Katharine Rabson Stark
I am an artist living in the Weald region of East Sussex. I respond to the countryside around me, but also to the rhythms of everyday life. I started making art in my thirties whilst my children were little, and the constant juggle of raising a family, working, and making art became an important part of my artistic inspiration. I re-trained; studying at West Dean College. This home from home full of like-minded people made me realise that this is something that I should and can do.
I make hand-built decorative clay vessels that use the pinch and coil method. The shape of my hand, and the mood I am in, influence the finished pieces and I seek to capture the time
that this slow method of making encapsulates. I then often smoke fire them using materials gathered on walks, predominantly bracken, thistledown, dock seeds and dandelion stems. I also use dug Sussex clay alongside a white or black stoneware for outdoor sculpture. This glorious red clay that I use un-refined, straight from the earth, is an exciting and visceral material to use.
These ceramics are often accompanied by cloths, carefully patched and stitched from calico which has been dyed using foraged materials. Slow making, seeking to capture a time, a
place and a feeling.
