About the Artist: Laura Mostaghel was working as a free-lance art instructor when she took a tumble from a stepladder and badly injured her right arm. The accident might have been a disaster for someone else, but Mostaghel has taken the misfortune and turned it into fame. As a part of her physical therapy, her doctor recommended she squeeze clay and paint to strengthen her arm. That is how she started to make her painted clay artworks. Born in Atlanta, GA, Mostaghel has never had any formal training, she is self-taught and self-motivated. She is currently living on Marco Island where she creates her famous clay pins, vases, plates, paintings on ceramics and canvas. Her work is featured in art galleries around the country, including California, Florida, and her native Atlanta. She has also completed an art commission for the movie, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. In 1997, Mostaghel took a charitable commission to benefit the volcano-ravaged island of Montserrat. Her pieces from that commission are in the collections of Sir Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Prince Andrew, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Her themes always remain the same–women, flowers, pets, the intimate setting of a home or the expanse of a landscape–yet since her move to Marco Island near the end of the millennium one crucial element has started to evolve. That element is color. “The color, to me, is more important than the form. In my work, color makes the item,” Mostaghel explained. “It gives you the emotion.” Want to see more of Laura Mostaghel's work, and others? Visit our Instagram!