We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dorri Buchholtz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Dorri , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

For over 25 years I had a successful business in the field of sports medicine and sports performance. I started sculpting later in life as a hobby. My sculpting hobby slowly developed into a business but I was limited in the amount of time I could spend creating because I was busy with my full time career. During the start of the pandemic I closed down my sports business and devoted all of my time and energy to my art business.

Although there are times that I wish I had I started sooner, I believe that my life experience has played a big role in influencing my work and without that experience I would be an entirely different artist.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

With no formal art education, in 2015 I started taking sculpting classes at Cherrylion Studios in Atlanta. I loved learning and working with the clay. Using my creativity felt freeing and I was drawn to exploring more of it. My hobby slowly turned into a business and I was successfully selling my work. Meanwhile, I owned a successful business in another field and had no plans of abandoning that. That all changed at the beginning of the pandemic when I transitioned into my art business full time. I now consider this to be my “second act”.

As I stated earlier in response to another question, I believe my life experience has shaped my work. Some of my creative process is directly related to my former career in sports medicine and sports performance. I am drawn to the grace and strength of the human body. My work also explores the full spectrum of human emotion. Using posture and gesture I strive to capture the rawness and beauty of our shared human experiences from joy to suffering. I find inspiration in the empowerment of women and much of the subject of my work is the female form. My work can be found in private collections both nationally and internationally and in galleries in Atlanta, New York and Florence, Italy.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The viewer often connects their own life experiences to the work and that connection can be very powerful. I’ve had a number of people break down in tears, become overwhelmed with joy or completely introspective while viewing to the work. I find it incredibly moving and humbling to witness this connection.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Building a social media following can be difficult, time consuming, and slow but it is important. I do not have a huge following but I do try to post as much as I can and I always engage with those who comment. I think it is important to present your work or brand but also be authentic. My advice for those just starting to build a social media presence would be to focus on the quality of social media followers more than the quantity.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dorribuchholtz.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dorrib.art
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dorrib.art