2026: 01/09-01/12 Master Class in Painterly Glass, with Kari Minnick

January 9-12, 2026.  9am to 5pm daily.

Discover the expressive power of kiln-formed glass in this four-day master class with internationally renowned artist Kari Minnick. Designed for artists eager to explore painterly composition in glass, this workshop emphasizes technique, intuition, and personal style—without ever using traditional paint.

Instead, you’ll learn to simulate painterly effects using Bullseye glass powder, frit, and stringer, achieving surfaces that range from textured impasto to ethereal watercolor washes. Working through both wet and dry powder techniques, multiple firings, and precision temperature control, students will gain hands-on experience with a wide array of glass-specific surface treatments and layering strategies.

Through a combination of demonstration, guided exercises, and individual exploration, topics will include:

• Color mixing and visual layering
• Working from both sides of the glass
• Composition and visual editing
• Strategies for abstraction, realism, and everything in between
• Developing personal imagery from sketch to completion

You’ll begin with test pieces and paper mockups, then move on to create two substantial finished works. Along the way, Kari will share techniques and insights that translate beautifully across mediums—making this workshop equally valuable to glass artists, painters, printmakers, and mixed-media artists.

While this class builds on concepts introduced in Kari’s previous courses, no prior experience is required. Whether this is your first time working in kiln-formed glass or you're looking to deepen your practice, you'll leave with new tools, techniques, and creative confidence.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Kari Minnick is a celebrated glass artist and educator whose work is held in private, corporate, and embassy collections around the world. Trained as a painter, she holds a degree in Studio Art from the University of California at Davis. She owns and operates Kari Minnick Art Glass Studio, where she creates architectural commissions, fine art panels, and offers advanced instruction in kiln-glass. Known for her dynamic teaching style and painterly approach, Kari teaches internationally and inspires artists across media.

"My art and life are a study of contrasts: order and chaos, thick and thin, questioning and acceptance. Using rich surfaces and layers of glass, I contrast fleshy realism with abstraction. Immediacy and restraint, delicacy and directness; I balance bold composition and nuanced line. A maker of pictures and teller of stories, I’m soothed by familiar fluency yet stirred by ecstatic newness. Fleeting gesture on solid ground, murky meaning and bruising impact, chaos and eerie calm. Disparate elements crescendo and resolve into beauty."

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