Today we’d like to introduce you to Rob-O.
Hi Rob-O, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born and raised in the central valley in California. Some of my most cherished memories growing up included drawing and painting with my grandma or doing arts and crafts with mom and my sister. No matter the project, I always took a creative approach. Through the years, I dabbled in painting on canvas, sketching in charcoal and even building functional art. My work was typically well received by friends and family but then again, that wasn’t a surprise since they were, well, friends and family. I haven’t had any formal training but rather, I like to say, I went to the school of life. Little did I know that my life experiences would carry me further than I could have ever imagined. The pivotal moment came when I lost my mother. The one person I’ve known and loved my entire life was suddenly gone.
I struggled to deal with all the stages of mourning. The topic of death and dying was something we skirted around and generally not something we would readily talk about or addressed. My wife, of Mexican heritage, recognized that I needed an outlet to express the deep loss of losing of my mother and presented the idea of celebrating Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Dia de los Muertos is a holiday celebrated in Mexico (amongst other Latin countries and can vary regionally) to honor and remember loved ones no longer of this physical world. We knew little about the traditions but researched and learned. And to this day, we continue to learn and love all that this holiday represents. One very specific tradition is to decorate a sugar skull for your loved to be placed on an alter. We had our very first Dia de los Muertos gathering about 15 years ago now. I decorated my first sugar skull for mom. But it didn’t end there.
For the first time since mom had passed, I felt energized and creative. And I was introduced to a new medium, sugar!! Something just came over me and I continued to decorate sugar skulls for weeks. I had so many ideas that I just had to get them out of me and onto these sweet sugar skulls. My wife was very supportive of this newfound interest. But most importantly, I was nearly out of my funk, and I attribute that to the ability to mourn my mom in a positive way that I didn’t anticipate or even knew was possible. There’s a quote that has stuck with me for years, “from tragedy, comes greatness”. I don’t know who said it or if it was just something I felt, but I’m constantly reminded that mom is always with me in this journey.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh for sure there have been struggles. There’s been a struggle on struggle. But honestly, every challenge has brought me to where I am today. At first, you struggle with your own worth and on top of that, how to convince others. I’ve learned that I just need to be true to my passion and it will draw in those that are meant to be drawn in.
And I wouldn’t necessarily say it has all been a struggle. Don’t get me wrong, the struggle is real. Initially, there was a lot to learn. And I’m not talking about the creative aspect of the arts, but the business side. Sell your art they said. It will be fun they said. Nobody talks about all the other work that takes up that time you’d rather be creating. I’ve learned to embrace it. Plus my wife helps. I’m the arts, she’s the smarts.
Despite the learning curve and the challenges experienced by any typical emerging artist, it has been a wild and fun ride. I’ve grown as an artist for sure and if I didn’t still experience challenges, I wouldn’t be able to continue to grow. As the matter of fact, I was challenged to create a large-scale sugar sculpture. That was just crazy talk. We’re talking sugar here! But then I was curious. Could I pull that off?? Challenge accepted. Now I have in rotation several large-scale sugar skulls (we’re talking big… at minimum 35 lbs of sugar) that can be found at a museum event or the anchor for a special party. And I can’t even begin to go into all the failures it took before I dialed in a successful process. So ya, I guess you could say working with sugar as an art medium has been a struggle.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My medium of choice is sugar. This mostly came about because I really wanted to keep with the traditions of making sugar skulls with actual sugar versus ceramic or other non-traditional materials. Typically you will find the work to include a combination of pressed sugar, royal icing and air-brushed food color. I started my career focusing on sugar skulls but over time, I ventured out to also create sugar hearts, sacred hearts, aztec inspired pieces and the most recent release of tree of life. I am most proud of the relationships I’ve made within the community as I continue to share my passion and works around Dia de los Muertos. I also exhibit at galleries, museums and art & wine events throughout the year. It was an honor to be selected as a featured artist at the Sausalito Art Festival where I was able to unveil the largest of my big-scale works measuring over 6 feet long. I look forward to seeing what is to come next!
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
It was a big risk getting started as an artist, and a full-time artist at that! Nothing I have ever done during this time has been a sure thing. It’s a risk investing in the business. It’s a risk every time I participate in an event looking to sell my art. The great thing about this though, is that I truly believe my work makes an impact. Whether it’s the colors that draw you to my work or the meaning behind the what and why of all of this. I love sharing my passion and I’m grateful for having this opportunity. I think risk is just part of the game so I do everything I can to continue to develop my skills, improve my business and continue to push forward the best way I know how.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ilovesugarskulls.com
- Instagram: @ilovesugarskulls
- Facebook: @Rob-O Sugar Skull Artist
- Other: www.sugarskullkits.com
