I first picked up a paintbrush in a folk art painting class in 1994. That seems like a lifetime ago.

Ten years later, I began my pottery career, and I did very little painting. I spent many years painting glazes on my pottery. Occasionally, I’d make a decorative piece because I had to create.

In the fall of 2021, I contemplated quitting pottery. Making cups, bowls, and functional pottery had become a chore. I’d lost my joy of making ceramic. I didn’t quit, but I did slow down. I watched YouTube videos of people decorating pottery and realized I needed to decorate my pottery.

Last fall, I decided to decorate most of my pottery and create sculptures, not just dipped it in a glaze. I am so glad I made that decision. Now I can’t wait to make decorative pottery. My joy of creating pottery is back.

I painted houses on mugs and knew I missed the simplicity of folk art painting. It made me wonder why I stopped painting folk art. Fear of people not liking it. Fear of being too simplistic, artists have told me that.

FEAR spells out False Expectations Appearing Real. Despite that fear is ridiculous it is a crippler and paralyzes our natural gifts.

There will be more decorative pottery to come. Keep checking out my two sites below to see what I create and add to my shops.

• Etsy
• WordPress