Robin discovered her passion for creating Art at a very early age, and she knew that she would pursue this love throughout her life. What she didn’t know then is that she would also find great joy and satisfaction in the teaching of Art, and in helping students discover their creative passions.

This led to teaching Art in an Independent school in New York City for 45 years. In addition to being a developer and Head of the Art department, Robin served as Dean of the Upper School for the last 15 years of her career before retiring.

Painting had always been her media of choice, although lurking under the surface, she had a growing sense that she had not yet found her artistic niche. Robin accidentally stumbled upon what would become one of her creative specialties while taking a class in a school that taught classical goldsmithing. Working under the tutelage of two master goldsmiths completely transformed her artistic life. Robin became an apprentice and ultimately taught at the Jewelry school. Additionally, Robin taught Jewelry Design on the college level at Parsons School of Design in New York. She participated in many gallery shows, and accepted private commissions, gaining recognition as an accomplished goldsmith. Her work is in numerous private collections and has been published in diverse professional publications.

Robin’s jewelry is classically inspired. This means that she finds beauty in the techniques of the past and their historical context. All the elements of her pieces are made entirely by hand. Even the gold sheet and wire that is used is made from scratch. All her pieces are made exclusively with 22k and 18k gold. Gold is a magical metal. It is not only beautiful, but it’s one of the most malleable of metals, which makes it a pleasure to work with. The alloy that Robin works with has a richness of color and an alluring warmth.

Robin alloys her own gold and often cuts and polishes the stones as well. She uses centuries-old techniques of the Byzantines, Greeks, Romans and Egyptians, particularly granulation, to fabricate her jewels. Granulation is a technique known to the goldsmiths of antiquity. Tiny granules of gold( approximately .008 of an inch in diameter) are placed in patterns to be used as surface decoration. This makes her work extremely time-consuming and exacting, and hopefully possessing the attributes of timelessness and elegance of a classical piece.

Robin has married her love of painting and detail with her fondness for gardening. She is an ardent lover of plants, and therefore I suppose one could say that it was a natural progression for her to become a botanical artist. Robin thinks of herself as a portrait artist whose subjects are botanical.

Spending time in the garden, she is able to celebrate nature’s most compelling subjects. It has been a complete seduction for her. As a student of nature, she enjoys the opportunity to observe details of delicate buds, fragile fragrant petals as well as the dried-up treasures that litter the garden pathways. Robin observes nature carefully, trying to preserve the delicate details, recording the textures, and exploring the colors. Her medium is dry brush watercolor, with the occasional use of graphite or colored pencil. Dry brush is a technique that requires a great deal of patience since many layers of paint ( 50 +/-) are required using a minimal amount of water. This technique allows her to be able to depict very fine details of her subjects.

When she selects a subject to paint, she isolates it from its natural surroundings in order to understand the complexities of its beauty and to imbue it with a greater sense of importance.

Her move to South Carolina four years ago has naturally necessitated a need to adapt to different gardening considerations and different subjects. She is often found combing farmer’s markets, botanical gardens, and nature preserves for inspiration.

Robin considers her home artistic career a journey that has led her down several paths. What has been consistent throughout this journey is a passion for detail, the exploration of which she finds both meditative and rewarding.