Thomas Barter had a passion for the arts from a young age. After graduating from CSU Humboldt in 1988 with a BFA he voyaged into the world of professional ceramics.

Thomas started his career in Sacramento California and made several pieces for the city of Sacramento. He then moved to southern California. His works in the Los Angeles area include two tile fountains for the Municipal Water District of Southern California at Union Station in LA, as well as murals, facades, and sculptures for the city of Long Beach. Thomas moved to New Zealand with his family in 2003 where he still resides. He has made and installed several artworks around Auckland City and has continues to make and install new works regularly. In 2010 Thomas took a class in glass casting. This changed the direction of his practice to away from Ceramics to glass

Thomas’s first works in glass were mostly flat back castings that were like his tile work at the time. He, however, was also interested in how to make some simple 3D forms. Part of his ceramic expertise is mold making so the transition into lost wax casting happened quickly. Thomas now almost exclusively uses cast glass as his medium of choice. 

Further to the development of origami objects he is working on a new direction involving the use of a repeated cast glass art deco element that are built into larger glass objects.

His studio is in Auckland New Zealand and is happy to have visitors and give tours of his premises.