Friday, November 30, 2012

Lampworking

Here's another project I've taken on those months I've gone MIA. Remember early this year, I posted a hint here that I was working on a new material? hihi. Well I actually started lampworking. Lampworking is an ancient art form. It is the art of melting glass on a flame, and manipulating it using gravity and tools. It became popular in Murano, Italy in the 14th century. Early lampworkers melted glass using an oil lamp, thus the term lampworking. Today, it is called flameworking, as we now use a torch. I bought the glass way back in January 2008, but only got to work on them February 2009. lol. It's so friggin scary and exciting, it's like my own private roller coaster. I never thought creating a glass bead could be so complicated. I'm still a long way from creating decent beads. Anyone else into lampworking? I'd love to exchange notes, I badly need guidance! I suck! Will blog about this when I have time. (Adding it to the long list of things I need to blog about. When will I blog again, I wonder. sigh) Before you ask, i'm not selling yet. I'm still waiting for my kiln, so I can anneal the beads properly. Without proper annealing, the glass could break easily. So my beads have been patiently waiting for 7 months. Watch out for glass cupcakes! :)