FACTS

My name is Robin and I am an artist based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I operate out of a studio space in my home and identify primarily as a clay artist. Many years ago, I received a BA in Fine Arts at Depauw University. During my senior year, I elected a concentration in ceramics.  After a 25 year hiatus and anxious to get my hands back into clay, I sat down at my wheel and started throwing... That was 2009, 11 years ago, in Charlotte, NC. 

After a move to New Bern, NC (yes, moving is one of the many “things” that we do) my husband and I opened the New Bern Arts & Wellness Center. We had this amazing vision: creating a space of positive energy where people, ALL people, could gather to learn, to grow, and to find their creative voices. It would also bring together a wonderful community of encouragement and support within a “space” of non-judgement and total acceptance where people could be themselves, tap into their authenticity and, ultimately, find their passions. The Center would combine wellness of body and mind. 

If you are interested in learning more about the Center - go to www.newberncenter.com.

Today I find myself in a space of transition - most of my life, my creative endeavors have been structured to fit within the parameters defined by my family’s life and the upheaval of many moves. Thanks to a life that has now settled, (and yes that required yet another move), I’m finally in a place of growth and self discovery. It’s interesting, ironic actually, how a move AWAY from the “Center” ended up being the catalyst to this period of growth, a move AWAY from the very thing that I had dreamed would be a platform from which I would grow as an artist, a move AWAY from the community that I loved, the community with whom I loved sharing my gifts and talents, was actually necessary for my growth as an artist. 

My transition has primarily consisted of prioritizing my art above all else. I felt that in this “Journey back to my artist’s roots”, I might have an understanding as to “what happened to me”? What happened to the optimistic Robin, why had her passion turned into frustration? Why wasn’t she “well” when she had worked so hard to incorporate a wellness component right along side the creative arts?  “What the heck happened”!? So I set off, once and for all giving myself permission to make “art for art’s sake!” I believed that the answers were there, IN my art!

I am committed to answering a set of questions: 

• Why do I do the things that I do?
• Why did I choose to journey back to my artist's roots?
• What is the relationship between my art and my community?
• What is my responsibility to my community as an artist?
• Why did I feel the need to transition from a “maker” to an artist?
• Why was it so difficult to just “do” my art like I “do” so many other things?