What’s a Tacoma artist got to do to get big money thrown at her art and a stroll down the red carpet? An elite few command SoHo prices, and in T-town, not everyone’s got connections like Teddy Haggerty’s to the Baldwin brothers. But Robbi Firestone does. Having moved to Tacoma from Hollywood, Firestone’s been an actress, CEO of a Beverly Hills media company and even an art director at a top New York City advertising agency. Now she’s selling $16,000 custom portraits from her studio in Tacoma.



What’s more? Washington’s old money families are flocking to commission Firestone’s portraits. From what I saw last weekend, Seattle’s haute art scene is ogling her like she’s the austere and mysterious Hope Diamond.



Seriously, her “Spirit Capture” portraits are art that you want to make out with. Like the Mona Lisa’s evasive glance toying with your imagination, the passion in Firestone’s paintings force a visceral reaction. Bursting hints of color and sparkle in one portrait’s eyes foreshadow a naughty wink.



Attracting an abundance of beautiful people, one might think Firestone part of the Stepford-esque country club clique, focused more on her own beauty than others’. That thought passes immediately, when I heard her speak to a subject, “We are going to talk about your joys and dreams. I’m going to ask you about what you truly love and what you want to contribute to this lifetime. I’ll paint the real beauty I see in you.”



She reflects that same vision of beauty back on the city of Tacoma. She threw every preconceived notion of gritty Tacoma to the wind at Seattle’s premier red carpet art event, the PONCHO Gala, April 12.



Her work sold amidst art from Lino Tagliapietra’s Venetian and Louis C. Tiffany glass.  Non-art auction items included a trip to the Valencia Formula One Race, a breakfast at Tiffany’s in New York, and four tickets to the Grammies. Having items sell for upwards of $50,000, Firestone’s custom portrait seemed like a steal for between eight to twenty thousand dollars.



No stranger to the black tie red carpet, Robbi Firestone’s work can be found in some of the most prestigious homes, admired by Hollywood’s celebutantes. She relocated from LA to the Puget Sound after discovering Tacoma’s rich appreciation of the arts. Firestone travels extensively painting clients around the world.



A full-time oil portraitist, Firestone attended the elite Parsons School of Design and Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Her childhood roots may ground her in blue collar Tacoma. She grew up on the Mason Dixon line climbing trees and tipping cows.



So how did this complex woman command Poncho’s attention from T-town? I went to the source for my answer, the very respectable PONCHO Gala Chair Rose Dennis, “My goal was to offer our patrons items that are unique. Robbi’s art form is beautiful. It is an honor to introduce her to our audience, who were as impressed with her creativity and talent as I was.”

OK, Firestone always donates 10 percent of her commissions to charity, and they knew she would pull in some serious dough for their good cause.



That she did. Featured as the best of the best, Firestone was the only artist to prance straight from the red carpet to the main stage, addressing the crowd like an art darling. Firestone’s paintings hung beside three Chilhulys, and paraded beside her in a display that was more like a couture fashion show than a luxury auction.



So how does an artist keep from going soft around the edges while attending fancy soirées and painting high societarians? She is just a little bit crazy, and I mean the Heidi Klum’s talented husband’s definition of crazy, “In a world full of people, why do only some of us fly?” I wouldn’t imagine Firestone afraid of anything. She says, “Fear is my teacher. I embrace it.” She jumped from a plane at 12,500 feet, because she was scared of heights. Petrified of sharks, she went SCUBA diving in ‘Shark Alley’.’



Firestone believes that by constantly pushing boundaries, she discovers new dimensions of her self and her art. “I jump hard into insecurities, living raw, which creates a day-to-day ease. This breathes life into my artwork. It emerges with grace.”



As she says this, I think to myself, “Is she for real?” Remembering  Daniel Blue’s poetic performance at the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation Annual Meeting, I realize that she is just one of us. Her words reflect the talent, which is alive and empowered in Tacoma. The magnification of her creativity is an example of why we get out of bed in the morning. Robbi Firestone’s life just happens to push art way beyond the boundaries of our 253 area code.



Tacoma is big time and your art is too.



Robbi Firestone’s paintings will be featured with champagne and chocolates at Tacoma’s elegant Dragonfly’s Garden Party tonight.



[Dragonfly, Thursday, June 5, 6-9 p.m., 102 Puyallup Ave., Tacoma, 253.383.3200]