Glass artist Robin Holt is unabashedly a dog person. She is an avid supporter of rescue animals, and her poodle, Finnegan, and two Malteses, Phoebe Trixie Bell and Griffin Hans Tyrion, serve as constant companions in her home art studio. Awoken at early hours of the morning by glass design ideas and titles for pieces, Holt would find herself firing glass beads while the moon was high in the sky, her dogs at her feet.
Thus, her business, Moondog Art Glass was formed. Her first doggy art companion was a rescued bearded collie named Eli. They met when he starred in a Young Actors Theatre production of “Annie” many years ago, playing the part of Sandy the dog and winning her heart. After passing away from old age, Eli is remembered by Holt every time she dons her floral iris necklace.
“I was making this series when I knew he was sick,” says Holt. “He wasn’t suffering but he was very tired. It’s not typically what I normally would make but these were the last beads I made when he was living, lying on the floor beside me. So I strung them up because I knew I’d wear them no matter what and I do.”
Holt’s work has been shown in many local festivals and art shows such as LeMoyne’s Chain of Parks where she has been juried and accepted for the past seven years. She has won awards in Pensacola and Panama City as well as Daphne, Alabama, and annually participates in Tallahassee’s Market Days and Tallahassee Nurseries’ Artisans in the Garden events. This year she’s looking forward to being a part of the “Just One More” Holiday Art Show in downtown Dec. 10-11, which will give attendees the opportunity to get in last minute shopping from over 70 artists alongside continuous live entertainment and hand-on activities.
“It’s a great way to end the season,” says Holt. “I usually start torching on Thanksgiving morning and will work for a week solid for my yearly home show, but would always have inventory left over. I love that this show is perfectly named and I’m excited to bring some new mermaids I’ve been working on.”
Holt hungered for creative outlets growing up in Wakulla County’s rural Smith Creek, her mind concocting possibilities in pinecones and rocks. Though her grandmother made arts and crafts projects and her aunt was a talented seamstress, Holt didn’t have any art teachers or family artisans to guide her. Instead, she wrote poems, short, stories, and song lyrics to keep her hands moving at the rate of her imagination, and eventually she discovered stained glass mosaics long after she completed school and moved to the city.
Or visit the Tallahassee Democrat to read more here