After completing seven years of undergraduate and graduate
study in Fine Art, Thomas Kite earned his final degree in Printmaking. However, he
had become much more involved in applying Printmaking process to working glass so that the major works of his Graduate
Thesis Exhibition were sculptural- employing large
acid-etched glass
panels. This lead him to open a studio/gallery in New England in the
late 1970s.
Over the next 15 years, he immersed himself first in mastering
various glass cold
working techniques and then in combining glass and other media such as stone
and metal into more three dimensional expression.
During this time, he created hundreds of works, completed numerous private and commercial
commissions, and was represented for several years by Hobe Sound
Galleries North, part of Midtown Payson Galleries in New York.
For most of these years, the Art Glass Movement in the United States was
yet to take hold, so he did his research and acquired skill alone, building
his own glass engraving equipment, and perfecting techniques through trial
and error.
"In the 70's and 80's, I was a fulltime artist. Among other
things, I built a stone wheel glass lathe from scratch using
a cut down wet belt sander. Then with this lathe, I setup a rig for
brilliant
cutting large glass panels.
As an exercise, I set a goal to
recreate the Victorian style cut glass
panels popular in the 1800's. Actually did cut a number of them, but the
creative thrill
wore off as the challenge diminished and limitations of the
technique became better known. I wanted to take it farther- to push
those limits, but became more interested
in the rich possibilities of working
glass with other media.
In the late '80s, circumstances turned
me away from Art. Over time and after several moves including
to Osaka for a number of years, all that remains of my
old glass equipment is a set of engraving wheels. It's odd what possessions disappear
and what remains. A couple of years ago it became clear, if I was to ever
to dust them off, it better be now."
-Thomas Kite
In 2004, Thomas created Thos. Kite Design, Inc. to pick up where
he left off over 15 years ago.
"It's taken a few years to get started again, mainly because
setting
up a studio takes a great deal of time- finding the right
equipment, then making it work. And then I ran out of space and had to
move where I could build a much larger studio. Also, there was the mental
transition from my day job in computers back to Art and the
brush up on old skills like glass engraving as well as acquiring new
ones like casting. But recently, things are really beginning
to click.
The goal I've set for myself is to do things I didn't do before. Before, I wasn't into
much hot glass work- now that has already changed.
Before, many of the experimental pieces were smaller. Now, the focus
is on exploring
a larger scale and taking
bigger risks. Before, often work
was driven by the practicalities of the art marketplace. Now, the
work is always 1st.
Now, the whole thing is about being
transparent to the Art making- something I didn't fully understand
20 years ago."
-Thomas Kite
Other than his studio in Seattle Washington, this Web site is the
best place to track future directions or
contact Thomas.
Recent study :
School of Glasswork Abate Zanetti, Murano, Italy-
Lampworking Solid Forms/Sculpture
Pratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle, Washington, USA-
Advanced Cold Working
Hotshop Glass Casting
Advanced Fusing
Previous Academic study :
SUNYA, Albany, New York, USA-
MA Printmaking
Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada-
BFA Printmaking
Association Memberships :
Artist Trust, Washington
State
Glass Art Society (GAS)
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