Side jobs planted seed for artist's Goose Creek auto paint, design shop

Venture into Badseed Design, and the owner's tattooed arms bring to mind a skull and crossbones kind of place.

To an extent, that's the case. Shop owner Gary Seed routinely stencils flames, dragons and the ever popular skulls on Harleys and street rods. Yet his background is more eclectic: he's a professional artist who was employed by Hollywood movie studios in his home state of California.

Moreover, Seed is not limited to gothic themes. The Goose Creek shop, hidden away in a small shopping center on Red Bank Road, recently designed a light blue and white beach look for a Mount Pleasant optician-rider that won its class in a prestigious Harley show in Milwaukee this summer.

"I've been doing this for 35 years," Seed said. His artwork on cycles and cars has been featured in trade magazines. Seed said he worked nine years in production with Warner Brothers and Disney. What he had not accomplished, until this June, was to run his own business.

"I just opened the place up," Seed said. He moved to the Charleston area two years ago, drawn to South Carolina because his wife has family here. As a sidelight, Seed began mastering artistic paint jobs on street rods and custom cars. "The reason I opened the shop was I was gaining such a reputation," he said. The name was a natural: "People have been calling me 'bad seed' since I was a kid," he said.

Seed has a varied portfolio, tailoring custom graphics for boats, hot rods and motorcycles and handling specialized body work. He's tackled all kinds of assignments. One recent bike customer wanted skulls, another frogs. "In this type of business, you need to handle whatever comes through the door," he said.

The outlet is small but has enough space for now. The front office is lined with framed photos of cool cars and artwork such as cartoon drawings of crazed angels, devils and monsters riding on street rods. One frame shows step by step efforts on a car he worked on for comedian Cedric the Entertainer. There are trophies, as well as Seed's large collection of model cars and motorcycles. His daughter, Vivanna, is office manager.

The paint and body garage is where Seed teams with specialists such as Moses Sanchez, a talented air brush artist. Last month, they were in the midst of a project to rebuild a 1941 Willys. He was block sanding the body, which smooths out tiny bumps and depressions on the frame. Sometimes, it takes weeks to get cars ready to paint, if they've been banged up or need new equipment.

Seed said he would like to move into a larger shop by next year, especially with more room in the paint and body zone. "I really want this shop to happen," he said.

For more information, visit badseeddesign.com online or call (843) 696-5821.

Reach Jim Parker at 937-5542 or jparker@postandcourier.com