Lilac glass recipe

This is just a quickie! A customer wanted me to make her a couple of masks in a lilac color. All of the purple glass I had was just too dark to work, so I started pulling rods out and holding them up to the light to see what I could do. The winner? Moretti  Light blue #052 over alabastro pink # 372 ( I think- darn- it could have been 376- both will make a nice purple. Try 'em both!). I would not recommend using this for a whole bead as I think there is a slight amount of incompatibility going on there, but the color was a lovely light purple blue.

Lampwork glass beads for the holidays

Happy Holidays all of y'all out in the blog-o-sphere (is that right?) I've been working on some big ol' beads this week, and a few glass icicles. I've made a few fish, a couple of birds, and some interesting shaped beads to hang on my tree. In order to keep them from getting lost in the shuffle, I decided to go large and see what happened. So here are the results of that experiment.

I have been asked a number of times over the years whether I can make beads bigger than I generally do, and I always say no. But I suppose I must admit that I was wrong. The answer is- we'll see. If these hold up, maybe next year I'll make some in time for some other folks to enjoy them on their trees!

Fear Not the Rubino Oro

Pink. Pink, Pink, Pink, PINK!!!!!


Bubblegum core ... Silver reaction ..... 1/2 over opal yellow, 1/2 over white

I’ve been privy to some chatter lately about Moretti Rubino Oro glass (#456), AKA gold pink,or gold cranberry pink. It seems that some folks are afraid to use it, or even dislike it! Now that’s a travesty. Rubino Oro is one of the most beautiful colors you can use, not to mention that it has some amazing qualities that I've found I just can’t live without. So I’m here to give you a few pointers on using it- hopefully this will be helpful.

1) Keep cool, man- Rubino, like many other pinks, prefers a cool flame, so you’re going to have to be ready to take your time with this. Otherwise, the color won’t be all that it can be. I work this glass on a hothead, and really have no trouble getting it to be a nice pink, even when the rod starts out looking clear. If it doesn’t seem to be ‘striking’ (changing color), heat and cool it a couple of times. But don’t overheat it to a molten mess.

2) Silvery grey away- Sometimes, on the end of the rod, or on your bead, you will see a bit of shiny, silvery-grey. You most likely don’t want this on your finished bead. What's happening?Your glass is being exposed to a flame that has a bit too little oxygen- it’s 'reducing'. This can actually be used for some effects, but to get rid of it, just add a bit of oxygen to your flame. On a hothead, I find it generally means I have the flame just a bit too high, so I lower it a little. It also seems to help to be just at the tip of the blue flame cone rather than higher in the flame.

3) Just a little bit- Rubino oro is a very saturated color. If you use it all alone to make a bead, it will probably end up being an ugly muddy mess. So, you should try one of these things.

...a) Make a small core bead of Rubino and encase it in clear (or a very light transparent).

...b) Make a white (or light colored) or clear core and encase it in a thin layer of Rubino.

...c) Layer. You can do something like make a base of pastel uranium yellow, cover with a thin layer of rubino, and encase that with a nice pale purple. Layering like this adds subtle color variations. You'll just have to experiment with different combinations and see what you like.

I don’t recommend you use the Rubino on ivory. That’s not a friendly reaction.

...d) Use it as an accent color. It’s such a deep color that a little goes a long way.

4) What’s your reaction? Oh, there has been so much written about this, and there are so many possibilities, that I’m afraid you’re just going to have to try it out! Here are a few suggestions:
...a) Try it over opal yellow for a lovely pinky-brown color
...b) Use a bit of light aqua (232) on top as dots or lines- there will be a dark pool in the middle of the dots, or a dark line through the middle of the line. Try this with some other colors like periwinkle blue (220).
...c) Use it as small dots or lines either over or under silver foil. If using dots under the foil, heat it up slowly until a mesh-like pattern forms.
...d) Use bubble gum pink as the base bead for a nice deep pink.

There are problems you will run across from time to time. It may get a chalky or bubbly surface. I think the bubbly surface comes from simply overworking, and if it happens you're kind of out of luck. As far as the chalky look, that could be a bit of devit. You might be able to bring back the sheen by heating it up a bit more. There's a bead in the kiln right now that I tried this on, and I think it worked. I'll let you know!
Yes, even if you follow these tips, you will have some bad beads from time to time- even some awful beads. But just keep at it, pay attention, and maybe even take a few notes, and I think you’ll be very happy that you tried out this fantastic glass.

Here's a discussion about Rubino reactions:

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99886

And a great tutorial that shows how to use Rubino with silver:

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=119760

If you need more info, you might consider the 'think pink' a tutorial by Sarah Hornik, available here:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=38097676

Now get torching!!!!!

Six Women, Three Torches

Six Women, Three Torches- Anything Could Happen!

What a day we had yesterday- it was lampwork bead day in Sherwood at Glass Concepts. Six lampwork beadmakers gathered together for show and tell, and what a session it was! Grace brought a couple of beads she’d made using the new Gaffer Chalcedony glass on a 96 clear background. She got some really nice colors, but I forgot to take any pictures.

I tried out some shards I’d made on a black Moretti background. I had a bit of success, though I think I heated a bit too long. Rita made a base of the Gaffer Hyacinth, then added some Chalcedony dots and encased them in clear. The colors seemed to be striking nicely around the edges of the dots, so she raked it around a bit and spread them out. We’re still working on getting all the beautiful colors that are possible and getting some consistency. Everybody got a bit to take home, so hopefully we’ll have some real beauties to show off at our next gathering.
One great thing about getting the Gaffer glass is that I’ve started learning to blow shards. I’ve been pretty happy with the results- now to learn to apply them properly!

Grace has had a bee in her bonnet (which has recently been buzzing around my head) about scrollwork on beads. The lovely Rita was just the person to demonstrate this technique. My suspicion is that she locked herself in a closet and didn’t come out ‘til she got it right! The bead she’s working on here is an opal yellow background with silver plum decorations (I think). Her stringer control was mesmerizing- what patience and precision. Afterwards, I tried to use a bead press and do a bit of scrollwork. No photo of that- what a mess, but Rita watched over my shoulder and helped me to understand what I need to work on.

And the piece de resistance was Debby’s electric mandrel spinner. Debby has spent some serious hours on the torch, and her thumbs are starting to show the strain. So she bought this amazing machine to help her out- it spins the mandrel around while you add the glass. Impressive, yes? It’s a great invention that takes a bit of time to get used to. The thing is it spins around quite a bit faster than any of us were used to. There is a little brake you can put your fingers on to slow it down a little, though. While Vicki trained her video camera on her, Grace gave it a try. I wish we’d had audio- she was hilarious! In the end, five of us tried it out. Glenda and Vicki actually did pretty well. They got some fairly round results. And there was a cool bead roller to use with it that we all enjoyed trying out, and an unidentified tool pictured here. Debby's going to have to practice, pratice, practice to get some nice round beads, but she's determined, and we're all waiting to see it. It really has great promise to save all of our hands from overusage injuries.

And I almost forgot. Rita had another great little tool for making flower stamens. She made a very nice example using yellows, green and some intense black. We each got a little bit to take home and try out. All in all it was an amazing day!

Here are links to show off some of the wonderful work of these lampworking ladies:

Vicki at Parrotise Beads: http://www.parrotisebeads.com/

Debby at Starlight Designs: http://www.starlight-beads.com/

Ms Rita: http://www.msritasbeads.etsy.com/

Oh, and me too: http://www.glassbead.etsy.com/

Flowers of glass, flowers on glass

So, what have I been doing? Well, not paying attention to this blog, that's for sure.
I wrote a tutorial that may never see the light of day on making these flower beads. I haven't quite figured out what to do with it, but I do know I want to expand on it before I do anything. I made some flowers, wrote the tut, waited two days, came up with an easier, possibly better way, made some more flowers, and added an addendum to the tut.
Now it's time to go to more complex flowers and see what happens. I tried a pansy, but was not enormously happy with it, so I'll work on that and irisis, and then see what comes next. Maybe some nice bright lily colors. I have a friend who sells lilies at the local farmer's market- they are amazingly beautiful, and come in so many different colors and patterns. So I need to permit myself to buy some next weekend. I could get a receipt and take it off my taxes! It truly is a business expense. Here are some pictures I've been working on for something like cards- flowers on glass. So it's a double business expense! One for a bead model, one for photos.

Perspectives exhibition entry

Well, this might be the most exciting news of my bead-making career. I submitted a bead to the International Society of Beadmakers to be considered for an exhibition this summer at the Glass Art Society conference in Corning, New York. I just found out it has been accepted! It is a combination of two of my bead styles- moonscape and fire beads which I named ‘Moonfire’. I was so up in the air about what bead to send, and had gotten it down to that bead or a mask. Moonfire became my choice mostly because the photo looked better. Well, also because I asked everyone I could think of on the internet and they, almost to a gal (I think they were all women) preferred it. That made it a bit easier- after all, there is a jury involved, so I wanted a people pleaser too.



Moonscape bead Fire bead
This is my first year to be a member of the ISGB, and I am pretty excited about all the opportunities it has already offered me. Yes, there is a small fee to participate in some of these things, but it is so nice to get a little bit of validation from folks who really understand exactly what’s involved in making a glass bead.
As I understood it what was wanted was something that would kind of show the connection between modern and traditional lampwork beads. So what makes this bead contemporary? What traditional techniques are involved that I thought might make this bead a candidate for this show? Well, the use of both ‘raku’ and iris gold frit and enamels are rather new. And I think the shape is fairly modern. Using silver to force reactions, well, that seems rather new to me, but it’s very possible that it’s been done forever. The techniques are rather old- really raking, basic shaping, and the use of frit in general are all older than me (and that’s saying something). It’s really hard for me to even guess, really, at which techniques and materials are new, and which are just newly re-discovered.
Anyway, I excited to be a part of this exhibit, and hope that some of you out there in ‘puter land will get a chance to go the GAS conference and have the time to take a peek at my bead and the rest of the exhibition.

Here’s some info from the ISGB about the exhibit:
ISGB is pleased to announce an exciting opportunity. As a member, you are invited to put your best bead forward for a juried exhibit that will be featured at the Glass Art Society (GAS) Conference in Corning, New York, June 2009.
ISGB members hail from all over the world and have wildly different backgrounds, and this exhibit is designed to celebrate that diversity. Artists are encouraged to submit a bead that embodies your inspiration, innovation, and personal 'voice'. Consider unique color combinations, form, and textural elements. Beads should highlight the infinite possibilities of glass with captivating styles, techniques, and processes used in contemporary glass beadmaking.
Perspectives will specifically open for the GAS Conference where artists, collectors, gallery and museum personnel, writers, and critics from around the globe will converge to muse on the medium that unites us all in fascination, glass. The exhibit will be on prominent display in the official GAS Conference hotel, the Corning Radisson, and is expected to remain on display through the end of the summer tourist season.
In addition to the opportunity to have your work showcased in front of glass enthusiasts all summer long, the top three beads with the highest jury scores will share the COVER of the summer issue of The Glass Bead Magazine! Artists of all career stages are encouraged to apply, from emerging artists to artists with established careers.

I actually won!

I actually won a contest! This is nothing short of a miracle. Of course, you can't win without entering, and I rarely enter contests, so.... Anyway it is a monthly contest put on by Artistry in Glass here: http://www.artistryinglass.on.ca/

It's a $75 gift certificate for my favorite thing- glass! And they have a GREAT selection of glass, so I'm pretty excited. I may even decide to treat myself to a tool!

I can't remember what pictures I sent them, but one of the seahorses was the winner, so here's a picture of my newest one. The pics of all the entrants will be up in their gallery soon.

Bead bending success!!!

Those of you who pay attention to my meanderings may know that I have had a bee in my bonnet about bending beads for about a year. Though I was shown a method by what I'll refer to as the Holland clan (Tom, Sage and Beau) several years ago, I found it to be too hard and unreliable for me. That involved reheating the annealed, cleaned bead and bending it over the flame. Then I tried heating the beads to about 1250-1300 degrees in the kiln, taking them partway out and bending them- what a mess! I lost about 30%, got about 30% that were bent in a way I didn't like, and got a few that were good. Too much work for small results. A friend then loaned me a curved mandrel. I found that it was too shallow a curve, and it was hard to get my glass on evenly too. So my search continued to the lampworketc. forums. That was informative- people are trying all kinds of different things, but I still wasn't seeing anything that seemed easy and was curved enough to make a difference.

But THEN... well, I have to thank my glass fusing friend Judd. I've kept talking to him about this problem off and on for the past year, and finally the bee entered his bonnet and he decided it was time to solve my little problem for me. He made me a bead bender! Well, he actually made me three, but I already have a favorite- the one that has bead bender III engraved on the side. (Yes he even engraved these babies). I'm not gonna show you a picture of the actual bender as it's his own secret recipe and my secret weapon for the moment. But I will show you the amazing results.
And it's SO easy to use, even for me with my kiln that doesn't have a controller. You just slam those annealed, cleaned beads on this beauty, bring 'em up to slumping temp, crash cool and re-anneal. Yes, you do have to be careful not to leave them at slumping temp for too long or they will flatten. My second batch distorted a little on the ends as I left them there a little too long- it really takes just a minute or two. I'll be running more experiments in the near future, and then, hopefully, putting some of them in my etsy shop for sale. The next bead bender Judd makes will have a few modifications, and will have a just little bit more of a curve to it.

Judd Mann is a glass fuser who makes marvelous platters and pendants; he also makes some amazing stained glass. Meet him at the River Market Farmer's Market in Little Rock, or look at a few things here: http://juddmann.com/bowls.html

Glass, dance, movement

"Freedom, awareness, control"
When I heard these words together for the first time in my dance class, I just knew we were talking about lampwork! But no, it was all about movement and the Barbara Mettler dance method. What an amazing thing- two things that appear so different coming together so nicely. I couldn't help but apply these ideas to my years of lampworking.
Starting with freedom- when you first begin learning lampwork, your glass flows all over the place- whether you feel free or not, your glass certainly is! And I've seen enough students starting out with that freedom- their glass is all over the place, the colors are weird and crazy, and they are just sure of where they're going with that bit of glass. But you learn a different kind of freedom pretty quickly; the freedom to let the glass go where it wants to, and to let what happens happen- at least to a point.
Then it's awareness- well, this is where it gets fun for me! You become aware of what you are doing, what the glass is doing, what effect gravity is having on the whole mess, how the colors look together, how they react with each other, and a million other things- not all at once, but gradually.
And as you become more and more aware of what's going on, you begin to learn control- make that bit of glass do what YOU want it to! We usually start out with dots, then move on to lines and pulling the glass into different designs and patterns.


The glass dance continues back to freedom- now mixed with awareness of things you didn't notice last time, and tempered with control. A different kind of freedom results- a dance where the glass still performs the same way, but you move it differently for different results. and as you become more aware and learn more control. you may find yourself becoming more free with your glass. I often have dreams- or maybe they're visions- where there is glass moving in ways I don't know how to control. And it makes me want to just run over to the torch and give it a try! This is one of the ways that new ideas are born- by letting your mind run freely through things that may even be impossible.

For more about the Mettler dance method, go to the International Association for Creative Dance here: http://dancecreative.org/

Playing favorites with glass

Well, let’s see if I can explain this…
I was reading info about clear glass on a website the other day- Someone mentioned that the clear glass they liked (my clear favorites are either Moretti 006, or Lauscha) wouldn’t be available again until March or April. I remember the first time I heard this about a favorite glass color. My reaction was kind of – huh?? How can that be? What do you mean they only make it at certain times of the year???
That was about 7 or 8 years ago. Things have changed so much in the soft glass world in just that short time. There are new American manufacturers, the German glass companies have started making 104 coe (soft) glass, Vetrofond has come onto the radar ( I don’t actually know when they started making soft glass at the Venice factory), the ‘odd lots’ glasses have come to be available. The story I heard about odd lots glass is that Mike Frantz was at the Moretti factory, and saw some piles of glass rods sitting in a corner of the room. When he asked about them, he was informed that they were basically mistakes and not part of the normal color palette. When he imported them to the U.S. and offered them for sale, the color-starved glass beadmaking community went wild and a whole new, but limited, palette of colors was introduced.
So, what’s to be done? Well, we must just adapt to the vagaries of the glass makers. The Moretti factory on the island of Murano has been making soft glass for centuries (though the factory has changed hands once or twice). They now have to keep up with an artisanal industry that has exploded over the past 20 years or so. Before that, the demand for soft glass outside of Italy was not so large. And we Americans are used to being able to get whatever we want whenever we want it.
Now that I’ve gotten used to the idea, I actually love the idea of being part of such an ancient art form that is still based in some old-fashioned manufacturing techniques. And I just try not to get overly attached to any one color (though I can hardly go a day without my rubino oro). I try and view it as more of an opportunity to get out of my personal box and try new things.
It a bit of Zen and the art of glass beadmaking at work!

P.S. For those of you who not so familiar with glass beadmaking- getting a nice perfectly clear, compatible, glass is not always easy. There are constant discussions on the web about what is currently available, who has it, and how folks like it. Looking out my clear-ish window (which needs cleaning!), it seems almost impossible that I spend time wondering about this.