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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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."

 

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.

 

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.

 

Thomsen also built a homestead on 108 acres of Oregon forest wilderness, 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 circulation of 5000 copies.

 

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. In the last 10 years in Hawai'i, Thomsen and his wife, Camille have been buying old, '50s plantation style homes and bringing them back to their ogirnal grace and charm. Never a dull moment!

 

Their current home is a Hilo classic that was built in 1958 and is the first home they have ever owned that needed no repairs or updating. Now there's time for art, which is where we came in!

Please note: ---If the above Bio appears to be somewhat of a chronological mess, it is only because many, if not most, of Thomsen's various life adventures (experiments?) overlapped by years. For example, Oregon Wordworks has been in operation continuously since 1989 and is still alive and well; the flying years were from about '84 - '93 when Thomsen moved to Hawaii for the second time; the homestead years were from '78 - '89; and his two stained-glass studios, both in Oregon, were from '74 - '93. The auto business was from about 1960 (!) through '89, but he continued as a licensed auto wholesaler and shop-owner from then until '93, dealing cars in the auction arena in California, Oregon and Washington.

Gee, he must be very old!

Thomsen has lived in Hawaii since '93, and in the sweet town of Hilo for five years and plans on staying there for a long time. He and his wife Camille share their home with their old cat, Bill and one-year-old rascal-cat, Kai. Thomsen has three kids and two grandkids, all in California. Camille has one daughter and two granddaughters who also live in California. Their four wonderful grandkids, from 5 - 10 years old, come to Hawaii on occasion but never often enough!

Skip Thomsen is available for glass design, construction and installation -anywhere on The Big Island of Hawaii. If you take a liking to any of the -original works shown on this Web site, he can also design you a new one -that is similar in nature, but not a copy of the original. Thomsen also -encourages the networking of other glass artists on the Island for the -purpose of sharing ideas and materials. Often an arist needs just that right -little piece of glass, and just as often, somebody else has it available.

 

Contact Info:

Email

808.443.6208