For Wyland and Family, Growth of ‘Whaling’ Concept Is No Fish Tale
Wyland is the creative force behind his $40-million business, but the rapidly expanding company is very much a family affair.
When hundreds of collectors gathered at his bluff-top gallery in Laguna Beach in June, his mother, Darlene Wyland, was on hand to replenish the wine and cheese table with supplies she’d purchased earlier in the day at a nearby Price/Costco.
Bill Wyland, the artist’s 39-year-old brother, has grown rich by promoting Wyland’s artwork in Hawaii. And Wyland’s aunt operates a coffee shop at his Laguna gallery.
Darlene Wyland, a former auto worker who raised three boys as a single parent, is listed as Wyland International’s vice president. And business associates say she plays a key role.
“She’s street-smart and she brings a lot of security to Wyland,” said Don Dahl, an Arthur Andersen accountant who helps manage Wyland’s business and personal finances.
The family-run business is now one of the nation’s fastest-growing privately held companies, according to Inc. magazine. And family members talk matter-of-factly of growing revenue to $100 million or more.
But the Wylands hit some significant speed bumps in recent years, and Wyland has been reaching out to outsiders for assistance.
Two years ago, the fast-growing company was “out of control,” Dahl said. “It was a $25-million business, but it had no internal controls or systems in place.”
Mission Viejo resident Ron Bass, 58, a former electronics industry executive, now serves as comptroller at Wyland’s mainland headquarters in Laguna Canyon.
“It was time to move to another level,” Bass said. “It was a classic case of a small company that was overwhelmed by growth.”
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Business has always been on Wyland’s mind.
He broke into the art world as a high school student in Detroit, painting murals on neighbors’ homes and decorating friends’ vans. Even then, friends say, he recognized the need to promote his art.
Wyland traces his fanatical interest in marine mammals to a 1971 vacation visit at his aunt’s Laguna Beach home. The sight of whales migrating along the California coast sparked an epiphany for Wyland, who moved to Laguna Beach in 1976.
He peddled paintings at $35 a pop, living in a Laguna Canyon studio and “spending more than a few nights living in a Chevrolet parked in our driveway,” says Tom Klingenmeier, a longtime Wyland friend.
Wyland honed his business and marketing skills at Laguna Beach’s homespun Sawdust Festival, proving to be a natural when festival managers asked artists to ply their craft in public.
“So many artists are shy and reclusive,” general manager Darlene Brokaw said. “And they have to have someone else promote their work for them.”
That ability to self-promote is evident on his constant tours, in which he paints highly visible “Whaling Walls” on the sides of buildings.
Wyland works from a catwalk--and, unlike most muralists, he paints without first sketching outlines. “He says he paints from his mind’s eye, as if he were standing across the street, looking at the walls,” an associate said.
The first mural appeared in 1981 in Laguna Beach, and he’ll start his 70th early in October during a seven-week tour that culminates with a mural in his native Detroit.
Detractors argue that Wyland’s murals and paintings add little to the world of art. But even if that’s true, friends and collectors say, it’s of little import.
“Technically, he’s not that sound,” Brokaw said. “But so what? He’s made it work. He’s very successful.
“Think about it: to go from a little booth at the Sawdust Festival to the mission he’s now on to spread the word about marine mammals.”
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At a time when everyone from Bill Gates to art museum curators are scrambling to gain control of images, Wyland is anxiously studying intellectual property law.
For Wyland, controlling his images means transferring those initially created for artwork into new media, including television, movies, the Internet, computer games and apparel.
“They tell me licensing alone can dwarf the artwork,” he said. “This is going to be big.”
