Robert was born in 1945 at Dosher Hospital in Southport, North Carolina. His parents were Frances Elneta Sellers and Captain John Reginald Potter. The Potter and Sellers families have a long history in Southport and Brunswick County.

Captain John was a commercial fisherman and worked many years on menhaden and shrimp boats. Robert grew up working on boats with his father, brothers, and uncles, mainly around Frying Pan Shoals and the Cape Fear River.

At an early age Robert became interested in art, especially after starting school in 1951. Southport High School was located where the Post Office is currently.

As he progressed in school and his talent developed, he was often called on to paint posters for school activities and basketball games in the school gym.

In 1963, after graduation, he enlisted in the Navy and served in the Far East with the US Seventh Fleet. Returning to Southport in 1967, he continued working on the water; seven years on tugboats along the East Coast and the Panama Canal, five years on the Fort Fisher Ferry, and thirty years as a ship pilot on rivers and ports along the East Coast. He also served at the old Coast Guard Station on Oak Island.

During his working years he found time to volunteer to help with many art projects. He served as art director for the outdoor drama Revolution in Southport in 1976, painted backdrops for the 4th Of July Queens Pageants, and stage props for Wilmington’s Thalian Hall.

He retired in 2005 and began painting as a hobby, mostly subjects that interested him. It was often scenes of the sleepy little fishing village he grew up in.

In 2009 Robert and his wife Jeanne published Oyster Shell Streets and Little Bare Feet, telling the story of the Sellers and Potter family in Southport. Robert has contributed art work for other books as well; Masters of the Shoals by Jim McNeil and Tales of the Anna Karrue by Captain Buddy Ward.

Robert’s childhood was filled with stories from family and friends of days gone by. His passion has been to use his talent to preserve some of this history for future generations. He grew up in a time when his home town was quiet and simple with many unpaved streets, billy goats, rowboats, bare feet and bicycles.

We hope you enjoy this pictorial journey through a Southport Waterman’s art.