Glass artist Joe Hobbs wears many hats for CLA

Published: Sunday, August 01, 2010, 6:01 AM

Thomas B. Harrison, Press-Register
Suddenly Joe Hobbs’ job description has more hyphens than a British phone book.

In his new role as registrar/preparator/graphic designer/resident artist at the Centre for the Living Arts, Hobbs says he will document and catalog artwork at Space 301, deal with the artists, receive and ship the artwork, create posters and e-mails, and handle any design work required.

“And a normal day-to-day — fix a lot of stuff, move a lot of stuff,” he says. And whatever is needed at the Saenger Theatre as well.

(Press-Register/Lyle W. Ratliff)Artist Joe Hobbs with his blown-glass sphere creation "Chronological" at Space 301 Off Centre in downtown Mobile.

“It’s a lot,” says the 35-year-old Hobbs, “but it’s my first 40-hour-a-week job. I’ve been doing the glass as a career the last 10 years, which is like 90 hours a week, twenty-four/seven.”

“Doing the glass” is Hobbs’ actual career, and he did it for a decade at Belmont Arts & Cultural Center in Pensacola, and for the past year he has been artist-in-residence for the Hot Shop @ Orange Beach Art Center. He will divide his work week into four 10-hour days at the CLA in Mobile, and Fridays and Saturdays in Orange Beach where he works with fellow glass artist Sam Cornman.

The Hot Shop will celebrate its one-year anniversary Aug. 20 and will be mentioned in the August issue of Southern Living magazine, according to Hobbs. He hopes the exposure will boost the tourist trade that was seriously suppressed by the Gulf oil spill.

(Press-Register/Lyle W. Ratliff)Artist Joe Hobbs artwork, titled "Bi-Lateralization,� at Space 301 Off Centre in the Joachim Street windows adjacent to the Saenger Theatre.

Hobbs comes to the Centre for the Living Arts at an interesting time. Change is under way, and the is genuine excitement about the future of Space 301 and the Saenger Theatre.

A few weeks ago he had lunch with the CLA’s Melissa Morgan and Cindy Phillips, who drove to Pensacola to pick up the artwork for “(re)memory.”

They mentioned the opening for a registrar/preparator, and Hobbs was definitely interested. When he came to Mobile to install the show, he interviewed with development director Linda Mayson. They offered him the job almost immediately.

“I accepted and figured I’d try it out, y’know,” he says.

In addition to working with downtown Mobile’s most visible arts organization, Hobbs is excited about making connections at the University of South Alabama, which is poised to establish a glassblowing facility and a glass art curriculum.

He describes Space 301 as “inspirational” and looks forward to creating a studio on the third floor, where he will do much of his glass-prep work such as drawing and painting on glass.

“I was doing a lot of that before I went back to school,” Hobbs says, referring to his recent graduation from the University of West Florida. “I’m getting back into my own work, which I think is the most important work I’ve made so far.”

Hobbs’ work is on view in “(re)memory,” now showing in the windows of Space 301/Art Off Centre. The exhibit is a first for the artist, who had never created window installations. The work in “(re)memory” was created to be shown in a different space — which it was a few weeks ago in Artel Gallery’s new Pensacola location.

 Hobbs will have another show of his work at the River Gallery in Chattanooga, Tenn., his place of birth. Although he was raised in Sonoma, Calif., Hobbs has family ties to Chattanooga and has traveled and worked in several venues including Atlanta. He was a glassblower there before he moved to Pensacola 10 years ago.

(Press-Register/Lyle W. Ratliff)"Evoke," a glass, tubing and pump installation by Joe Hobbs, whose "(re)memory" exhibit is ongoing at Art Off Centre in downtown Mobile.

Hobbs says he likes the way his glass and mixed-media pieces are displayed at Art Off Centre.

"There’s like a sequential order, whichever way you walk,” he says. “Each little pocket is like its own little world, and I found that kind of interesting.”

The artwork is “based on memory and the collection, storage and disintegration of memory,” he explains. More than 75 “memories” are stored in the exhibit. One piece, titled “Episodic,” was inspired by the tentativeness of episodic memory, he says, such as the inability to recall what you had for breakfast.

“(Re)memory” was Hobbs’ BFA exit show at West Florida, where he graduated in May. He opened the show at Artel 10 days after the the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill started in the Gulf of Mexico. Visitors to Artel assumed that Hobbs created the artwork in response to the Gulf catastrophe.

It was an intriguing coincidence, he says, fueled by the saturation media coverage of the oil spill. He was gratified by the response.

“Even though the inspiration wasn’t the same, it was like viewers felt a direct connection with the work,” he says. “Even if that was not exactly my intention, something resonated.”

Noted Seattle Glass Artist at The Hot Shop

Robert Jones, founder of Blockhead Tools and Robert Jones Designs, is experiencing glass blowing southern style.  Far from his Seattle home, Robert can be seen blowing glass at The Hot Shop at Orange Beach Art Center with Joe Thompson, Sam Cornman and Joe Hobbs. 

We can thank Joe Thompson for this fortuitous incidence.  Thompson’s company, Bear Creek Glass and Robert Jones Designs have joined forces and the Gulf Coast community and its visitors are the beneficiaries.  Both companies have a reputation with designers for creating inspiring high-end functional glass art including sinks and lightening.

Robert Jones is a third generation glass artist originally from the rough side of Buffalo, N.Y.  At age 15, after completing a trade program in carpentry, sheet metal, aviation and automotive, Jones moved out to Seattle to work with the National Park System in the Young American’s Conservation Corps rebuilding stairways and trails.  

Taking a break from work Jones traveled for two years from England to India.  In Varanasi, the cultural capital of India, Jones encountered a Sadhu, a Hindu ascetic or monk, who performed duties of a holy man in the morning and blew glass in the afternoon.  Jones stayed with the Sadhu for three days and then returned home to Seattle and began his glass blowing career.

 In 1984, he began work at The Glass Eye.  In the beginning, he prepared glass and color, charged furnaces, and maintained equipment.  Jones rose to the level of glassblower and later received the Glass Eye Scholarship.  From there he continued his training at Pilchuck Glass School where he was part of Martin Blank’s team for Dale Chihuly and Pratt Fine Arts Center where he was a student and teacher’s assistant.  For eight years, Jones freelanced as an assistant and gaffer to glass artists such as Lino Tagliapietra, Dale Chihuly, Dante Marioni, Joseph DeCamp, Preston Singletary, Phil O’Reily, Martin Blank, and Cliff Goodman. 

Jones founded Blockhead Tools, which manufactures wooden glassblowing tools used in studios and fine art schools throughout the U.S., Europe and Japan.  His brothers, Larry and Ronald, joined him in a glassblowing venture, Jones Brothers Glassworks, creating not only architectural designs but also glass counters and glass tablecloths among other items.

Jones decided that for him “glassblowing is about form and function rather than political statements and abstract art.”  In 1998, he completed hand building his own glass studio and began Robert Jones Designs, a company that quickly gained a reputation for high quality, inventive functional designs.  His passion for the trade is evident in his work. 

Now Jones’ designs are made at The Hot Shop at Orange Beach Center along with Bear Creek Glass’ existing glass line.  Stop by when you see “live glass blowing” signs at the street.  Visitors to The Hot Shop have the rare opportunity to see a Seattle glass artist at work.  Robert Jones puts on quite a show, watching him work is both fascinating and entertaining. (Rumor has it he is a chef and banjo player as well.) 

Glass classes are available to begin your career or hobby as a glass artist. The Hot Shop is a perfect location for field trips, family outings, team building and birthday parties.  Give a hand made Christmas gift:  make your own ornament ($20) or paperweight ($35) takes place every Saturday 10 am-1 pm. 

As Robert Jones says, “We are all artists inside, some just develop it more.”

The Hot Shop @ The Orange Beach Art Center is located at 26389 Canal Road, 3/10 mile east of the 161-Canal Road intersection in the former Orange Beach Hotel.  For more information call 251.981.2787 or visit www.orangebeachartcenter.com.