Steer wrestling, a practice credited to legendary cowboy and rodeo star Bill Pickett, usually involves leaping onto a steer from the back of a specially trained horse. At the Madison

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In the first room of Rob Levin’s studio, his designs — elongated and pointed, intricate and etched, brilliantly hued — catch the morning sun. In the second and third rooms,

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In the first room of Rob Levin’s studio, his designs — elongated and pointed, intricate and etched, brilliantly hued — catch the morning sun. In the second and third rooms,

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In the first room of Rob Levin’s studio, his designs — elongated and pointed, intricate and etched, brilliantly hued — catch the morning sun. In the second and third rooms,

Arts

Studio Tour with Rob Levin of Burnsville

In the mountains of western North Carolina, an artist creates blown-glass vessels and mixed-media sculptures.

by Susan Stafford Kelly
Studio Tour with Robin Levin of Burnsville

In the first room of Rob Levin’s studio, his designs — elongated and pointed, intricate and etched, brilliantly hued — catch the morning sun. In the second and third rooms, ceiling-high stacks of branches and bamboo dominate. In the fourth, shelves hold dozens of pieces awaiting completion. This last room, where Levin watches the seasons change outside, is where the true work gets done, on a decades-old bench surrounded by glass furnaces — plus corrugated tin panels to protect him from the heat his remarkable creations require.

Feature image: To create “ribbons” of glass on a finished piece (above left), Levin adds globules of hot glass while the piece is still in progress.

This story was published on Nov 16, 2016

Susan Stafford Kelly

Susan Stafford Kelly

Susan Stafford Kelly was raised in Rutherfordton. She attended UNC-Chapel Hill and earned a Master of Fine Arts from Warren Wilson College. She is the author of Carolina Classics, a collection of essays that have appeared in Our State, and five novels: How Close We Come, Even Now, The Last of Something, Now You Know, and By Accident. Susan has three grown children and lives in Greensboro with her husband, Sterling.