Teller, Robin

The daughter of Stella Teller and Louis Teller, Robin was born into Isleta Pueblo in April 1954. By the time she was in her teens, her mother was a well-established potter with a growing collection of hard-earned ribbons.

Robin learned the traditional art through watching and working with her mother and by 1991, she was earning ribbons of her own from the Santa Fe Indian Market, Heard Museum and Guild (Phoenix, AZ) and the Eight Northern Pueblo Arts and Crafts Show at Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo), near Espanola, NM.

Robin is most known for her Mother Nature storytellers and nativity sets but she also creates jars, bowls, and human and animal figures. Like her mother, Robin prefers to put “sleeping eyes” on her storytellers and nativities.

The mother of two and grandmother of five, Robin says she gets her inspiration from them, as well as from her spiritual journey through life’s experiences and her reverence for all of our Creator’s blessings.

She integrates those feelings and emotions into her pottery creations, always as part of an individual story or message. Robin’s work is always recognizable due to the intricate detailing in her forms and designs. For her, pottery is a mini-canvas.

Robin told us there’s a standard of excellence and quality to uphold in relation to the family tradition. That can be seen in the ways in which she expresses her innermost feelings about love, hope and beauty, for the world and for humanity.

Robin has passed her knowledge of the traditional art on to her daughter, Lesley Velardez, who has also blossomed into an award-earning potter.