When ceramic artist Cathy Broski built her studio in the early 2000s, she funded it one art fair at a time. “We broke ground at the end of 1999,” she said. “I would go out and do an art fair, come home, pay the contractor, and then do the next thing.”
Before moving into her current studio, Broski worked from the stone basement of her 150-year-old home and spent several years at the Kansas City Clay Guild, where she served as president, kiln technician, and building manager while maintaining a shared studio space of her own.
Art was never a question for her. “I always knew I was going to be an artist,” she said. “Even as a little kid, I was always drawing, coloring, making things.”
Originally from St. Louis, Broski first studied sign language interpretation while taking art classes on the side. Everything changed when she enrolled in a ceramics course. “I was painting and layering texture onto canvas, but I couldn’t get enough depth,” she said. “Clay gave me that texture I was looking for.”
That discovery eventually brought her to the Kansas City Art Institute, where legendary ceramic artist Ken Ferguson encouraged her figurative work — a style that still influences her pieces today, even as her work continues to evolve.
Making Art a Career
Since graduating in 1990, Broski has built a full-time career as a working artist — something she says takes far more than creativity alone.
“My hat rack has turned into a hat room,” she joked. “I’m the artist, the accountant, the cashier, the IT person, the advertiser, the driver, the roadie — everything.”
For more than 20 years, she traveled the country doing art fairs full time.
“I call it being a roadie gypsy gambler,” she said. “You pack everything up, gamble on getting into the show, gamble on weather, gamble on crowds. It’s exhausting work.”
Still, she credits that willingness to handle the business side of art as one of the keys to her longevity.
“You have to be willing to do the things you don’t enjoy,” she said. “Taxes, applications, websites, inventory — all of it matters.”
She also intentionally diversified her income through galleries, wholesale accounts, workshops, teaching, and online sales rather than relying on a single gallery system. “I wanted this to be my job,” she said. “I didn’t want to do anything else.”
Thick Skin and Staying Inspired
Like many artists, Broski has faced rejection, slow sales, and creative burnout. Her advice is simple: don’t dwell on disappointment. “You might get rejected from a gallery or a show, and it may have nothing to do with your work,” she said. “Don’t get stuck there. Concentrate on the wins and keep moving forward.”
She believes artists also need resilience when sharing deeply personal work with the public.
“People will stand right in front of your booth and talk about your work like you’re not even there,” she laughed. “But if someone doesn’t connect with your work, they’re just not your audience — and that’s okay.”
To stay creatively energized, Broski often steps outside her comfort zone by taking classes in other mediums, revisiting old sketchbooks, and experimenting with new techniques.
That openness led to one of the biggest creative shifts in her recent career: wood firing.
A Creative Renewal Through Wood Firing
Several years ago, during a major personal transition, one of Broski’s close friends built a massive anagama-style wood kiln capable of holding more than 1,000 pieces. “It was, challenge accepted,” she said.
Now one of the kiln’s lead operators, Broski helps manage multi-day firings that require constant attention, teams of artists, and temperatures exceeding 2,000 degrees.
The process dramatically changed her work.
For years, she tried to create weathered, earth-like surfaces using traditional glazes. The wood kiln finally gave her the organic textures she had been chasing.
“The kiln does that for me now,” she said. “The ash melts onto the surface and creates these rich, natural variations that I could never achieve in a regular kiln.”
The results enhanced the richness of color and texture on her large figurative sculptures.“You can probably tell how excited I still am about it,” she said.
The Long View
After more than three decades as a professional artist, Broski says the most important lesson she’s learned is to trust herself.
“You can’t let other people’s opinions sway you too much,” she said. “Listen to mentors and critiques that help you grow, but don’t let the general public break you down.”
She also believes creative passion naturally ebbs and flows over a lifetime. “There’s no formula,” she said. “Sometimes life makes you want to create constantly. Sometimes it keeps you out of the studio for months. Both are okay.”
These days, Broski still works in her studio nearly every day — but with more balance and self-compassion than when she was younger. “I give myself grace now,” she said with a smile. “That’s something I’ve learned over time.”