Walking into Cheryl Vizzo’s home feels like a museum of cherished memories — from the flowery lamp on her living-­room side table to the spring-themed knobs on her kitchen cabinets.

Every decorative item in her home was created by her late mother, Marie Fucci Williams, an accomplished porcelain artist and teacher in the Alle-Kiski Valley.

Williams was a porcelain artist for 59 years, taking lessons in Tarentum. She was known for making keepsake pieces such as baby doll shoes and ornaments for people in the Lower Valley. She painted until her death in 2018, said Vizzo, 67.

“People would still ask about them after her passing, so I wanted to fulfill a need,” she said.

Despite her mom’s longtime commitment to her craft, Vizzo never acquired the skill until the pandemic hit in March 2020. She decided to pick up where her mother left off to occupy her time during the sudden pause on life.

Vizzo turned one room of her home into a studio, where she spends her time painting.

She started out by practicing painting designs on goose eggs.

“I wanted to carry on my mom’s legacy in the Alle-Kiski Valley,” she said.

In 2021, her vision expanded after wanting to learn more about pottery. She saw an ad about molds for sale, so she and her husband, Dom, began traveling to nearby cities to collect them.

This catapulted the couple into making clay sculptures, with Dom casting the molds for Cheryl to decorate.

“We spend a lot of time traveling, so it worked,” Dom Vizzo said.

Cheryl Vizzo showcases her work — which includes vases, dinnerware, urns, jars and ornaments — on “Cheryl Vizzo’s Visions” on Facebook. She also runs a Facebook group to connect with fellow porcelain artists and teachers throughout the Pittsburgh area.

Her eponymous YouTube channel offers a glimpse of what the couple makes in their home.

Their basement is filled with an inventory of molds, supplies and machines for their work. Two kilns are used to fire the clay and porcelain pieces.

“We didn’t know what we were doing, but we wanted to make pretty things to put out in the world,” Cheryl Vizzo said.

The Vizzos give away some of their creations to interested consumers but do not view their hobby as a business. They said most customers are charged for postage costs or what it took to create the piece.

Pieces have shipped around the world, including to Sweden and the United Kingdom.

During the beginning of their venture, the couple churned out about half-dozen pieces almost every day. Since then, their work has slowed down because Dom picked up part-time work and Cheryl wants to focus on local commissions.

“We just want to make pretty things for people,” she said.

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