Hosted at Oolite Arts in Miami Beach, “I Wonder…What It Would Be Like to Create with Clay on a Canvas?” offers a deeply immersive, hands-on experience that blends texture, color, and self-expression in a truly unconventional way. Led by artist Karen Starosta-Gilinski, participants will explore the tactile and meditative process of applying water-based, non-toxic clay directly onto canvas. Rather than using a traditional brush, you’ll work with your hands and texturing tools, shaping, layering, pressing, and sculpting vibrant clay into dimensional works of art. This experience invites you to slow down and engage your senses.

Through richly colored clay, rhinestones, shimmering finishes, and small tiles, you will experiment with:

• Blending and mixing custom colors
• Building layers of texture and dimension
• Using your hands and body as creative instruments
• Translating personal themes such as nature, memories, or dreams, into visual form

Karen will share examples of her own work to inspire your process and guide you in developing a personal concept for your piece. Curated background music will create an atmosphere that encourages creative flow, presence, and reflection.

In alignment with our mission, this workshop is about more than making art, it’s about strengthening the creative muscles that fuel resilience, adaptability, and innovative thinking. Working with clay in this way invites playfulness and experimentation. It encourages you to trust instinct over perfection and process over outcome. And in doing so, it helps rebuild the confidence that often fades when adults stop giving themselves permission to create.

Open to all skill levels, this workshop requires no prior artistic experience, only curiosity. The session concludes with a warm and supportive group review, where participants are invited (but never required) to share their finished pieces and reflect on their creative journey together.