We had the good fortune of connecting with Dylan & Pamela Dowdy and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dylan & Pamela, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
It’s hard to pinpoint one moment when we came up with our business idea for Dowdy Studio. Now, Dowdy Studio is a small artist retail store and design studio based in East Dallas. However, the process of getting here has been more of an evolution of a side art project that flourished each time we decided to take a big scary leap. We also constantly sprinkle it with our magical childhood dreams and drench it in our endless passion for more fun and creativity.

Our history started in 2008 when we were pop-up market artists selling art, prints, and hand-printed tees. We had lots of ideas for art, but our first big idea for the business was to put it all on wheels. We threw all our money into a trailer and renovated it ourselves into a mobile store. With wheels, we were able to open shop all over DFW and beyond. It was amazing to travel, soak in different places around town, and meet awesome people at every stop.

After many nomadic years on wheels and working out of a cozy studio warehouse, we craved more studio space. We also wanted a permanent location to give our customers a go to shopping destination. That’s when we planted Dowdy Studio in East Dallas at Garland and Peavy Rd. We love the area and other local gems like Goodfriend, Cultivar, and Hello Dumpling. We’re also a hop away from the Dallas Arboretum! Our little corner of East Dallas is something special and worth going out of your way for. We knew we wanted to grow here, and we still do to this day.

If anyone had told us in the beginning that we’d be doing this today, we would have laughed and said, “Who, us? Nah.” It seemed like such an impossibly big dream. We feel so lucky to have been able to do what we do and to have been supported by amazing customers, friends, and family.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
We pride ourselves in making quality cool ass stuff for our East Dallas store. Each design we create is hand-drawn by our own hands and we hand-print a majority of our tees and goods in our own art studio. Our artwork dabbles in the optimistically weird, with a dash of good/bad humor and a splash of our local culture. We’ve created an imaginative Cool Mom’s and Cool Dad’s collection, unicorns that are also tacos, cats that are also bats, a musically wandering land whale, a space raptor with a pirate astronaut going on a galaxy quest and so much more.

Each year is a push for us to create new artwork and items for us to share with the world. Not only do we sell our wares in the Dowdy Studio store in East Dallas, but also online and to other retailers nationwide.

Each year has been met with challenges. There’s always problems we have to solve or work around or ideas that we decide to stop chasing or evolve them into something new. Our biggest challenge actually turned into our biggest opportunity. Right before we go married and planned to take a week honeymoon, Dylan’s job let him go. We were devastated. It was a major blow to our plans and future. Especially when this was supposed to be a happy time for us. Instead of wading in a flood of tears though, we decided to make the most of the bad situation and pull all our pennies together and buy a trailer to build out the Dowdy Studio Wagon, our mobile shop. It was a ton of work and unpaid hours. We didn’t know if people would even like it or if we could find places to park our store, but we jumped in head-and-heart-first and it turned out to be one of the best decisions we made.

For the future, we are most excited about branching out and working on more custom designs for clients, local businesses and larger corporations, in addition to continuing growing the Dowdy Studio store. This has been an exciting turn in our careers where we get to bring others into our headspace and world of artistic fun.

Our goal is to never stop dreaming and keep using creativity to build a good community with a good sense of humor.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Our fave food spot recently has been Fortunate Son in Garland’s downtown square. It’s a skip away, but worth the distance for great drinks, pizza and outdoor patio space.

We’d probably check out the local art festivals and farmers markets in the area for something to do, then visit the Dallas Arboretum in the evening for one of their summer concerts or visit Truck Yard for some chill outdoor drinks and good food – especially if Easy Slider is there! On a hot hot summer day, a visit to the Dallas Museum of Art is a great place to cool off and see some exhibits and art classics.

Then if they want to feel extra touristy, we’re taking them up to Reunion Tower or over to the Fort Worth Stock Yards for some good times, then back to Dallas to visit a yummy local brewery like Lakewood or Four Corners,

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Oh fun! Firstly, all our customers, clients and friends who have supported us throughout the years. Y’all are seriously the best! We also want to shout out some groups and organizations who have helped us grow that we are forever grateful for: East Dallas, Etsy Dallas, 91.7fm KXT, Bolsa Cafe, all of Bishop Arts District, Enos Pizza, Scout Design Studio, the whole City of Austin and the music scene, Deep Ellum, Easy Slider, The Truck Yard, The Dallas Flea, the City of Richardson, Big Texas Beer Fest, White Rock Local Market, Favor the Kind, Lone Chimney Mercantile. Oh, there’s so so many more.

We have to most definitely recognize our local street corner. Cultivar Coffee, Goodfriend Beer Garden and burger House, Package, Hello Dumpling and the former Good to Go Tacos and others have all been awesome neighbors and supporters. Plus the best food, drinks and vibes in the area!

Website: https://dowdystudio.com

Instagram: @dowdystudio

Twitter: @dowdystudio

Facebook: @thedowdystudio

Other: Tiktok: @dowdystudio

East Dallas Dowdy Studio store: 1165 Peavy Road, Dallas, TX 75218

Image Credits
Photography by Dowdy Studio

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