Cantonment artist breaks out at the 'The Vault'

Head to Artel Gallery for a rather stunning exhibition − a validation of local artist Suzanne Robbert whose diminutive paintings barely take up The Vault, a side room that stages Artel’s smaller shows.

“Suzanne’s work is like watching a magician,” said Randy New, a local sculptor. “You see it, but you can’t believe it!”

Titled, “For Dad,” Robbert’s show is a dedication to her father who died of pancreatic cancer last June.

“I found a lot of solace in painting, thank God,” Robbert reflected. “I wouldn’t be here right now painting if it wasn’t for his support. So, I thought the least I could do is dedicate this show to him.”

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The roughly 30 works represent Robbert’s deft hand at realism, especially with her delectable takes on food. She broke out in 2013 with an oil painting of a dish of ice cream accompanied by a mismatched fork.

“It was just because I wanted to paint something green,” Robbert mused. “I love mint chocolate chip and I stuck a fork in it just for fun.”

In an Artel show in 2016, she presented a painting with an on-the-nose interaction.

“One painting was a bowl of popcorn and underneath she had popped fresh bags of popcorn and offered them to guests,” New recalled. “So, the effect of seeing a photorealistic painting of popcorn in combination with the smell of actual popcorn was quite a remarkable sensation. I remember thinking, ‘This lady is on to something.’”

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But Robbert’s oeuvre isn’t limited to food paintings. Her keen eye for the beach and an appreciation of quotidian objects resulted in more admired works. Some local collectors had begun taking notice.

“Suzanne’s style really appeals to us,” said Karen Morris, who owns three of Robbert’s works. “Of the couple of other artists I’ve seen painting in this style, none comes close to Suzanne’s ability.”

But her career path has been a rather long arc. Her parents took notice of their only child’s artistic curiosity, a youth spent mostly in Florida. She graduated from Deltona High School in 1993 and moved to Pensacola in 1997 after finishing her degree in studio art from Springhill College in Mobile.

“I had different types of parents,” said Robbert. “Most kids are forced to get a summer job. I was forced to continue to do art. Dad just wanted me to succeed.”

After college, she returned home in Cantonment to work for her mother’s pest control company while selling commissions on the side. After the company was shuttered a few years later, Robbert sold a work here and there on eBay, but was hungry for more. She got a small break from Friends of the Library who liked her idea for a “Pelican in Paradise,” the public art project. She named it “Dewey D.,” after the library’s traditional index scheme.

“I thought, okay, I’ll try something else,” said Robbert. “I saw Artel in the newspaper and dropped off (work) there in 2003.”

Her entry was a portrait of her father, Randy, looking out a window at Iraq vets returning home. A reference to his own service in Vietnam, the piece was accepted.

Robbert combed for more opportunities such as small festivals but didn’t prefer the unpredictable grind. She returned to Artel to volunteer regularly as a sitter, that menial task of greeting viewers and “answering any questions they might have.” Her frequent presence caught the eye of Eloise Lautier, Artel’s president at the time.

“Eloise noticed that I was hanging around a lot and offering my help,” Robbert recalled. “She asked me to be on the board in 2008.”

The following year, Lautier stepped down and tapped Robbert to replace her. It was a pivotal year for the Artel as it moved from its demure digs near Seville Square, to its current palatial setting at the old Escambia County Courthouse on Palafox Place. The venue’s exhibition space expanded dramatically. Robbert was now at the helm of a very visible gallery that needed more art to fill its void. Her personal output, however, slowed down.

“I knew that it was trade off,” said Robbert. “I was learning so much and meeting so many people. Sure, I lost those years developing my art but at the same time, I was developing relationships and learning about art administration.”

There was also the onus of not being paid. As a non-profit, Artel is run totally by volunteers, top to bottom. But Robbert’s presidential role made her eligible to judge art shows and annual festivals like “Gulf Breeze Celebrates the Arts” and UWF’s “Festival on the Green.” In the midst of her tenure, her 2013 ice cream painting took art viewers off guard.

“A lot of people didn’t know I painted,” she recalled.

In 2018, Robbert stepped down as president and the Vault was named after her.

“It was the very least that could have been done for her. It was a parting gift from the Board of Directors,” said New, who succeeded her as president.

Back at the brush, commissions came pouring in, but she continued to enter her stark realism, which hadn’t waned, into local shows. She racked up Best of Show awards and often sold the awarded works. One of her buyers was Greg Saunders, a local artist known for his arresting beach scenes in charcoal.

“I first saw Suzanne’s work about six years ago,” said Saunders. “Her touch was immaculate.”

Saunders’ style share’s Robbert’s vigorous detail but he sees her paintings as “more refined.” He confronted her with much enthusiasm about being represented by a commercial gallery to build her audience and attract more buyers.

“Artists can only reach so many people by word of mouth and the local scene affords only so many outlets,” he explained.

Saunders is closing out his teaching career at UWF and a has a current 30-year retrospective of his drawings at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans. He noted that Robbert would have to raise her prices and increase her output to be considered by a gallery in a larger market.

“This great painter deserves way more attention than she is getting,” Saunders concluded.

“For Dad,” could serve as a springboard. Robbert works in her upstairs home studio, a sanctum she shares with her 18-year old cat whose portrait appears in the show under the title, “Kit Kit.” In another piece, a glass of wine projects a refracted view of her studio. The smaller works that fill the bulk of the space, are sentimental objects like an old school desk, a rusty saw, and a lawn chair.

“They were so much fun to paint,” she said. “An object or idea would pop in my head and if it made me smile and think of Dad, I painted it.”

The show’s centerpiece is a large sweeping beach scene dotted with sea oats swayed in choreographed unison.

“I have such a huge love for the beach,” said Robbert. “When I’m not there at least I painted it.”

At the front of the Vault are two paintings of levitating golf clubs that flank the entrance. The irons are custom-made with detailed handles and vintage wood grain, a challenge to depict which Robbert took on. The works symbolize her father who loved the game up till the end of his life while always encouraging his daughter to pursue her art.

“Now, I’m going to submit to galleries,” Robbert declared. “That’s what my goal is now. Then I want to just sit back and paint.”

"For Dad"

• What: Paintings by Suzanne Robbert

• Where: Artel Gallery, 223 Palafox Place

• When 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday through Jan. 6

• More info: Artelgallery.org or Suzannerobbert.com

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Cantonment artist Suzanne Robbert breaks out at Artel's 'The Vault'