Today we’d like to introduce you to Myra Scholze

Hi Myra, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?

I started prioritizing art in my personal life when I discovered that it helped me combat chronic depression and anxiety. Over the last 10 years, I’ve built painting, drawing, and journaling into part of my daily routine, and they help me stay grounded in my everyday life. I picked up ceramics a few years ago and I love how tactile it is. Similar to painting, I find an easy meditative state when I’m throwing on the wheel, and it’s been a great asset to my mental health. I began teaching classes and paint-along sessions because I want to share the mental health benefits of art with my community, especially during dark Alaskan winters. Art is creative and expressive and everyone can benefit from creating. My primary goal in teaching classes is combating the notion that some people are “good” and some people are “bad” at art. Art is about the individual and there is no such thing as “bad” art. It’s all just expression and I love that it can look different for everyone. Art is as unique as the individual creating it! I love teaching kids classes because they’re so free and uninhibited by fear of failure. They paint with wild colors, unique designs, and delight. It’s so much fun to share creative expression with a wide array of people in my community.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

Creating a business has had its ups and downs. It was so helpful to have the advice of other small art business owners when I was starting out. They helped so much with inventory, pricing, products, and moral support. As for art itself – it’s been a wild ride. I see my personal journey with art parallel to my mental health journey. Art has helped me cope with and process PTSD, anxiety, and depression, and I’m so thankful to have it as an outlet and a record of my own journey. I love looking back through my old art journals and appreciating how far I’ve come on my journey toward sustainable mental health and wellness. It’s also been really fun to watch my own artistic style evolve. Leaning into art has taught me so much about accepting myself, loving myself, and rejecting perfectionism. One of the best things I’ve learned is letting go of the fear of not trying new things because I fear not being “good enough” at them. Every form of artistic expression is unique and takes practice, and accepting that art doesn’t have to be “perfect” or serve a purpose other than the joy of creating it has been immensely freeing.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

I work primarily in watercolor and ceramics. I am inspired by the vast, rugged, and beautiful wilderness that surrounds me in my home, Kodiak Island. I was born and raised in Kodiak and have always felt a powerful connection to the ocean, mountains, plants, and creature that share their spaces with me. I’m a fisheries biologist by day, and many of my paintings feature fish and other aquatic animals. I also have a series of Alaska songbirds paired with wildflowers. In ceramics, I am constantly drawn to blue and green glazes – anything reminiscent of the ocean and the sky. Some of my favorite dishes are “Murre Egg” themed bowls that are glazed bright blue on a speckled clay – giving them the same pattern and color of murre eggs, a sea bird found on the Alaska coast. I’ve also created an array of coastal-Alaska themed ceramic earrings that are very popular, including fishing buoys and fish. I am excited to continuing expanding my earrings offerings next year, when I get a ceramics studio set up in my garage.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?

Folks can check out my work on my website at https://www.nerkadesignsak.com/ and buy from the shop during the winter. In the summer, I work at a remote field camp and I’m not home to pack or send orders. The summer is a wonderful time for me to create art, though! I also offer a variety of local classes and painting events October-April.

You can find me on instagram or facebook at @nerkadesigns

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nerkadesignsak.com/
• Instagram: nerkadesigns
• Facebook: nerkadesigns

Image Credits

Rosa Wright (personal photo and black and white image)