Sustaining Craft

Episode 33: Aaron Walker: Loving People Through Tattoos

September 5th, 2023  |  Season 4  |  39 mins 52 secs

arkansas, little rock, little rock art, little rock artists, tattoo artists, tattoos, watercolor tattoos

Aaron Walker had his sights set on new school tattoos, when he first started his career as a tattoo artist. Then a few clients asked him for watercolor tattoos, and he realized how much fun he had building out the color. Nine years later, he's still pursuing his craft in a private downtown Little Rock studio.

Episode 32: Katy Raines, Part 2: Relearning How To Love Art

August 9th, 2023  |  Season 4  |  21 mins 52 secs

after hours art, arkansas, friday night art, little rock, little rock art, little rock artists

Katy Raines is back to share what she's been up to since 2018 and how she learned to love art again.

Robert Bean, a Little Rock visual storyteller, is back on the Sustaining Craft podcast for the third time to share what he's been up to, how to gain separation from your art in a healthy way and get feedback, along with how it's impossible to have expression without practice.

Episode 22: Stacey Bowers: Stamping an Edge on the Delicate

January 22nd, 2020  |  Season 2  |  22 mins 37 secs

creative stories, design, jewelry, jewelry design, little rock, little rock art, stories, sustaining craft

Stacey Bowers wanted to make her friends laugh. She’d already had an understanding of jewelry making from her time as a teenager working at a bead store, then she taught herself how to stamp metal. The gifts for her friends caught the eyes of others, and she built an Etsy shop, then a website. By 2018, she had to decide if she wanted to make Bang-Up Betty her full-time gig. She booked a trade show in Vegas and quit her day job. Now, her work has been featured in Buzzfeed and other national platforms, and she makes all of her income as a jewelry designer at her home studio and Stifft Station Gifts.

Episode 20: Hannah Allen: Putting Petal to the Metal

November 29th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  35 mins 53 secs

arkansas, art, art stories, business, career, central arkansas, little rock, professional artist, storytelling

Hannah Allen learned a hard lesson in college, and she dropped out twice before earning her degree on the third try. Now, with Petal to the Metal Floristry, she helps brides with floral arrangements for their weddings, offering affordability without compromising quality. It's a path that has its roots in her childhood, as the flower girl at her mother's friends' weddings. But it took her a few detours to get there.

Episode 19: Michael Eubanks: Using Art to Combat Fear

November 6th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  54 mins 57 secs

arkansas, art, art stories, business, career, central arkansas, little rock, mental health, musician, professional artist, saxophonist, social worker, storytelling, sustaining craft, veteran, vocalist

Art and music helped Michael Eubanks as a kid when he struggling to make friends and talk to others. When he sang, his stutter didn’t matter. And although he left his saxophone behind for a few years, it found him again, especially when he was unexpectedly back in the United States after fifteen years in the military, due to a reduction in strength, as they call a military downsizing.

Episode 18: Jessica and Justin Crum: Proving That Creative Careers Are Possible (But Difficult)

September 3rd, 2019  |  Season 2  |  48 mins 9 secs

arkansas, art, art stories, business, career, central arkansas, little rock, professional artist, storytelling

She was an outgoing, young single mother. He was a shy script writer. They bonded over trips to the farmer's market after church and then experienced their first kiss in a cemetery. Now, Jessica and Justin Crum, married for ten years, are forging their careers in graphic design and film making in rural Arkansas. They want to reveal that creative careers don't need a backup plan.

Episode 17: Matthew Castellano: Building Community Through Art

February 27th, 2019  |  Season 2  |  48 mins 56 secs

arkansas, art, art stories, business, career, central arkansas, little rock, professional artist, storytelling

There are some unexpected parallels between skateboarding and art -- including discipline, skill, community and the huge amounts of risk. Matthew Castellano has found both to be connected throughout his life as he grew up in Florida and then when he moved to Little Rock, where he curates Gallery 360, a space designed to bring people together.

Episode 16: Kathryn LeMaster: Using the Unseen to Craft a Home

January 21st, 2019  |  Season 2  |  53 mins 26 secs

arkansas, business, career, central arkansas, design, entrepreneur, little rock, storytelling

Kathryn LeMaster didn't know that interior design was an actual job until she found it in her college's catalogue. She'd grown up on a construction site, helping her parents build the family home, and loved the idea of helping others build and utilize their own space through function and storytelling.

Episode 15: Robert Bean: Reading a Painting Through Visual Vocabulary

November 15th, 2018  |  36 mins 31 secs

arkansas arts center, art, creative, fine art, graphite, little rock, local art, pen, pencil

Robert Bean first realized he could build a career with art when he was eight years old, reading stacks of comics books with friends. Bean continued to practice his craft as a visual storyteller, and after a detour on the way to earning his degree, he started showing his work and curating shows. Now, he keeps his art at the center of all that he does.

Episode 14: Legenia Bearden: Opening Horizons with Affordable Art Classes

October 31st, 2018  |  36 mins 39 secs

affordable arts, art, art stories, artists, cooking, creative, dance, dancers, dancing, little rock, local, nonprofit, painters, painting

Legenia Bearden's dream of an arts center offering affordable classes for all began in the second grade, when she saw a live production of "The Sound of Music". In 2014, she started offering classes and producing plays under Bearden Productions Center for the Arts.