Bio

My life long passion is the study of color, and sharing with others a process to help achieve the illusion of light and vibration in their paintings. There are countless nuances in color that can make it challenging for the painter.  We want to put it ALL in there, but this leaves little room for creating the illusion of light. Through years of teaching and painting, I have found that the eye can continue to develop how we see color.  It’s this beautiful never-ending process! The key to creating light is not only learning the properties of color, it’s also learning what needs to be in the painting and more importantly, what doesn’t!  Simplifying, both the shapes and the averages of color is the key to bringing your work to it’s greatest potential.  

Color is relative!  No color stands alone, it appears to look a certain way because of the color next to it.  This is relativity.  The first step is to see this, the next is to make the color.  By learning and breaking down the properties of color, you will have the tools needed to paint anything you desire with no limits.  The properties of color are:  Hue, Value, Temperature and Saturation

Kami Mendlik is a nationally and internationally award winning painter, instructor, author of “Color Relativity”, and creator of Planal Fruit®.

Her passion and inspiration are studying color and light from life, which she may later use in the studio as information and inspiration for larger landscape paintings. Kami’s poetic ability to translate the illusion of light with paint has made her work highly sought after by collectors and patrons. In 2023 the Minnesota Marine Art Museum honored her work in an exhibition titled “Creating the Illusion of Light: Contemporary Landscape Painter: Kami Mendlik”, alongside “Poetry in Nature: Hudson River School Landscapes from the New York Historical Society.”

In 2008, Kami Mendlik started and founded the St Croix River School of Painting in Stillwater MN where she teaches the fundamentals of representational painting with a special emphasis on color. In January of 2014 she purchased a 16-acre farm just North of Stillwater, where she converted a 100-year-old hip roof barn into her studio and the St Croix River School of Painting's new location. The property is a landscape painters dream with endless inspiration for painting. 

Kami is the 2022 recipient of the Dorothy Driehaus Mellin Fellowship, 2022 Bronze Medal at the Oil Painters of America National Juried Exhibition, 2022 Author of "Color Relativity: Creating An Illusion Of Light With Paint", Founder of The St Croix River School of Painting, Creator of Planal Fruit®, Distinguished Alumni Recipient - Stillwater Area Highschool, Signature Member OPA - Oil Painters of America, Signature Member of AIS - American Impressionist Society, Signature Member of ASMA – American Society of Marine Artists, Signature Member of AWA - American Woman Artists, , and an active Member of OPM - Outdoor Painters of Minnesota.