Meet Marsha Barron | Artist, Designer, and Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marsha Barron and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marsha, how do you think about risk?
I am a recovering perfectionist, people-pleaser and peacemaker so everything used to feel like a risk to me. Any decision I made, I wondered who would be offended or disapprove of my choices or if anyone would like me afterwards. Then if someone did not approve of my choices, I would do anything just to keep the peace. I wouldn’t speak up. I would remain quiet and small. That old way of thinking caused me so much unneeded stress. When I used to make art, it needed to be perfect to be good enough to show others. I hoped everyone liked it, or more so I was afraid of being judged and unaccepted. I avoided criticism and disapproval at all costs. I used to only take small risks, ones that felt achievable like entering a contest where the odds were in my favor. It was hard really putting myself out there because I ran the risk of being vulnerable and exposed to potential feelings of unworthiness.

I still battle with this aspect of people pleasing to this day, but I am getting better at it. Ultimately, I must remind myself that I can’t be all things for all people. I can’t please everybody with my art (and my life choices), and I must stop catering what I do to what I think the people closest to me would want. When I do that, I run the risk of being inauthentic, which to me is the greatest risk of all. I am now aiming to make more art that is authentic to the vision that I have in my mind, to paint for myself and create things that I would want to buy and feel 100% like me. I think that is the greatest risk that I’ve taken, to make art that is a direct reflection of my soul and then put it out there in the world and see what happens.

There is a quote I heard somewhere that states, “Life opens up opportunities to you, and you either take them or you stay afraid of taking them” (Unknown). I have learned to reframe risks as opportunities. If you think about it, they are really the same thing, except the word “opportunity” sounds like potential, hope and possibility for anything to happen.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am always so busy with so many different things going on at the same time. Right now what keeps me busiest is balancing commissions, working on collections of original paintings, making prints, and figuring out a way to build profit into my business in different areas. The hardest thing is prioritizing working on my business rather than in my business. It’s easy to fall into the trap of being busy with daily tasks like bookkeeping, admin stuff, packaging, etc and only focusing on the task at hand. I make sure to balance that with furthering my professional education and learning new things that will help with the growth of my career long-term while thinking about the future and the direction I want to go in. It’s important for me to keep my big vision at the forefront of all my decision-making so that I know that I am spending my time on things that will lead me there. I’m currently taking an 8 week course called Surface Design Immersion with designer Bonnie Christine and learning the Adobe Illustrator program from scratch. This is for sure the busiest I’ve ever been!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My absolute favorite place to take visitors is the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It’s not even about the destination itself. It’s the breathtaking drive up there along Gates Pass Road. It is a 4.8 mile winding drive around the edge of a mountain with amazing views. To be surrounded by that much natural beauty nearly brings me to tears. The saguaro cacti look like giant protectors of the desert. It truly looks like a screen saver or like you are driving through heaven on earth. It’s one of those things where you just need to experience it yourself. As far as food goes, nothing is more iconic than Eegee’s and Sonoran Dogs. Both are must-haves when visiting Tucson.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The obvious shoutouts are for my husband Nick and son Nevaeh, who both encourage me and keep me grounded by reminding me to “clock out” of the studio regularly and spend time as a family. They also enable all my outlandish business ideas and think everything I do is cool. I also want to shout out my mom Martha, whose watercolor paintings inspired me to try out the medium myself and for teaching me how to draw what I call “advanced stick figures” when I was a kid; my aunt Sandra, whose witty drawings of pigs fueled my creative problem-solving skills at a young age with our ongoing pig-wars; my uncle Jean for imposing his use of light and shadow in my coloring books when I didn’t ask for it (all I wanted to do was color in peace…I mean I was only 4…but it did help), also for introducing me to Adobe Photoshop at a very young age and for letting me use all his professional and expensive art supplies…no Crayola for me! Of course, my in-laws for being fans and collectors of my recent work, and my other family members, siblings and friends not already mentioned by name. You know who you are. You have all played a part in my story and my journey as an artist, and I am thankful for you.

As far as “professional” inspiration, my art professor and mentor in college Scott Grieger was one of the few who didn’t call my art “kitsch”. He was genuinely interested in my work and encouraged me. I still think of him fondly. After taking a long break from the art world, I was called back by surface designer Bonnie Christine and her “one thing a day” motto as well as artist and educator Emily Jeffords, who gave me the equivalent of an MBA in marketing and armed me with the knowledge and confidence I needed to give my art a voice. Finally, I want to give a shout out to my colleague Jordan Nunez of Good Mud Ceramics for being so transparent with me with her business knowledge and resources and introducing me to Janet LeBlanc of Paper & Spark. Janet’s “Get Legit Toolkit” and other resources were the last piece of the puzzle I needed to truly call myself a business owner. Collaboration and community are so important. We get further when we all help and uplift each other. I am fortunate to have found such wonderful communities within my art and design world, and I am grateful for all the bonds and friendships that have been formed because of art. There are just too many people to name, but just know that if you are reading this I am grateful for you too!

Website: https://marshabarrondesign.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/marshabarrondesign

Facebook: https://facebook.com/marshabarrondesign