Cappy Thompson

      Cappy Thompson was born in Alexandria, Virginia in 1952 and received a BA from Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington in 1976 in painting and printmaking. Cappy Thompson's first professional exposure to glass was in 1975 when she went to work for a small studio in Olympia, where she worked in solitude until her reputation brought her to the attention of glass artists Charles Parriott, Therman Statom and Dale Chihuly. In 1984 Cappy moved to Seattle, worked at Pilchuck Glass School, and was led to painting on vessel forms.

        Using a process for painting stained glass windows developed in the MiddleAges, Cappy Thompson creates intelligent “picture poems” on panels which combine mythology, folk styles, and self-expression. Thompson's use of the vessel form lends an ethereal luminosity to her narrative and gives her stories a place to live. Cappy's painting style, in combination with the metaphor of the vessel, result in lush, feminine works which inspire a childlike “magic” reminiscent of hearing a fantastical fairy tale.