![3D""=20](3D"http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site96/2009/1203/20091= "3D\"\"")
Kevin=20
Thomas works in his Glenbrook art studio in =
Stamford on=20
Thursday. The Westport resident will host his =
first=20
pottery show this weekend after recovering from =
a=20
near-fatal car crash two years ago.=20
STAMFORD -- Among a collection of brilliantly =
colored=20
stoneware platters and Raku-fired pots stained =
with=20
carbon, artist Kevin Thomas keeps two lopsided =
pots on a=20
worktable in his Glenbrook studio.=20
The unpainted pieces -- "beginner pieces," a =
friend=20
said kindly -- are Thomas' constant reminder of =
his=20
two-year struggle overcoming the near-fatal car =
accident=20
that almost also took away his art, and his =
ability to=20
walk.
The pieces, Nos. 2 and 3, created late last =
year when=20
Thomas first returned to the studio, barely =
resemble the=20
accomplished artwork he has produced for his =
first art=20
show since his accident, being held this weekend =
at=20
Lakeside Pottery on Newfield Avenue.
The 74 new pieces of pottery are the product =
of
Pieces of pottery in =
Kevin=20
Thomas' Stamford studio. =
nearly a year=20
of painstaking work, sitting for endless hours =
before a=20
wall of windows in his studio, molding clay over =
and=20
over again.
"It's a 'Kevin's back' show," the 42-year-old =
Westport resident, now nearly fully recovered, =
said=20
Thursday. Thomas' professional highlights =
include more=20
than a decade as a faculty member at the =
Silvermine=20
Guild Arts Center, a term as president of =
Stamford's=20
Loft Artists Association and several years as an =
adjunct=20
teacher at New York University.
The accident, which occurred on I-95 North as =
Thomas=20
was driving from Stamford to Westport in October =
2007,=20
left him with brain damage from breaking his =
skull in 15=20
places and 16 other broken bones, including four =
vertebrae in his neck, a face broken in
two places, a broken collarbone, four =
broken ribs=20
and all three bones in his left arm.
Then paralyzed on his right side, Thomas was =
in a=20
severe coma for nearly a month, and was =
hospitalized at=20
Norwalk Hospital for another three months before =
beginning painful sessions of physical therapy =
seven=20
days a week in February 2008.
One doctor told him it was likely he would =
never=20
sculpt or throw pottery again.
But Thomas remembers thinking otherwise: =
"This guy is=20
wrong. He has no idea who he is talking to."
Even the most optimistic physicians said a =
return=20
would take five years of physical therapy.
In order to make ceramics, first Thomas =
needed to=20
spin the potter's wheel, which meant pumping the =
pedal=20
with his right foot, on his paralyzed side.
"I could have switched (feet), but I was too=20
stubborn," Thomas said, laughing. Instead, he =
practiced=20
smoothly, consistently pumping the pedal, =
rebuilding the=20
brain connections he lost.
Then, when he could spin the wheel, he needed =
both=20
hands -- especially the left hand, which still =
pained=20
him after shattering his elbow -- to keep the =
clay=20
centered and even.
Over time, the pieces grew stronger as Thomas =
grew=20
stronger.
He compared those initial
Kevin=20
Thomas works in his pottery studio in Stamford =
on=20
Thursday.
works with the first =
thousand pots he threw in the 1980s, when he =
first took=20
up the craft -- "this was my second thousand," =
he joked.
Conversely, Thomas said, it was the attitude =
that=20
pottery had given him -- the determination and =
patience=20
-- that enabled him to heal so quickly.
"The doctors told me the most important thing =
was my=20
age "=C2=A6 after that it was personality," he =
said. "I would=20
go to physical therapy and go home and do it 20 =
more=20
times."
He will be back to teaching weekly classes at =
NYU=20
next month, and he plans to volunteer in the =
intensive=20
care unit at Norwalk Hospital -- he raves about =
his=20
treatment there -- in addition to teaching a =
number of=20
workshops and creating a series of =
self-narrative pieces=20
representing his accident.
The whirlwind pace doesn't seem daunting to =
Thomas,=20
who simply explained, "I'm an artist."
Then, explaining his love of the art form, he =
added:=20
"The first time I held clay the room got =
brighter."
Staff Writer Devon Lash can be reached at=20
203-964-2242 or devon.lash@scni.com.
If you want to go Kevin =
Thomas' art=20
show will take place Saturday from 6:30 to 8:30 =
p.m. and=20
Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Lakeside Pottery, =
543=20
Newfield Ave.
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