I am a hand-builder and slow maker; a walker and forager; a collector and reflector; a coiler and a pincher; a teacher and an energiser.

I make hand-built decorative clay vessels that use the pinch and coil method. The shape of my hand, the mood I am in, the time I have and the place I am in, actively influence the finished pieces. I welcome this and I seek to capture in my forms and shapes, and the surface quality and patina, the time that this slow method of making encapsulates.

My work is most frequently burnished and smoke fired using materials gathered on walks: bracken, thistledown, dock and dandelion. I also use locally dug Sussex clay as well as brightly coloured terra sigillata. I create organic forms that are sculptural and stylish, designed to be both stand alone items as well as displayed in groups: communicating with each other.

Importantly I respond to the countryside around me, and 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 at West Dean College. I now teach alongside making, back at West Dean on occasion, and also on Arts for Wellbeing programmes.

I work hard to enthuse others, to reveal the power of clay, and that having it in your hands can benefit your wellbeing. I truly believe that the process of making is as powerful as the things you may end up creating.

Katharine Rabson Stark