THE FLOURISHING OF JOY IN AN ARTIST

Peggy receiving 1st place in pottery at the Art on the Island show in Vero Beach - a show sponsored by the Vero Beach Art Club, February, 2017

Over the years I've watched my sister fall ever more deeply in love with clay art. It's truly been a progression into joy. Not a linear progression however, because like many women she was waylaid by life's adventures along the way; 5 children, several businesses, and the intense reality of raising a family alone. But she's never wavered from her intense purpose and drive to create art.

From early years I remember growing up in a home filled with my sister's art; perspective studies, pointillism experiments, toothpick spheres, paintings, mosaics and more. Diverted away from her desired path to art college by overly anxious parents, she nevertheless persisted in ever more creative pursuits. From sketching, painting, photography, wood carving and textile art - she never stopped creating art. And then she discovered pottery.

Loading the big gas kiln at the Vero Beach Museum of Art

Although Peggy spent many years raising kids and working in art education, she gathered the tools of her trade around her and began to learn. She did production pottery for several years and taught clay art in Florida public schools and at the Vero Beach Museum of Art. In recent years she has progressed into fulltime joyous clay art creation. She lives, eats and breathes clay - full of ideas and excitement about it from morning ‘til night. She experiments constantly with new techniques, new glazes and new ways of firing. And when I visit her - I am always shocked to see how incredibly beautiful her art continues to become.
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​To see someone finally become what they always were meant to be is both a privilege and an inspiration. May we all be so lucky as to find and do that work which gives us the most joy in life!

The 4 Sistahs! I am 2nd from the right.

Written with love, by Betsy - Peggy's sister.