#3 Barbara Powell — Ceramic Artist Specializing in Raku and Saggar Pottery

Barbara Powell is a ceramic artist living in Royal Palm Beach, Florida. In high school, she tried throwing a pot on a wheel, and discovered she had a natural ability for it. Flash forward a few years, and after a career in environmental science, Barbara has developed her skills in creating beautiful vessels, and fires them using the raku or saggar techniques.

Listen here or download from any podcast app.

Barbara Powell

Raku technique
Saggar technique
Horsehair saggar
Pots on fire

You can find Barbara’s artwork on Facebook or Instagram at Powell Ceramic Art. Her website is coming soon.

Here are the takeaways from this episode: (Click on the names to follow the links)

1. Seek out art classes at your local high school or college. They’re usually very inexpensive, and after you know what you’re doing, you can use their  equipment before committing to buying your own. You can also try selling your artwork at their shows in an easy, encouraging environment. Locally, she took classes at Broward Community College and Palm Beach State College.

2. Seek out museum gift shops to sell your artwork: Lighthouse ArtCenter, Cornell Art Museum, and The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County.

3. Consider co-op style galleries, like Artisans on the Ave in Lake Worth, Florida.

4. Always be professional with your business: create a professional-looking booth for sales; and take good photos of your art.

5. Get yourself and your artwork seen by doing workshops and demos.

6. If you are a ceramic artist like Barbara, re-listen to this podcast for tips on how to set up and indoor and outdoor space for creating pottery.

I’ve had the good fortune of being able to watch Barbara and her husband Jerry remove raku pots from the kiln — it’s spectacular. They come out red hot and are placed into a can of paper, which immediately burns. You never know quite what the pots will look like after this process. If you ever have a chance to witness this yourself, you should.

#2 Why You Should Join a Local Artists’ Group

On the Left Brain Artist podcast, I will bring you weekly interviews with artists who are actively creating art and actively selling their art. Of course, I’ve chosen these artists because of the quality of their artwork. But I’ve also chosen them because they have experience showing their work in galleries, stores, festivals, and they have stories to share that can help other artists who want to sell their work. Each week I will bring you an interview with one of these artists. Later in the week, I’ll take one thing we discussed that I think it’s important to expand upon – one thing that they’ve done to increase their business. They’ve had success doing this one thing, and I want to share that success with you.

In my interview with watercolor artist Bobbin Salisbury, she talked about two arts organizations that she has joined and participates in actively. One is the Palm Beach Watercolor Society, and the other is the Wellington Art Society. Both of these are located in Palm Beach County, Florida, but you should be able to find one near you. We have at least a dozen more here. Some are open to all visual artists, some include performance artists, like dancers and actors, or writers, like writers of poetry or essays. Other groups are for specific genres of art, like watercolor or jewelry.

Listen here or download from any podcast app.

Here are the takeaways from this episode:

1.  The yearly fee for being a member will be far outweighed by its benefits, such as access to shows and demonstrations by other artists.

2.  Pick the brains of your fellow members to find out where they find other shows, galleries, or shops for their art; how they photograph their art; how to set up a display at an outdoor booth.

3.  Go to the monthly meetings to develop relationships with other artists.

4.  Attend all the demonstrations, even if the artwork is not your genre. You’ll still learn valuable business tips from the demonstrating artist.

5.  Find out about artist receptions and attend them regularly.

6.  Join a committee. That’s the best way to learn how to put out a Call to Artists and how to hang art and run a show.

7.  Helping run a show will also teach you what NOT to do when you are an exhibiting artist.

8.  Use search engines to find an artist group near you.

9.  Visit a few of them to discover which is the best fit for you.

Thanks for listening! I hope you learned something good today.

#1 Bobbin Salisbury — Watercolor Artist, Instructor, and Illustrator

Bobbin Salisbury is a watercolor artist living in Boynton Beach, Florida. Originally from New York, she started making art at a young age, raised five children, and is now happily creating in her home studio as well as on her frequent trips.

Listen here or download from iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, CastBox, or Stitcher.

"Finding My Heart," 12" x 16"
"Early Morning Reds," 9" x 12"
BobbinS_ latest

Bobbin Salisbury at an outdoor show.

Here are some of the things we discussed on this episode (click on the names to follow the links):

You may find Bobbin Salisbury’s artwork here: https://bobbinsartwork.weebly.com/

She has sketchbooks located in The Brooklyn Art Library in New York City at The Sketchbook Project.

1.Look for local art classes to expand your skills. She has taken art classes in Florida at the Armory Art Center  and the Boca Raton Museum of Art.

2. Seek out artist organizations. They’ll help you find shows, and you’ll get tips on techniques and business. Bobbin has joined these local art organizations in Palm Beach County, Florida: The Wellington Art Society   and the Palm Beach Watercolor Society

3. Search online for exhibit opportunities.

4. Pursue other art-related projects, like writing a children’s book. She is taking a class to improve and edit the book she is writing at the Storyteller Academy.

5. Keep your business finances and personal finances separate.

6. Keep a written inventory of your art.

Be sure and check out Bobbin’s website. As I said in the interview, she’s prolific. You’ll see so many watercolors — her abstracts are especially interesting.