Minnesotan To Meet: Glassblower Robinson Scott

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Robinson Scott always had an eye for the arts, and creating in any medium came easy.

Except for one: glass.

But after practicing and perfecting shapes for around four decades, he's this year's 2016 Commemorative Artist at the Uptown Art Fair.

Scott has called Anoka home since the '80s.

"When we moved here, I was working at Nordic Ware down in St. Louis Park," he said.

Scott has always loved working with his hands and built a glassmaking work shed in 1983.

"The glass was one [medium] that really hit me in a way that none of the other materials did," he said. "It was elusive, the process was elusive."

Molding, melting and shaping colorful creations was more of a chore in the beginning. That's when Scott decided more schooling wasn't a choice but the only option.

"I didn't like school, I didn't do well in school, and for me to go back to school was something of a change," he said.

First it was classes at Anoka Ramsey Community College, then it was Pilchuck School of Glass founded by world famous glass-blower Dale Chihuly, and finally Scott landed an apprenticeship in Sweden.

In 1989, he turned his focus to glass full time.

"For me, when I came home, my head was so full of ideas," Scott said. "I had to quit my job at Nordic Ware."

Scott first displayed his work at the Uptown Art Fair in 1986. He's received "Best in Glass" accolades at the fair five times since then.

While his workload hasn't changed much over the years, he now calls the shots.

"Now I maybe give one day a week to the process of being a businessman," Scott said. "The rest of the time, I'm working for myself and making things that I want to do."

He calls this summer's Uptown Art Fair coming full circle.

"It's kind of culmination of hard work over the last 40 years as a glass blower, as an artist," Scott said. "It's been fun work, it hasn't been hard or difficult, but I believe that's a real honor."

He says with every new season comes new meaning and new inspiration.

"It's well-refined, and the ideas are more thoughtful than they sued to be," Scott said. "[The viewer] will see something really interesting if they stop and pause with it for a minute."

You can meet Scott and check out his work at the Uptown Art Fair, on Hennepin Avenue and Lake Street, this weekend.

There will be over 350 artists to see from around the world.