Best of Cleveland 2016: Coffee Mugs

Don’t let Mary Wilson Clark’s girly pink and purple mugs fool you. Inscribed among the diamond-shaped stars and cartoonish clouds on her hand-thrown works ($30-$45) are blunt phrases that might offend people if uttered aloud: “Get off my back,” “Don’t talk to me,” “Leave me alone,” “Shut up,” “I hate everything.” While the whimsical motif of Clark’s Tiny Cloud Ceramics collection was inspired by sunsets, the insults are the 23-year-old University of Akron grad’s own. “I come across as very fun and cutesy and not very confrontational,” she explains. “In the back of my mind, there are things that I wish I could have said to people, but I wasn’t feeling comfortable enough with myself to say them.” Shoppers who stop by her booth at art and craft shows can relate. “They find mugs they like and say, ‘I wish I had that on my desk!’ ” she says. etsy.com/shop/tinycloudceramics