Meet the Artists on the Tour - #75 Robbie Lobell

Robbie Lobell #75 on Your Map
robbie@robbielobell.com
www.robbielobell.com
640 Patmore Road
Coupeville, WA 98239

Type of artwork – what medium, how is it classified?
Pottery—functional, elegant & sculptural cookware & tableware
Fired in my 70 cubic foot propane-fueled soda/wood atmospheric kiln.

How long have you been an artist?
I have been working with clay for over 40 years. Clay has wended its way in & out of my life since high school, taking a front seat in 1990 through studio assistantships & residencies, becoming my primary passion, life focus, & partial livelihood in 1993, and then my sole livelihood in 2004 (along with teaching weekly classes & week-long workshops)

Artist’s Statement:
I love to make utilitarian pots --- pots for lovers of fine food, slow food aficionados, appreciators of quality kitchen tools, cooks, chefs, and all of us concerned with the industrialization of our food systems. I make pots to encourage the ideas of using handmade objects to prepare and present locally grown foods from our gardens, barnyards, and nearby farms. I make pots because I am convinced cooking and serving in handmade pottery brings connection and beauty to the simple act of sitting down to a meal with family, friends, and neighbors. And so, in a sense my commitment to making cooking, serving, & table pots is a dedication to a way of life that goes hand-in-hand with working in clay.

What is interesting and distinctive about you and your artwork?
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of my career in clay is the fact that I do not have a formal education & yet have found, as a mid-career artist, my work sought after by collectors & sophisticated foodies as well as a teacher/instructor speaking, lecturing, & demonstrating.

I learned technique & skill early on, but it was when I found my teacher (in the classic, traditional sense of the word), Mikhail Zakin, now 89 years old, that I began the real journey as an “artist.” I developed a visual language & began to understand my personal aesthetic. This education took place not just in the studio, but on weekly trips into New York City to museums & galleries. But perhaps most importantly was the visual information & feel of that grand city.

My work has a strong sense of design. It is sculptural as well as utilitarian. My teacher’s voice whispers in my ear; “distill to what is absolutely essential & add back what is important.” This has been the core of how I think about & make what I do.

My flameware cooking pots have become my signature work. This “flameware” was passed down to me in a traditionally classic master/student, elder/younger (though I was in my 40’s!) form (this is another, perhaps interesting story. This was my second mentor, Karen Karnes, the grandmother of contemporary American studio pottery--- there is a beautiful film of her life & work . . .).

Why do you create? What are you passionate about?
As a ceramic artist, designer, and maker of utilitarian pots for use by chefs & cooks of all stripes, I am convinced that cooking and serving in handmade pottery brings connection and beauty to the simple act of sitting down to a delicious & lovingly prepared meal with family & friends.

What projects are you currently working on? Any upcoming shows?
I am in the process of taking a huge step in my work. I have a problem—a good problem, but a problem in keeping up with the demand for my handmade cookware. I have decided to “ram press” one of my forms in three sizes. Pressing the work will allow me to make more, faster. It is a manufacturing process that still allows the hand of the artist- my hand- to work on each piece as I finish, glaze & fire the pots. I will not only be able to make more, but offer them at a lower price. I am almost finished with the “models”. I expect to begin my first run of the nesting square bakers in July at a pottery in Snohomish.

I have a variety of shows & exhibits during the year throughout the country. Most of these shows are invitationals. The most recent one was the Dallas Pottery Invitational in April. I am currently working on orders for both my cooking pots & tableware as well as creating stock for the studio tour & a few other shows.

What will guests see you doing at your studio during the Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour (OST)?
We are going to demonstrate a few ways of cooking with the flameware pots. I sometimes find people are aghast to use “such a beautiful pot” to cook in or are afraid it can’t possibly work. I want to educate my public about cooking in clay – to both the beauty & health of it.

Choose a piece that you will have for sale on the OST and describe why you created it, your feelings when you created it, and the process you went through.
My nesting square bakers are immensely fun & complicated to make. Each piece has four parts that need to be assembled & sculpted, and then each completed piece in three sizes need to nest & become a whole-designed piece. --- kind of like the nesting Russian dolls. I have found these to be challenging, fun, & developmental.