Finding your voice with glass: Minhi England’s journey as a glassblower

Minhi England always knew she wanted to be an artist. But she never thought her art would come from heating glass at thousands of degrees and shaping it into everything from delicate flowers to large distorted mirrors.

Glassblowing is one of the oldest and most delicate art forms. This practice of heating glass and shaping it by blowing air through a tube dates back to the first century B.C. The technique largely remains the same today, with a small group of people around the world making a career out of glass art. But some like Seattle-based glassblower England have practiced the art form in unique ways, even utilizing it to memorialize people in glass sculptures.

Since England first broke into the glassblowing industry in 2010, she has done everything from managing glass production in factories to creating her own art installations. Her work was featured in the third season of Netflix’s glassblowing competition show “Blown Away,” where she placed second.

Her extensive portfolio often includes themes like flowers and eyeballs, along with abstract representations of grief and young widowhood.

“The cool thing about glass is you could take it one way or another,” England said. “I tend to let the glass tell me what it wants. When I'm trying to make something new or I'm experimenting, the glass lends a little bit of the story. It pushes me in one direction or another.”

Discovering the art of glassblowing

England says she always aspired to pursue a career in the arts, but she initially planned to be a painter. She attended Alfred University in New York to study painting. As part of her program, she was required to study a second art form. She chose glassblowing.

“I fell in love with glass pretty immediately,” England said. “I think it's a pretty common thing for glassmakers to have caught ‘the bug,’ as we call it. The moment I stepped in, I knew that I was going to be pursuing glass for the rest of my life.”

She enjoyed the collaborative aspect of making glass art, which often requires the work of an entire team to ensure everything runs smoothly. And she found excitement in how fragile glass can be. 

“The material is so finicky that you can't always control the glass exactly,” England said. “I'm always trying to find that control, but there is this moment where I have to let go and let the material speak for itself.”

Traditionally, glassblowing has been taught through a master-apprentice relationship. While some of that still takes place today, most now learn glassblowing at college or through studio classes. England said colleges often focus on developing creativity and strong concepts for your artwork, then you learn more about techniques at public access studios or when entering the workforce.

“Traditionally speaking, glassmaking is very much a craft-based medium,” England said. “And what's happened through the American glass art movement is we're trying to push glass into this fine art realm and utilizing the material to make works that are conceptual and have a message that's beyond just a vessel or functional object.”

Finding a glassblowing community

The glassblowing community is very small, making it hard to break into the field. 

Early on in her career, England worked at companies that mass-produced glass objects. The jobs paid her a living wage, but England said she didn’t get much fulfillment from the work. Then in 2016, a startup called Artful Ashes approached her and her soon-to-be husband Jesse England, asking them to partner with the company.

Artful Ashes takes a portion of a deceased loved one’s ashes and uses them to create glass art. The Englands believed in the mission, and they agreed to become production managers at the company. 

England said she and Artful Ashes have a “symbiotic relationship” where she helps the company achieve its mission and they provide her with the “flexibility and financial backing” to pursue her artistic career. And she added that the company gives young glass artists a more meaningful way to make a living than factory mass-production.

“It's more than just a Christmas ornament. It's more than just a cup that goes into a cupboard,” England said.

Collaborators “in love and in life,” the Englands often worked together on glass artwork, even building a glassblowing studio in their home in Seattle. But in 2019, Jesse England was diagnosed with MPNST, a rare and aggressive cancer. He died from the disease in May 2021, nine months after the couple married.

In the wake of her husband’s death, England's decision to pursue glassblowing felt all the more meaningful. 

“It deepened my understanding of the choices I had made up until that point,” England said. “And it feels a little odd sometimes to see how much the choices I made in my career path ended up aligning with the unforeseeable future. And looking back at it now, I can feel that it was the right way.”

Today, England is often on the move (she was even driving to Detroit for an installation while conducting this interview). Artful Ashes doesn’t own a glassblowing studio, so they rent public access studio spaces in different locations. England is often driving her supplies to hot shops across Seattle when she isn’t working from her home studio.

“The thought behind [renting studios instead of building our own] was that some of these studios really struggle to survive,” England said. “They're nonprofit. They're pillars of the community, and if they were to crumble, there would be so many artists out there who would not be able to sustain the practice, would not be able to continue making art.”

England said working from her home and studios around the city is “a grind” and work-life balance is “a work in progress,” but she feels lucky that she has the flexibility to work where and when she chooses.

“I’d like to think that over time [work-life balance] will work its way out. But I want to strike while the iron is hot, so to speak, so that I can pave the way for longevity in my career,” England said.

How to break into glassblowing

Though glassblowing is a difficult industry to enter, it’s possible as long as you have the right attitude and work ethic, England said.

“I've seen time and time again that showing up on time, having a good attitude, a really hard work ethic will prevail over skill and talent any day,” England said. “I would hire someone with those attributes over [someone with] skill and talent who is not pleasant to be around.”

Find a college that offers a glassblowing education or take classes from public access studios to build your skills. Then connect with others in the glassblowing community to find opportunities.

England stressed the importance of finding community for aspiring glassblowers. Once you are in, you can meet many people around the world who want to help you, but getting in is highly competitive.

“There's so much out there, but it's hidden inside of this little pocket,” England said. “So I [tell people] ‘Just keep showing up to your local studio and I guarantee you that at some point someone's going to put you to work.’”

Persistence is key to making it in the glassblowing world. England said she sees people quit before their careers can grow. But if you really love glassblowing, you must put in the time.

“Sometimes, it takes 10 years before you can make a breakthrough where people start to recognize you as an artist,” England said. “And if you give up before you give the career its time to really marinate, then the potential is lost. I always went through my career with the idea that if I work hard, if I'm persistent, I have a good attitude, that over time that will pay off, and it has proven to be true.”