Artist Robinson Portrays Nature With Glass

By  //  June 6, 2013

2012 Winner of Pure Florida Juried Art Competition at the Fifth Avenue Art Gallery

ABOVE VIDEO: Michael states that the nature of glass can be either disregarded or employed to produce a piece that is perceived on different levels, for glass is a paradox.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA — Michael Robinson lives in Sebastian where he enjoys the natural environment, the water and the ambiance of a quiet life.  
His life has been surrounded by glass. His father was a neon light master in Newark, N. J. where Robinson was raised.

He learned to respect it, and developed an understanding of its nature from watching his father work ever since he was a small boy. Glass became his second language early on.

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A representational object made of glass is at one time the representation and also a glass object.

Michael Robinson states that the nature of glass can be either disregarded or employed to produce a piece that is perceived on different levels, for glass is a paradox: A manufactured material possessing an elemental feel. It is this elemental nature that gives glass its own presence as a medium.

GLASS IS A PARADOX

A representational object made of glass is at one time the representation and also a glass object. Add to this the inherent beauty of glass and you have a rather singular medium, the very nature of which exerts a great deal of influence on the finished product.

FORMS FOUND IN NATURE

In order to take advantage of the inherent qualities of glass, there is a necessary commitment to technical skill. High technical abilities should not be viewed as forcing the glass, but instead seen as allowing the artist to avail himself of the full potential of the medium.

Michael has found the glass to be an appropriate medium to express the forms found in nature.
Robinson has found the glass to be an appropriate medium to express the forms found in nature.

Robinson has found the glass to be an appropriate medium to express the forms found in nature – the fluid motion of wind and water and the shapes of the creatures that inhabit those realms –because glass echoes nature; it is enduring but fragile.

Careless action can destroy a glass object (or a natural ecosystem) that would otherwise exist for eons. Here he finds the underlying voice of glass. “A voice that I endeavor to employ in my work”, states Robinson.

2012 BEST OF SHOW WINNER

Robinson was the 2012 Best of Show winner at the Fifth Avenue Art Gallery’s Pure Florida’s Juried Show. He is exhibiting his one-man show this month, June 2nd through the 30th at the Fifth Avenue Art Gallery, 1470 Highland Avenue, Eau Gallie, Florida. 321 259 8261. The opening reception is this Friday the 7th from 5:30 to 8:30.

Robinson will also be giving a talk at the gallery’s Second Saturday event on June 15th this month at 2:00pm. He will be discussing his pieces, their creation and conceptual development. One of his glass pieces will be given away in a raffle.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Judy Edwards

Judy Edwards is a painter and writer who lives in Brevard County, Florida. Edwards studied art at the Honolulu Art Academy, Rhode Island School of Design, Newport Art Museum on Monhegan Island, Maine and at the Ringling School in Sarasota, Florida. 

Currently, Edwards  is a member of the Fifth Avenue Art Gallery in Melbourne, Florida. In art, she places her current emphasis on investigating, creating, and manipulating colors with molten wax. Edwards says, “The additive and subtractive nature of encaustics lends itself to abstraction and is thrilling to work with.”

For more information log on to JudyEdwards.com 

CLICK HERE to purchase a copy of her book, “Journeys A Grand Adventure”