Sara Roberts
Irish Ceramicist Noted For Porcelain Wall Hangings: Cork Ceramic Artist: Biography, Works, Exhibitions.
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Connemara (Porcelain) 19 x 16 cm.

Sara Roberts (b.1962)

As delicate and finely detailed as any 2-D work of art, Roberts' outstanding ceramic wallpieces evoke the raw colours and textures of the Irish landscape in both porcelain and earthenware. Some works are absolutely exquisite: Connemara, for instance, has all the delicacy and touch of a Chinese painting, while Boulders at Low Tide perfectly captures the three-dimensional texture of the seashore.

Her works have been represented in a number of solo and group exhibitions across the country, and her commissions have included a special series of 25 pieces which were presented to the finalists at the Ernst and Young 2008 Entrepreneur of the Year awards. As well as being genuine collector's items, her ceramics are also proving exceptionally popular in the corporate market, as hallmark items for company reception areas, boardrooms and the like.

Boulders at Low Tide (detail)
(Porcelain) 27 x 14 cm.

Biography

Born in Cork, Roberts graduated from The National College of Art and Design in 1984, before starting a 15-year career as a graphic designer which took her to Dublin, London, Australia and finally Cork. In 2000, becoming increasingly disillusioned with the intrusion of computers into her work, she left design to study ceramics at Colaiste Stiofain Naofa.

As an amateur photographer and graphic designer, she quickly discovered her métier in 2-D works such as handbuilt slabwork, specializing in surface decoration, colour and texture on a flat surface, where depth is achieved in more subtle ways using distant horizons and detailed foregrounds.

In 2003, she established her own studio and gallery near Kinsale in Co Cork and now works as a full-time ceramicist. She is a member of the West Cork Craft and Design Guild, the Cork Professional Craftworkers Forum and the Crafts Council of Ireland.

Work

Roberts relies on photography to plan and design her compositions. After which she works with red earthenware or porcelain clay, and experiments endlessly with different combinations of colouring pigments, oxides, and glazes to create the exact hues and textural effects required. Such innovation is essential, not least because, as any ceramicist will tell you, during firing almost anything is possible. (One reason why ceramic items are such unique works of art!)

Seeing the quality of her work and the complete freedom it offers her to recreate the landscape out of its constituent parts of earth (clay), sand (glaze) and rocks (pigments), one can't help feeling that she has arrived at a very satisfying stage in her life. And not a computer in sight!

Commissions

THE SEASCAPES COLLECTION
This range of hand made porcelain
wall hangings captures the natural
beauty of the West Cork coastline.
Each piece is a unique work of art,
ideal for any interior, and ready to
hang. It is easily transportable for
overseas customers. Price: €95/ box.

IRISH CRAFT INFORMATION
See: Crafts Council of Ireland.
West Cork Craft & Design Guild.

MEANING OF ART
For more about the different types,
styles and values of traditional and
contemporary visual art, see:
Definition of Art.

Roberts undertakes a variety of commissions - anything from a small scene from a personal photograph to a large seascape in a reception area. Prices can start from as little as €150, rising to upwards of €5,000 for larger scale corporate pieces.

Corporate Gifts

Roberts produces a number of pieces which are ideally suited for the corporate gift market. For details, please see her website.

Retail Outlets

For retail purchases, see the following stockists:

• Ardmore Pottery, Cliff Road, Ardmore, Co Waterford.
• Eblana Gallery, Dublin.
• F33, Ballina, Co Mayo.
• Davern & Bell Contemporary Irish Craft, Limerick.
• Lavitt Gallery, Cork City.
• Etain Hickey Collections, Clonakilty, Co Cork.
• Keane on Ceramics, Kinsale, Co Cork.
• Adrigole Arts, Beara Penninsula, West Cork.
• Lillimar Gift Gallery, Ballyvaughan, Co Clare.
• The Narrow Space, Clonmel, Co Tipperary.
• Millmount Design Store, Drogheda, Co Louth.
• Manifesto, Waterford City.
• The Cat and the Moon, Castle Street, Sligo.

• Wave 7 Gallery, Port Isaac, Cornwall, England.

Contact Details

To contact Sara Roberts, or to see more of her beautiful ceramics, visit her website: www.sramics.com

• For Irish ceramicists, see: Jane Jermyn (abstract), Ayelet Lalor (figure sculptures), David Seeger (abstract).
• For more information about contemporary art in Ireland, see: Irish Art Encyclopedia.
• For details of famous creative practitioners, see Irish Artists: Painters and Sculptors.
• See also: Contemporary Irish Artists.

• To update this mini-review of ceramicist Sara Roberts, click here.

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