We were lucky to catch up with Robert Mickelsen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Robert, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I would not trade my autonomy for anything. I could have chosen a field that was more lucrative, but it would not have brought me the joy or the understanding I have of myself that my art has. It has been said that the secret to happiness is to choose something you love doing and become really really good at it. Then you won’t “work” a day in your life.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My origin story is boring. I should make something up. It would be more interesting than the true story. What really happened is that I blundered into glass. I was lost, directionless, and lacked personal motivation, when I chanced upon a guy in a cubicle in a mall who was making little glass motorcycles. I was mesmerized. I said to myself, “if I could ever do that I would be happy”. 50 years later I am still at it, still mesmerized, and happier than I have ever been.

It is important to develop your own style and vision. You have to have some faith that your style and vision has value and is a legitimate vehicle for expressing ideas that are important to you. It is not easy to accomplish this. At least it was not for me. It was a long learning curve. I totally believe in what I do now and enter my studio each day confident that the work I do there has importance and value.

Art changes the world. Everyone who views a work of art comes away from the encounter a changed person. That is the power of art. This comes with a measure of responsibility – a responsibility to be honest, sincere, and unflinching in the expression of your vision. I strive every day to live up to this responsibility and create work that is true to myself above all.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There is nothing that compared to the rush of opening the kiln the morning after a completed piece. The “I made that” thrill is like nothing else. I cannot wait to show other people what I have made and see their reactions. Social media is a good venue for this. Unfortunately, Instagram (my preferred social media platform) has ruined my reach in their quest to become like Tik-Tok. Fortunately I am able to show my work in some of the finest galleries in the country.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

When I started there were no schools, no color manufacturers, and no tool makers for my medium. Worst of all, other artists working in glass refused to share their ideas and techniques with others, a period known as “the glass curtain”. From the beginning I have strived throughout my entire career to tear down this curtain and to encourage others in my field to share their knowledge. Progress was slow, but today, all of this has changed. Glass artists now routinely share their knowledge, even as far as teaching classes in the schools. There are now dozens of color manufacturers and tool makers servicing the artists. The learning curve for new artists has been shortened by a factor of at least ten. This has resulted in a dramatic increase in quality and creativity in glass art that is unprecedented. I did my small part to contribute to this and am very proud of that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://RobertMickelsenGlassArt.bigcartel.com
• Instagram: @ramickelsen
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RAMickelsen
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RAMickelsen

Image Credits

Images 1-6 – photo by artist
Images 7, 8 – photo by Dan Abbott