Be it a vessel form, a piece of sculpture or a functional item, Robin Stark describes creating clay objects as an undertaking filled with enthusiasm and eagerness, inspiration and fascination, or even on occasion frustration and difficulty.  These passions are a driving force yet there are characteristics to the material which really keep her investigating and provoke the irresistible urge to make more ceramic objects.
Clay is unique to touch, it is sensuous, it just feels good.   It can take on almost any shape one wants it to.  It can be worked either stiff or soft, be pinched, coiled, made into a slab, or thrown; it can almost fall apart yet in the nick of time be saved.  Once fired it could last forever; glazes are luscious, mysterious and looking at them is intoxicating.  There are countless ways to develop a surface - either transparent or matte, grainy or smooth, bright or subdued in a vast array of color.  Every clay piece is different; clay changes as it progresses - as it dries, as it is fired, and after it is glazed.  And last, there are inherent aspects to the material unseen or unexplained waiting to be revealed.

 

 

 
Robin’s contemporary ceramic vessels and sculptures are interpretaions either figurative or abstract.  Most are hand-sculpted with coils or slabs from either white stoneware or earthenware. After a series of multiple firings with layers of various stains and glazes each piece finds its completion.