At 43, Kent Rasmussen is the youngest among the pre-eminent Danish carvers. Surprisingly, Kent made his first pipe only ten years ago, in 1994 and he's only be pursuing pipe making professionally for the past five years. Kent has simply exploded on to the world pipe stage during the past three years: going from unknown to widely celebrated in just a few short years. Of course, his reputation and his new found pipe-world fame are richly deserved. He is making some of the most interesting, fresh pipes coming from Denmark today.

Kent has been an artist his entire life. His father was a hobbyist woodworker and Kent started crafting from wood at a very early age. This early interest blossomed into a career as a modern artist in various media. Though his degree is in technical design, a field in which he was active during most of the 1980s, he turned to painting and sculpture at the end of the 1980s. He pursued various artistic pursuits for the next ten years. Increasingly towards the end of the 1990s, Kent became disenchanted with the artistic world. Not only did he feel that he had little that could be contributed within that broader category, it was, quite simply, not paying the bills. Though the image of the starving artist is always an appealing one, it is rather more difficult to actually be that starving artist.

In 1998, Kent undertook pipe making in earnest. He had first tried his hand at pipemaking in 1994, but really just as an experiment. Early in 1999, Kent first met Teddy Knudsen. As one would expect, it was a turning point in Kent's career. He realized that pipes could be true art. He realized that with a sound basis, taught to him by Teddy, in pipe engineering and carving methods, he could develop himself as an artist in briar. After almost two decades of searching, Kent found his medium. As he puts it he 'found [his] home'.

Given his five short years as a professional pipe carver, Kent has achieved truly remarkable things. His pipes are meticulously engineered and finished. They are almost always beautifully grained. More than that though, Kent has a sense of shaping that cannot be taught. He has a sense of visual form and balance that is rare indeed. He is an artist; and thankfully he has found his medium.