Lampwork
I have been making lampwork beads on and off since 2011 when I went to my first Flame Off in Silverstone run by Tuffnell Glass.
Lampwork involves melting glass rods in a flame to a molten state and manipulating it to create different forms. To create a simple bead this means simply winding the liquid glass around a metal rod called a mandrel, which has been dipped in a bead release (a way of removing the bead once it's cool). A bead can be of one colour, or two or more depending on how complicated you want it to be. They can be simply decorated with simple dots or lines, or with more and more combinations to create complex patterns and shapes. A bead doesn't need to be round either, it can be any shape the imagination takes - flowers, animals or food! |
I decided to keep the colours used within my glass work to just 6.
While that may sound terribly restrictive, it originally meant I stopped myself from purchasing reams of glass rods and not doing anything with them!! And while I tend to work in the brighter colours, I'm definitely not adverse to using shades, and it means way more choice for you! Subconsciously I think it was also a precursor idea for the spiritual route my jewellery has been taking, the colours I use work well with healing points on the body, and tie in well with the semi-precious stones. Restricting the colour palette also means I can focus on the design of the bead more than worrying about the colours I'm going to use. My decorated beads can be used in meditation as a visual focus, or handled for touch focus. |