Tucson artist Katherine Nesci creates glass goblets and bird figurines.
Katherine Nesci’s journey as a glass artist started when she and her husband took a glass bead-making class together.
“After the class, I was just so interested that I bought a torch and a little bit of glass and I started practicing in a corner of a room,” the Tucson artist says.
Little did she know that her interest would eventually take her across the country and the world.
Years later, Nesci took glass bead classes again through Pima County’s Park and Recreation and eventually at Tucson’s Sonoran Glass School where she served in many roles, from student to volunteer to teacher to board president. She even competed in the school’s annual Flame-Off competition.
Nesci also studied glass art in Italy and New York. The classes are short — about a week or two — and students have the chance to study with a specific teacher.
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Nesci describes the New York class as “intensive,” as it ran from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day for a week.
“It’s just so exciting to be surrounded by the synergy and excitement of eight, nine other artists all doing the same thing,” she says.
“I love glass because it takes all my attention,” she says. Because of the flame required for the art, “you can’t let your attention wander.”
Now, about 25 years after taking that first class, Nesci has focused her artistry on goblets and bird figurines.
