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The Glass Moon
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How it all began… Artistic glass has always been a passion of mine – my extensive collection of bottles, ornaments, swizzle sticks, Christmas trees, and whimsical sculptures is evidence of that! Artistic jewelry has also been a big passion in my life – I’ve never been one for tons of fancy gemstone and gold jewelry, but show me a unique piece that is created from hand cut stones, handcrafted silver, and handmade glass beads and I’m all over it! When a local bead store opened up in 1995, it changed my world. I instantly became hooked on beads, making trips into town several times a week to replenish my supply. It didn’t take long for me to discover lampworked beads – unique pieces of art glass that could be worn, used as an accent around the house, or simply admired. When I learned that I could create these tiny treasures in a space as small as spare bedroom in my home, I just KNEW I had to learn how to do it! After “subtly” hinting to my husband (ok, I left a catalog with a starter kit in it sitting on the coffee table for two months!!), he bought me my first lampworking set up for Christmas, also in 1995. In January of 1996, I lit my HotHead torch for the first time, followed the simple line drawings in Cindy Jenkins’ first book about glass beadmaking, and haven’t looked back since! I am a self-taught beadmaker; although this approach doesn’t work for everyone, I have found that learning about hot glass work on my own to be very satisfying and most definitely the best for me. I work exclusively in borosilicate glass; the warm, earthy tones and marbled effects this wonderful glass naturally produces accurately reflect my own personal style. Additionally, I just love the unpredictability of borosilicate colors! This special property of borosilicate glass guarantees that each piece I create will truly be one-of-a-kind, and opening the kiln the morning after a lampworking session is always an exciting adventure! While my work today only includes beads, I have plans to expand my hot glass work into ornaments, bottles, and any other item that strikes me at the moment. Where it's going… My addiction to handcrafted beads is continuing to grow! Although I've known about Precious Metal Clay for years, it never really caught my attention until the fall of 2003, when I really got bitten by the PMC bug. I was selling my lampworked beads at a show that was particularly, extraordinarily slow. With much time to spare on my hands, I roamed over to the PMC Connection booth many times. While there, I picked up a starter kit and some books. I was hooked before I even started! I took my first class a few weeks later, and that was all she wrote. I became certified through the Rio Rewards program in April, 2004. I will soon be including PMC beads and components for sale at my shows. The most recent thing to catch my eye is handmade ceramic beads. While I haven't actually made any ceramic beads yet, I am in awe of the beads I have seen and am POSITIVE this is something I want to pursue. I have begun the initial, heavy research stage and am afraid I'll be adding a third kiln to my collection shortly!
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