Mike Maloy, Pin striper and sign painter

What I do: What some people may see as dying arts, Mike Maloy has turned from an avocation to a second career.

Maloy, 66, is a pin striper, who adds stripes and curls in paint to customized cars, and a sign painter, who still creates his works by hand.

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Karl Ritzler / Special

Mike Maloy’s love of hot rods led the Newnan resident to a job doing custom pin stripes like he did on his 1950 Oldsmobile fastback sedan.

“Striping is part of the sign trade,” Maloy said.

Maloy’s work usually ends up on the sides, fronts and backs of vintage cars from the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s, lovingly restored and customized by their owners, who frequently parade and show them through car clubs.

“I’ve been a car nut since high school,” Maloy said. “That’s what made me want to learn pin striping. … Pin striping was an adjunct of my car hobby.”

There’s plenty of evidence behind his Newnan house. Protected under a tarp is a 1950 Oldsmobile fastback sedan that Maloy has restored and added pin striping to, from the trunk lid to the air filter cover under the hood. His projects include a 1951 GMC pickup truck and a ’70s Ford Pinto.

He does customized work for fellow members of his car club, the Georgia Outsiders, as well as for “the hot rod fraternity” who hear about his work by word of mouth or see it on vehicles at car shows.

He also works with body shops to repaint pin striping on cars that have been damaged.

“Basically, I’m a sign painter,” Maloy said of his primary occupation.

Rather than rely on computer printouts that are enlarged and printed on vinyl, Maloy does all his work by hand, even corporate logos.

“There’s a segment of the population who still values hand-painted signs,” he said. “They outlast vinyl, and they’re even collectible.”

Some of his clients include businesses that want smaller signs for buildings that are being restored or in historic downtown districts.

Still, Maloy has cut back recently. After he left a job as a ramp worker when Eastern Airlines folded in 1991, Maloy started his sign shop in Newnan. Now, he said, “I really don’t chase sign work because I’d rather do pin striping.”

It’s not just cars that can get a pin striping treatment. Maloy also has done buggies, refrigerators, tool boxes and even toilet seats.

What got me interested in this: “I’d read hot rod magazines in high school,” especially the articles on customized pin striping, Maloy said. “I’ve always drawn. I’m artistically inclined.”

Best part of my job: “The design work is the most fun for me,” Maloy said. “And I enjoy the painting and lettering. It all is a satisfying job for me — the art, design and craft of doing lettering.” He described his jobs as a “great retirement kind of business. There’s no rush. I do good work, but don’t rush me.”

Most challenging part: “Dealing with people … who come to me and don’t know what they want,” Maloy said. “I have to explain why I do something in a particular way. There is a creative process.”

What keeps me going: “Sometimes, I don’t get going,” Maloy said. “I don’t get in a hurry about life.”

He explained that he likes to take time for reading and sitting on his porch. “I’m kind of an old hippie,” he said. “I’ve come to a comfortable relationship with God and the cosmos.”

Preparation needed for this job: Besides basic artistic talent, “it takes hours and hours of practice. The skills are acquired over time,” he said.

Some schools still teach sign writing, but now that computers are used to generate signs, there are fewer classes in doing it by hand.

And the former method of training, through an apprenticeship, has disappeared. Maloy said he is mostly self-taught.

When he was working a night shift at Eastern in Greensboro, N.C., he took a part-time job at a sign company. “I learned all I could from those guys,” he said.

- By Karl W. Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@yahoo.com.

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