Making my own beads is an art I've been enjoying for years. There's always a new technique to learn or new glass to try. Glass artists are passionate about their work. Making my own glass beads and using them in my jewelry designs is an amazing transformation.
As a child I remember seeing the glass artists along the Coney Island boardwalk. Something about those sparkling delicate sculptures caught my eye and heart. Today I'm proud to show you my glass bead creations.
I now reside in Central Pennsylvania and I'm always involved in something creative. Besides working with glass I enjoy growing flowers in my garden, web design, walking my dog and meditating. I'm into photography too. Capturing the perfect picture is always a challenge. I've found the stillness in the early morning and the subtle lighting gives an almost perfect effect to any of my subjects.
I make my own glass lampwork beads used in my jewelry designs. All of my beads are unique and one of a kind.
What is "lampwork?"
"Lampwork" is used to describe handcrafted glass beads that are made by melting glass rods in a torch flame. The word "lamp" was used in ancient times when the glass was melted with the flame of an oil lamp.
Today, lampworking is also called flameworking due to working in the flame of a torch.
It is common for people to confuse lampworking with glassblowing. Glassblowing uses a blowpipe to inflate a glass blob, known as a gather and inflates it by blowing air into the blowpipe.
Lampworking manipulates melted glass by the use of gravity and various tools. However, both lampworking and glassblowing do use many of the same tools and a number of crafters are proficient in both areas.
How a Bead Is Made
Each glass bead is hand crafted one at a time by melting glass in a torch fire. The glass is wound on a steel rod called a mandrel. Adding designs, shaping and using different colors makes each bead a work of art. Creating these glass beads takes time and patience. See the menu bar for a video of myself making a bead.
When the bead is finished it is placed in a kiln to anneal, which ensures strength and durability. This is an important step in quality glass lampwork beads.
All my beads are inspected and cleaned thoroughly before I use them in my jewelry designs.
I take pride in my work from the start of creating a bead to the finishing touches of a completed piece.
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