Story by Linda Long
Contributed photos
Meet Robert Griffin, Renaissance man and self-proclaimed “wonderful, kind and loving individual. That’s me,” he laughed.
Most know him as the T-shirt Guy, but he could easily add a few more titles to his moniker – artist, musician, songwriter, band leader, white water canoeist, environmentalist, hardware salesman, construction worker and let’s not forget screen printer, a talent he’s been at for more than 30 years.
As owner and art director of Wolf Creek Creations, Griffin prints 800 to 1,000 T-shirts a week or about 50,000 a year and creates four or five original designs a day at his operation. “The customers usually have an idea of what they want. I create the designs from their descriptions,” he explained.
The largest single order he has ever fulfilled was for 5,000 T-shirts for Caritas, a Catholic charity; and the smallest number was 12, a minimum order. The farthest distance he’s ever shipped was to an address in Hawaii.
“We’re based in Pell City,” said Griffin. “Actually, exactly two miles down Wolf Creek, on the right, just outside the city limits, but we ship all over.”
Griffin began perfecting his artistic talents, while still in college at Jacksonville State University. “I studied art in college and worked in T-shirt shops when I needed a job. My first printing job was on paper for a graphic artist and that eventually led to T-shirts.”
Right out of college, Griffin’s artistic career seemed to be taking a left turn when he went into business with his father, who owned a construction company, but the younger Griffin’s creative flair wouldn’t take a back seat for long.
“I had already gotten involved with white water canoeing at this time. They had events all the time, but nobody was doing shirts for them. I convinced my dad that we needed to pick up that space – that there was money to be had. So, he agreed to open a very rudimentary area in the construction office. As things sometimes go,” added Griffin, “my dad ended up shutting the construction business and partnering with me in the T-shirt business.”
Group sales are the life blood of Wolf Creek Creations, from high school senior shirts to environmental alliance events to chili cook-offs. But events surrounding the 2020 pandemic have affected the sale of T-shirts as they have just about everything else.
“We literally had no business for three weeks. There’s no school, so there went the school business. Festivals usually held in the spring were canceled, like the Alabama Bluegrass Association concert. That’s an every-year event for us, and it was canceled. We’ve had about $10,000 worth of business either postponed or just outright canceled.”
Griffin, ever the optimist, says he thinks “things are beginning to turn around. We’ve got a strong customer base and a strong repeat business. People know about us strictly by word of mouth. Some of these people, I’ve been doing business with for over 20 years. They’re no longer customers. They’re friends I do shirts for. That’s what I love about what I do, the friends I make and people I meet along the way.”
Another of his passions is music. “That’s what I really enjoy,” he says. “I’ve had a band for about 20 years. My wife is also in the band. We do a lot of classic rock and some blues.”
Explaining that his wife, Leah, who auditioned for American Idol, is the real singer in the group, he said. “She has a beautiful voice. She lets me try it every once in a while. I am a marginally adequate singer.”
He is more than marginally adequate as a songwriter. You might say he’s prolific. “I’ve written about 50 or 60 songs. We do a lot of original material.”
The band, named One Eyed Mary, plays a lot of festivals and local clubs.
The name originates from one of Griffin’s dogs, now deceased. “She was a rescued Lhasa Apso,” he said, “and she had only one eye. So, of course, it seemed appropriate to call the band One Eyed Mary.”
Of all the hats Griffin has worn throughout his career, his very favorite has nothing to do with work. “My favorite hat is being a dad to my three kids and husband to my wife.”
