Roberto Cabrini has been painting on sheet metal since 1999. He works in the Canavese foothills of northern Italy, bending typographic metal plates into curves and flooding them with synthetic enamel, works he calls vele, sails. Roberto founded a whole artistic movement around it, Arte Lamierista. Without a dedicated destination online for his work, he built his site with Solo AI Website Creator, and put more than twenty-five years of painting in front of the world.
Who Is Rokab?
Roberto goes by the artist name Rokab, and his business is called Rokab Pitture su Lamiera, literally "Rokab Paintings on Sheet Metal." The name does exactly what a good brand name should: it tells you the medium before you see a single image.
His signature works are the vele, sails. Each one starts as a flat sheet of typographic metal, cut to a scalene triangle and curved so it catches light from every angle. Roberto paints the front face with synthetic enamel in vivid, layered geometric forms; the reverse stays raw, still showing the paper, tape, and manufacturing marks from the mill. The pieces hang from a central attachment point and rotate with the movement of air around them.
In 1999, Roberto made his first sail. As he told Quotidiano Canavese in May 2026, the idea came from thinking about wind: "la prima vela nasce nel 1999 dalla suggestione del vento che riesce con un alito a generare tanta potenza da spingere cose e pensieri", the first sail was born from the suggestion of wind, which with a single breath generates enough power to push things and thoughts. More than twenty-five years later, the practice has grown into Arte Lamierista, a formal artistic movement he founded that blends geometry with fine art.
Art critic Giancarlo Alù has described Arte Lamierista as a mix of geometry and art, the rational and the spiritual, noting that it sits between the kinetic evolution of painting as a medium and its true aesthetic function. Roberto's sails have been exhibited in Rivarolo and Castelnuovo Nigra in the Canavese region, and in Rome, where they were shown at the contemporary art quadrennial Leonardo Da Vinci, Artisti nella storia.
Roberto is also an IT professional, a detail that matters, because it means he understood exactly what a useful website should do long before he built one.
The Challenge: Exhibition Track Record, No Owned Web Presence
You can have work on gallery walls in Rome and still be invisible on the internet. That was Roberto's situation. His paintings had traveled to regional exhibitions and a national contemporary art event. But if someone searched for his work online, there was no dedicated destination, no page where his images lived alongside his contact details and his services.
The visibility gap
Roberto's goal, in his own words, was simple: give visibility to his works. He wasn't chasing an online store or a complex booking system. He needed a clean, professional place to show what he makes, one that worked for both collectors browsing from anywhere in the world and local clients in Canavese looking for a custom commission.
What most portfolio builders get wrong for artists
Most website builders are built around text-heavy service businesses. For a painter, the images are the argument. Roberto needed a builder that would put his gallery front and center, and let him get the site live quickly, without spending weeks on configuration. He describes the setup experience as "very fast," which for someone who has spent decades building things with his hands, is high praise for a digital tool.
How Roberto Built the Site With Solo
Roberto's site at soloist.ai/rokabpitturesulamiera is titled "Artistic Metal Paintings & More", a straightforward description that sets expectations immediately. The site is one page, and it does its job efficiently.
- Introduction section, opens with the core pitch: synthetic enamel paintings on metal, plus custom musical instrument decoration.
- Services section, three published services: Decorative Metal Panels, Musical Instrument Decoration, and Oil Painting. Each has its own card with a description.
- Gallery section, more than 19 images of Roberto's work, viewable in a single scroll. This is the centre of gravity for the whole site.
- Customer Reviews section, social proof from people who have already commissioned work.
- Contact section, a direct way for interested buyers or collaborators to reach him.
The entire site runs on Solo's free plan. Roberto paid nothing to get his exhibition-quality work in front of a worldwide audience.
What the Site Does Now
The site gives Roberto something physical gallery shows cannot: a permanent, always-on presence. A collector in Japan, a music school in Germany looking for a custom guitar finish, or a design studio in Milan searching for decorative metal panels, they can all find his work and reach him directly, any time of day.
The gallery alone, more than 19 images across his different bodies of work, does the job that used to require printing a physical portfolio and shipping it to interested parties. Now it loads on a phone in seconds.
"Paint on steel plate, everyone likes the world of color. I like to try anything new."
, Roberto Cabrini (Rokab), Rokab Pitture su Lamiera
That philosophy, try anything new, embrace color, keep moving, is exactly why a one-page website made sense for Roberto's practice. He didn't need complexity. He needed a clear, fast, beautiful page that let his work speak. Solo gave him that, on a free plan, in a setup time he describes as very fast.
Before the site launched, Roberto had no single dedicated address for his work online. Now, Rokab Pitture su Lamiera has one: the paintings, the services, the reviews, the contact form, all in one place. That's a concrete shift for any working artist, from scattered or invisible to findable and professional.
Want Your Craft to Look This Good Online?
Roberto built a gallery of over 19 works, listed three distinct services, and added a contact form, all on Solo's free plan. If you make something with your hands and need a place to show it off, Create Your Website with Solo AI Website Creator and go live today.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Arte Lamierista?
Arte Lamierista is an artistic movement founded by Roberto Cabrini (Rokab). It involves painting with synthetic enamel on curved typographic sheet metal, producing works that combine industrial materials with fine art technique. Art critic Giancarlo Alù has described it as blending geometry with artistic expression, rational form meeting the kinetic and aesthetic possibilities of painted metal.
Can I build an art portfolio website on Solo for free?
Yes. Roberto's entire site, gallery, services, reviews, and contact form, runs on Solo's free plan. There's no subscription required to get your work online and visible to the world.
What kinds of artwork can I display on a Solo site?
Solo supports image galleries, service listings, and contact sections, the core structure any artist needs. Roberto uses his gallery to show metal paintings and instrument decoration work. Photographers, illustrators, sculptors, and craftspeople use the same format to display their portfolios.
How long does it take to set up a Solo website?
Roberto describes his setup as "very fast." Solo uses AI to generate a first draft of your site based on your business description, so you spend your time editing and uploading images rather than building from scratch. Most people are live within an hour.
Do I need technical skills to use Solo?
No. Roberto is an IT professional, but Solo is designed for people with no technical background at all. The AI handles the structure; you handle the content. If you can describe your work and upload a few photos, you can build a professional site.
