We were lucky to catch up with Brad Benefield recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brad, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

My wife Natausha and I had worked together in our chiropractic clinic for about 12 years when we first started considering opening an art studio. I was the clinic office manager and she worked with the patients. When covid hit, we were using art as a way to de-stress after long days at work. We’d come home and since we couldn’t go out due to quarantine restrictions, we’d work on our art . We found ourselves collaborating more and more on projects together and then talking with patients in the clinic about the stress relief we got from making art. It was and remains therapeutic to both of us, and we started to see how it also really helped others to manage things like anxiety and depression. I started throwing more pottery and expanding my hand building and sculpting skills while she started focusing more into painting. After 16 years, we decided to close our clinic at the end of 2024 and opened our studio Field & Light Design Co in spring 2025.

Brad, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I never expected I would be running a pottery shop full time. I’ve always enjoyed writing and playing music, but I lived with the idea that visual art was a talent you had or you didn’t. I was never great at painting and drawing and definitely did not consider myself “talented” as an artist. My wife Natausha has always been doing art in one form or another, and decided to start doing pottery again. I was reluctant to try it at first, feeling like I didn’t have an artistic bone in my body; but the first time I got behind a pottery wheel, it felt like a puzzle piece in my life that had been missing clicked into place. I was hooked. As soon as I finished one piece, all I wanted to do was make another one, an then another. Talent truly is just liking something so much that you don’t quit. Since then, Natausha and I have jumped head first into doing art full time. We make and sell ceramics and paintings at our business Field and Light Design Co, we have workshops and offer tutoring, so people can discover the joy of making something from nothing. I pretty much spend every day covered in clay, and I’m not sure I would want it any other way.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The year we decided to open our pottery studio, two other studios opened at the same time. We are excited to have the artistic company, but we knew we couldn’t rely on being the only studio in town for ceramics. This is when we really started to bring more painting into our business. Natausha started doing a series of pet portraits called Menopaws Manor where she paints people’s pets in a vintage setting and writes funny stories about them all living together in a Boca Raton retirement center. She donates a portion of the proceeds from each painting to our local humane society. This has become one of the most profitable forms of art she does, and has resulted in her being invited to host shows in lots of venues. I wanted to stay on the wheel and keep my hands in clay, so I went a different route. I realized that as our art district was growing, there seemed to be more adult activities happening, but not much for kids, so I reached out to some families in the area and started teaching some youth classes. I love working with the kids. They are all so naturally creative and don’t get frustrated as quickly as we do as adults. We’re getting ready to host a show with their work in the studio. Natausha and I have always taken a “go with the flow” approach to our art. We believe that limitations are a driver of creativity. That’s what we love most about being artists. The ability to change course, the freedom to make our own path.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Not long after opening the studio we got a call from Bradbury Art Museum, a wonderful museum of fine art here in the city. They wanted to collaborate with us by sending a visiting artist who was exhibiting in their museum to our studio for a public workshop and artist discussion. The artist was coming out of Florida and he was set to arrive the day before the workshop. We publicized the event heavily and had a big response from the public. We had hors d’ouvres and drinks all ready. We had so many people signed up and excited. We got a call the night before with the news that the artist’s flight had been cancelled and that he would not be able to attend the workshop. The museum expected that we would cancel, but we couldn’t let this amazing opportunity pass, so we asked them to let us host the workshop with a different route. The art exhibit at the museum featured work that was made from found objects, items that had been discarded or thrown away. We took the concept and hosted a maker’s space with found objects and recyclable materials. We put a call out on social media for people to drop off things they didn’t need anymore at the studio. Again we had so much community engagement as our friends emptied their old craft supplies and junk drawers. We gave out big sheets of cardboard and setup stations for glue, paint, textiles, and objects around the studio. Participants chatted and laughed as they made the most creative 3D collages and sculptures. It ended up being one of the most successful public workshops we’ve ever hosted. The artist finally made it into town that evening and we all went to the museum for the opening of the show. It was truly a great day.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fieldandlight.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/field.light.design?igsh=dGwxbnlsem4zdmkx&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1A8fP9Y9Z4/?mibextid=wwXIfr