09/29/08!!!!!
Thank you to all my new friends from this last weekend who made my first bead show such a wonderful success! I really appreciate the wonderful feedback on my work and can't tell you all how much that meant to me. I enjoyed meeting and talking beads and jewelry with all of you. Now with my first show behind me I will have time to post more new work on my site for sale. Thanks too to my friend Donna Johnson (www.dancinglightjewelry.com) for her wonderful encouragement and persistance in getting me to try my first show. Please come by to visit us again in November at the Fort Worth Bead Show. Thanks to my new friend, and fantastic bead artist, Ginny Hampton (www.ginnovations.com) for her kind words and encouragement. Also, a BIG thank you to my daughter Ryan for helping me through the pre show jitters and helping out at the show.
*****New*****
Yeah! Pandora beads are now up for sale. Check my links page for my Ebay lsitings. These beads are lined with sterling silver cores and fit your Troll, Pandora or Biagi bracelets. The bracelet pictured here is one made by a wonderful lampwork artist, Andrea Guarino. Check her site, www.andreaguarino.com for one of your own!
"Sacred art is imagery intended to uplift the mind to the spiritual. It can be an object to be venerated not just for what it is but for what it represents."
What started as an idea to make beads for my own jewelry designs has evolved into so much more. My obsession with glass has completely taken over. It's a wonderful medium and it allows me to express myself artistically like no other medium has. I live to develop my own recognizable style. Some of my techniques have been self-taught along with a few lampwork classes from some amazing artists.
What is lampwork?
Just in case you're looking at my site and wondering exactly what the heck I do. Pretty beads and all but why is she showing them? I make the beads myself from glass rods. The rods are heated over a torch and wound on to thin metal rods called mandrels. Once the bead is cooled it is removed from the mandrel. Where the mandrel was there now is a hole. See? Now it's a bead. Originally, many years ago, the beads were made over oil lamps instead of torches. That's where the name lampwork beads comes from. Different glasses and torch techniques produce different results. It's always a learning experience.
I am a proud member of:
LampworkEtc, WetCanvas, GlassArtists.org, Grapevine Beadmakers, ISBG, and Self-Representing Artists, League of Lampwork Artists and Flaming Hot!
The particulars about my beads: All my glass has been kiln annealed and cleaned. I like to think that each piece is a one of a kind piece of art. I like organics and like to use a lot of fine silver foil and wire in my beads. I also make cold-worked beads using a lapidary grinder to facet the beads after they have been annealed. It's a pretty cool process but takes lots of time and practice to get right. If ever you have a piece that you have made from some of my beads that you would like to show please email a photo. I would love to see it and post your picture on my site. If you would like anything piece similar to anything you see here please contact me through this website.
Cold-Worked Faceted Bead:
Be sure to check out my links page for my current auctions. My BeadArtists. org page and my blog.
