Kevin Thompson - Northwind Pottery
01-02-2005 4:04 pm
Kevin Thompson is a professional ceramic artist who has recently turned his talents toward bonsai pottery
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Figure 1: Kevin Thompson
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Born and raised in Southern California, Kevin developed an affinity for ceramics while still in his early teens. After a decade-long hiatus from ceramic art, Kevin moved to the coast of Maine in 1993 and began a three-year pottery apprenticeship during which he concentrated on his wheel-throwing techniques. In 1996 he founded his own studio, Northwind Pottery, and began producing the porcelain dinnerware and raku that he has exhibited in shows and galleries throughout Maine and on his own website, www.northwindpottery.com.
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Carl Bergstrom Photo
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Figure 2: Japanese Blood Grass
Imperata cylindrica `Red Baron'
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Kevin's bonsai pottery stands out for its precision and technical perfection of form. Through their refinement, his pieces evince the years of experience that Kevin has accumulated at the wheel. His glazed pottery sustains a vibrant tension between the finely crafted symmetry of the clay and the natural, casual curves laid down by the flowing glaze.
Kevin works with a variety of clays and glazes, as well as slips, stains and textures; his work is fired in oxidation to cone 7. A speckled copper-green rims the refined, feminine lip of a porcelain round. A flaring edge with a banded wheat finish yields to a sandy yellow stoneware of a small kusamono pot. Like ripples against the marshland shore, a subtle blue wash spreads out over a dark, locally dug clay.
"A bonsai pot is more than just an art object. It is a home. It is a source of protection, repose, and nourishment for the tree housed within."
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Figure 3: An asymmetric pot design -
a teardrop shape.
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In almost everything he fashions, Kevin explores the duality between aesthetics and functionality. "I enjoy making functional pieces," Kevin explains, "for the connection I feel when someone uses my work, drinking coffee each morning from one of my cups." Functional art becomes integrated into daily life in a way that the purely decorative cannot, gradually permeating the consciousness through repeated quiet encounters.
"Kevin's bonsai pottery stands out for its precision and technical perfection of form."
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Carl Bergstrom Photo
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Figure 4: Finish details -
The underside of a dark blue round.
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Kevin's desire to marry artistry and utility was initially expressed through his tableware, but it finds a natural fulfillment in his bonsai pottery.
Kevin's bonsai pots serve three roles at once: they stand as art objects in their own right; they serve to frame the focal art piece of the tree, and most importantly, each pot provides a vital shell for a living entity. A bonsai pot is more than just an art object. It is a home. It is a source of protection, repose, and nourishment for the tree housed within.
Carl Bergstrom
Seattle, WA
