The Work of Art

City Arts sneaks a peek inside the studios of four Tacoma artists participating in Art at Work month to see what it takes to create.

Photography by Andrew Waits

Mauricio Robalino

Artpeople

935 S. Grant Avenue
253.383.8087
artpeople.com

The easiest route to artist Mauricio Robalino’s studio is through the alley, past his sticker-covered car and a handpainted sign with 935 — his South Grant Avenue address. Most mornings, Robalino starts work around ten o’clock. After helping his kids get off to school, he heads downstairs to draw or paint, or to work on a mosaic or sculpture.

“The commute time varies depending on how many cats are on the stairs,” he says, laughing, as a gray feline named Baby rubs against his shoe and purrs. His space is a riot of color, full of 2-D and 3-D works and many art supplies: plastic tubs filled with glass mosaic, stacks of tile, palettes with a rainbow of mixed paints and models, including an intricate cut- and-folded-paper collage that preceded a mosaic for Mary Bridge Children’s Health Center. A 16 x 8-foot worktable dominates the room. With the exception of the tabletop, there is little blank space, but the artist prides himself on keeping things in order. House and studio must be tidy before his imagination flows and exploration begins. As a young boy, Robalino traveled with his mother on a ship from his native Ecuador to England. A set of watercolors and an artistic inclination helped him pass the month-long voyage. Today, Robalino says he likes to have his kids, ages ten and five, in the studio to work on their own projects. Sure the Star Wars LEGOs add a hurdle to the housekeeping, but this stay-at-home parent and artist wouldn’t have it any other way.  — Virginia Bunker

Stephanie Kriege Pederson and Katie Stricker

the Barefoot Collective

Merlino Arts Center, 508 6th Avenue
253.272.4219
barefootcollective.org

Over the summer, the BareFoot Collective (five creative co-director/dancer/choreographers: Carrie Goodnight, Amanda Herman, Michael Hoover, Stephanie Kriege Pederson and Katie Stricker) moved from their Center Street location to share studio space with the Tacoma City Ballet in the Merlino Arts Center. Taking a break from rehearsals in Studio B, Stricker and Pederson say they are happy to have more danceable floor space and greater seating capacity. “And our last space didn’t have central heating,” adds Stricker. Adequate heating isn’t an issue here — the radiator is blasting.

“Keeps the muscles limber,” they say. With a wall-length barre, a baby grand Niemeyer piano and a poster of the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova near the door, Studio B feels very much like the classical ballet studio that it is. True, the BareFoot Collective’s former studio had exuberant hues to match their modernist inclinations, but not having to choose paint colors or worry about day-to-day studio operations is liberating.

As artists in residence, the group can focus solely on its work and on building momentum for community-geared events like BareFoot brunch and bi-monthly 8@8 performances. The 2009-2010 program rotates between different co-directors and styles throughout the year. In November, Stricker and Pederson present a program of original dance works entitled FootFalls. Pederson’s piece is about different lives behind the closed doors of an apartment building. Stricker offers a simple, honest expression of the joy in her performers' lives based on their journal entries.  Both pieces query "Who are you?" and "Who am I?” — Virginia Bunker

Robbi Firestone

Spirit Capture 

708 Market Street #410, Court D
310.990.4018
robbifirestone.com

Robbi Firestone’s workspace is in and of itself a sort of inspiration. Warm and calming, anyone who enters — be they subjects, gawkers or potential buyers — settles into a state of ease. This is key for Firestone’s art to work, on the one hand, because it allows those she paints to relax and be themselves — a key to achieving the artist’s goal of revealing “The Divine Beauty Within You.” On the other hand it serves to create a gallery space where art lovers can take their time to consider the depth of Firestone’s otherworldly creations: oil paintings that seek to represent both the physical beauty and the interior life of her subjects.

With such a holistic approach to her art, it comes as no surprise that Firestone is both a Reiki and licensed spiritual practitioner, as well as a student of world religions and philosophies. She has also studied in the aesthetic realm at Parsons School of Design and Fashion Institute of Technology, eventually landing in Western Washington, where she has developed her techniques of oil portraiture by working with clients around the world and right here in her studio.

It all starts with a consultation, wherein Firestone interviews her subject, attempting to reveal life goals and passions that remain hidden from the outside world. From this meeting, she creates a personalized “Spirit Capture letter,” in which all of her observations about the subject are recorded in calligraphy. Then Firestone goes to her studio — a picturesque space that is almost a painting in itself — and begins working with rich oils to create a painting wherein the subject’s inner life serves as the muse.
The subject’s involvement doesn’t end with the completion of the painting. A practitioner of “conscious capitalism,” Firestone donates ten percent of her each sale to two worthy causes, one chosen by her and one decided on by the subject and her muse.  — Mark Baumgarten

Diane Hansen and Lesli Jacobs-McHugh

Bellaballs

747 S. Fawcett Avenue, #B
253.627.0183
bellaballs.com

When glassblower Diane Hansen speaks of her workspace, it is with the great consideration and forethought one would expect from a twenty year veteran of the glass art form. She recognizes that the exciting part of her process is done in the hot shop, but points to her studio as the most important space when it comes to creating.

“It’s like birthing a child,” she says. “The intense part is the actual birth, but the great part is in raising the child.” In this instance that child would be Bellaballs, the colorful, intricately-crafted glass pieces that she and her business partner Lesli Jacobs-McHugh have turned into a full-time job with great success. For the purposes of fostering the life of this recent project, Hansen’s studio is perfect; a light and bright location on Fawcett Avenue, perfect for showing off these deceptively simple collector’s items. “They look like a simple little object,” she says, “but there is a finite window of working with hot glass and we use a team of seven people to create these. If any one of them is off by a nanosecond, the Bellaball is flawed. The upside is that they are very hard for anyone to replicate.”

The idea for Bellaballs came about a few years ago when Jacobs-McHugh enlisted the help of her friend Hansen to create something special for her daughter’s wedding. Drawing inspiration from Japanese glass floats, Hansen decided a delicate glass ball embellished with a design from the wedding invitation would do the trick. It was a hit — wedding guests scooped up more than their fair share. “You know that when your family is kyping stuff from you, you’re doing something right.”  — Mark Baumgarten

For a complete studio tour schedule and to more learn about Art at Work, visit their website.