"All I want to do is fill a space in a beautiful way." Georgia O' Keeffe
Kevin Kennedy lives and works in Charlotte, North Carolina. A Charlotte native, he has been working in fused glass for 22 years. Self taught in many aspects of glass craft, fusing is his favored method for working with glass. Using only finest hand-rolled,handmade glass from Bullseye Glass, designs are cut from transparent and opaque colors and stacked on a kiln shelf, then topped with another layer of color or clear glasses. The stack is then fired in a glass kiln to 1450-1500 degrees F. The firing and cooling cycle takes as much as 18 hours. Each piece requires a minimum of 2 firings or several days to make. Complex designs may need many more firings.
All designs are original series . Images are abstractions inspired by pattern in the natural world and geometry. Variations on a theme or pattern are critical to the design process. Designs become more or less complicated as a series progresses.
Also a metalsmith and former painter, Kevin grew up in an environment conducive to creativity- there was always plenty of Scoch tape and good scissors. His family lived on a working farm in Mint Hill, outside of Charlotte with a blacksmith Father and Mother who is a painter. He began the 1980's painting and beginning glass, and in 1990, picked up a silversmith's hammer. In addition to glass, he still works in Silver,Mokume-Gane , (wood-grained metal), and anodized Niobium and Titanium.
Kevin is always looking for new and unexpected materials to use in jewelry making. The "Tick-Tock" series of earrings is a testament to that. Clock parts, rescued Formica,surgical rubber tubing ,Stainless Steel,crystal,and Titanium & Niobium are all used in various combinations in this series.
Incorporating the past is also important to him. In the early '90's
Deborah Allen Adair and the crew at Reactive Metals Studio introduced him to Mokume-Gane and other traditional Japanese alloys used in traditional sword furniture.
The simplicity of beautiful patination on different and mixed metals is a wonderful thing. He hopes to include more experimentation with this in the coming months. Come back and look for it!
