Lampworking is a type of glassblowing that uses a gas fueled torch to melt rods and tubes of clear and colored glass. Once in a molten state, the glass is formed by blowing and shaping with a variety of tools and hand movements. It is also known as flameworking or torchworking, as the modern practice no longer uses oil-fueled lamps. Although the art form has been practiced since ancient times, it became widely practiced in Murano, Italy in the 14th century. In the mid 19th century the lampwork technique was extended to the production of paperweights, primarily in France, where it became a popular art form and they still collected today. It was not until the late 1960s that lampwork became recognized as a serious art form by German born lampwork glass artist Hans Godo Frabel who utilized his scientific glassblowing training to create relatively large pieces of lampwork glass art in borosilicate. In addition to beads and artwork, lampworking is used to create scientific tools, particularly for chemistry. We are fortunate to have handmade lampwork beaded treasures from very talented artists.
Fine Lampwork Beaded Treasures by Lydia Muell
To view the "GlassBead" article on Lydia Muell click the image on the right.
Capturing nostalgic moments in layers of glass is what drives Lydia Muell's ambition as an artist of fine lampwork beads and wearable art glass jewelry. Her mission is to create pieces that invoke a reminiscence of rich classical elegance. In addition, she also uses her talents to create lampwork beaded fan pulls, lamp finials, wine stoppers, perfume vessels and other wonderful treasures. anoth
In her few short years as a glass bead artisan, Lydia Muell has achieved a great deal of recognition for her work. Her beads have been likened to the "Faberge Egg" and her recognizable style has landed her features in several art glass magazines. During her journey as a lampwork bead artist, she discovered her talent as jewelry designer. Incorporating her tiny glass treasures into finished pieces became er of her passions. Each piece of her jewelry is hand crafted, using her own personal lampwork bead collection, sterling silver findings and fine quality semi precious gemstones. Her designs are most inspired by her love of decorative arts from the Rococo, Neoclassical, and Art Nouveau periods.
Fine Lampwork Beaded Treasures by Deb Horvath - Febra Rose Studio Designs
As far back as she can remember, Deb Horvath have had a fascination for color, texture and patterns and how they are incorporated into the wide variety of art forms. She realized that throughout her life she always needed a creative outlet and through a variety of careers allowed for a considerable amount of creative and artistic expression- from taste, texture, color, design, presentation, graphic arts, publications, and marketing. Her use of precious metal clay to design silver components for her bracelets and other pieces that are the hallmark of her work.
In the year 2000 Deb took a trip to Bali. It was there that a friend talked her into going into a bead shop . . . so many beads, so many colors, so many patterns, and so many possibilities. She was hooked from that moment on and so began Febra Rose Studio Designs Her designs primarily incorporated glass beads from talented glass artisans and Bali and Thai silver. It was her discovery of precious metal clay in 2005 that changed the direction of her designs. Working with precious metal clay is exciting. Sometimes simplistic, sometimes wild and bold, it is her desire to keep her designs alive, fresh, colorful and unique.
Precious metal clay is a non toxic clay that contains microscopic silver particles suspended in binder and water. Once formed into the desired piece and dried, the clay is then fired either by torch or kiln method. During the firing process, the binders burn away, the microscopic silver particles adhere together and the end result is fine (.999) silver, unlike sterling silver which usually contains 8% copper.
Most of Deb's silver designs have a design pattern on both sides. Her beads are usually made in individual pieces and then pieced together. Once dry, a pre-fire final sanding and burnishing takes place. Once fired the piece is burnished again to remove a fine white silver residue on the silver. Then she hand polishes again and applies a patina if desired (anything from pale yellow, gold, magenta, blue, green, grey or black). After the patina has been applied, she then removes it from the high parts of the design and the final polish to the piece is done either by hand or by tumbler method. The silver is then ready to be incorporated into the bracelet, earring or necklace design.
