad I was struggling, I had been furloughed from my job my daughter was in an online school.

Then one day looking online I saw a new fiber laser for sale ..even though I wasn’t currently making things people wanted I could be making things they needed I sold various things I had in the shop and bought this laser for 3000 dollars it was a huge gamble and I had no idea what I was doing but I couldn’t give up I had a little girl who looks up to me! I started watching YouTube video after YouTube video reading articles and asking local contacts or anyone who had laser engraving experience. One man who has been my support is Hector Ortega a well-known artist and silver smith he always made time for me…helped me with my settings…and encouraged me. He is also the seller of the laser which is how I met him so through trial and error. Bugging people and researching this is how I am where I am today I am also now a Choctaw nation registered artist. With 2 galvo lasers one co2 and one fiber laser So I guess in a way persistence does pay off.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Being a single full-time guardian is a huge struggle I took guardianship of Kenslee the day she was born..as well as covid.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
When I make a piece for someone it’s not just a drop-and-run operation.

It’s very immersive. I’m in constant contact from the design process all the way to the completion the customer is not surprised by any design changes. I try to give them exactly what they want. I also don’t charge for memorial pieces.

How do you define success?
Reaching a goal you set, I’m not there yet but one day. I will be. I would love to be out of my garage and into a shop somewhere with a storefront and everything!

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.desertpyrography.com
• Instagram: @DesertPyrography
• Facebook: Www.facebook.com/DesertPyrography