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Kite Personalities - Scott Skinner |
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Born and raised in the Western U.S., Scott Skinner graduated from the Air Force Academy and served seven-and-a-half years as a flight officer, achieving the rank of captain. Initially a KC135 tanker co-pilot, he returned to the academy as a pilot-instructor flying low and slow "bug smasher" T41s. After leaving the Air Force, Skinner earned an MBA at the University of Denver and settled into a career as manager of family investments. Meanwhile, he pursued his kite hobby, "begun in 1975 as a relief from flying planes and because of a continuing fascination with aero-dynamics." He began making kites intensively after learning how to sew. "Living in Colorado is conducive to kitemaking," he says. "It's cold and windy from October through February and that's when I build kites." Skinner hit on the concept of combining traditional American patchwork quilt designs with traditional Japanese kite forms to create a unique West-East hybrid. From this concept evolved the reproduction of images from Japanese paintings, such as fish or water motifs, that, when pieced together in new combinations, formed surprising, pleasing juxtapositions. A meticulous craftsman, Skinner's large rokkakus, Edos, hexagons and octagons have won him widespread acclaim. Early on, Skinner also began collecting prime examples of contemporary American kites. This trove assumed an international character when Skinner made a 1988 pilgrimage to Weifang and bought twenty-five Chinese traditionals. Since then he has acquired widely around the world and now has some seven hundred specimens, a significant number of which he judges to be of museum quality. Skinner's collection is quite separate from the collection being assembled by the Drachen Foundation in Seattle, Washington, of which he is the president. He collects memorabilia of the sport as well: prints, stamps, posters, enamelware, patches, books, periodicals, flying gear, kitemaking tools. His holding of Japanse prints with a kite motif is of such high quality that a lavish book of reproductions documenting the collection has been published. Wanting to share his passion, Skinner has exhibited choice kites at schools and elsewhere and plans to expand this lending program to a traveling exhibition. "I intend for as many people to see as many of my kites as possible," he says. Bearded, tall, strong, exceptionally articulate, Skinner is noted for his sense of humor and general good cheer. He is a public speaker of note. He can also surprise with the appropriate gesture. When asked a while back to sing a typical American song at an embassy event in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Skinner announced to the diplomats that singing was not his strong point, "but I do dance." He then proceeded to give a solo demonstration of ballroom dancing, which drew him enthusiastic applause. Asked about favorite kitemakers and kites, Skinner singles out George Peters of Boulder, Colorado, Peter Malinski of Germany, Martin Lester of England, Peter Travers of Australia. Frank Schwiemann and Christine Schwarting of Germany, Robert Trepanier of Canada, and Anna Rubin of Austria are other favorites. In Japan, he thinks the bee kites of Sato and Hashimoto, the miniatures of Yoshizumi, and the Edos of Toki are outstanding. He feels there are too many wonderful kitemakers in China for him to make a choice. Kites from Malaysia and Indonesia (particularly Bali) are among other favorites. Skinner's extensive travels all over the world to kite events have enabled him to make valued friends and to acquire extensive knowledge about kiting. "In what appears to be a narrow and focused field there is such surprising cultural, artistic, and historical depth," he says. Adapted from articles in the 1991 Kite Pin Invitational, a Drachen Foundation publication (1995) and the DF Kite Journal, issue 15 (2004)
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