- Skip Thomsen
was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and from a
very early age loved to draw. Also from an early age, he was
fascinated by the stained glass windows seen in those days, mostly
in churches.
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- Some thirty-five
years ago, he found an inspiring glass artist in his then hometown
of Lafayette, California, and learned that this person was offering
classes. The glass-art passion began.
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- Thomsen moved
to Oregon a few years later and started a glass studio there.
He was also a licensed General Contractor and designed and built
custom homes on the Oregon Coast. Of course, all of these homes
featured numerous stained glass windows, some of which are featured
on this Web site.
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- Another of his
long-time passions is fine woodworking, and recently Thomsen
decided to combine his wood art and glass art, the result being
pieces such as this series, "Glass and Wood."
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- He first came
to Hawai'i in 1972 and was overwhelmed with the incredible splendor
and the spiritual mana (strength; power) of these Islands. He
moved here permanently 1993 and is forever in awe of Hawai'i's
beauty, and this is the inspiration behind his art. His studio
is in his home in the beautiful hills of Hilo.
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- As a glimpse
into Thomsen's varied ventures over the years, he owned and operated
a large facility in the San Francisco Bay Area that was devoted
to all aspects of repair and maintenance of exotic cars, vintage
and newer. He designed and built successful show cars, restored
antique vehicles to their original grace, and also did engine
conversions. These mostly involved installing modern engines,
transmissions, and electrical systems in vintage cars that the
owners wanted for reliable daily drivers as opposed to preserving
them as antiques or show cars. This was all way back in the late
'60s to early '70s, and another shop was in operation in Oregon
until 1993.
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- In 1979, Thomsen
built a homestead on 108 acres of Oregon forest wilderness (on
the northern slope of Mt. Hood), designing and building the house, shop,
other outbuildings, and the alternative electrical system that
ran the entire place. Friends encouraged him to write a manual
on how to duplicate the electrical system, and thus began his
still-operating publishing company, Oregon Wordworks.
He has written and published half a dozen books on various topics
over the years, as well as many magazine articles. A companion
business in Oregon was an arts-and-entertainment newspaper with
a North Coast circulation of 5000 copies.
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- While in Oregon,
he earned his pilot's license and funded his flying by buying
old, dilapidated
airplanes and using his automotive, machine-shop and electronics
skills to refurbish them into like-new showpieces. During those years, his airplanes
served him well by
chauffeuring his then teen son to and from boarding school, plus
lots of business
and pleasure flights, as well. The airplanes served him well
in getting to auto auctions in California, Oregon And Washington,
where he was a licensed auto dealer for many years.
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- In the last
12 years in Hawai'i, Thomsen and his wife, Camille have been
buying old, '50s plantation style homes and bringing them back
to their original grace and charm. Never a dull moment!
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- When the Thomsens
bought their newest Hilo home, they dedicated a special room
to his glass studio. It has lots of windows and a sweet stream
runs right outside! The studio has been in full operation for
five years now and his work is featured in various Big Island
galleries and has been in shows around the Island, as well.
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- This was a Hilo
classic that was built in 1948 and is the first home they have
ever owned that needed no repairs or updating. Now there would
be time for art . . . but in their six years there, a twist entered
their program.
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- For those last
several years, Skip & Camille had been making more and more
trips to California's Bay Area to visit their kids and grandkids.
It was getting ever more expensive, more complicated and less
comfortable to make these trips, so as happens with many Hawai'i
families separated by that ocean, they decided to start a search
for a possible new home near the kids.
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- Living in or
near a big city was not an option, so they started looking at
possibilities within an hour or two of the Bay Area. They found
a great place in Forestville, California. Deep in the beautiful
Sonoma County Redwoods but at the top of a hill with lots of
sunshine, this home is near the ocean, and is quiet and serene.
There's a beautiful feeling of community there that reminds one
of Aloha, and that is their new home.
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- Hawai'i will
always be in their hearts, and Skip will continue to create Hawai'i-inspired
art that will be shipped to Big Island galleries and available
in Sonoma County galleries as well.
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