Top of Their Glass: More of my favorite lampwork artists

June 13, 2018 Leave a Comment

Lampwork artists work magic with glass and extreme heat. Each bead is a tiny world that draws you in with its graceful, flowing lines. A second look reveals details you didn’t notice at first. It doesn’t take long to fall under the spell of this magical art form of molten glass and perfect timing.

When I hold an artist’s glass bead in my hand and inspect it under my magnifier, it reminds me of my days studying botany. The closer you look, the more you can see the heart and talent of the lampwork artists who create these tiny works of art.

Making jewelry with art glass

Often when I’m looking closely at a lampwork bead, I have a moment of clarity and inspiration: I know what I’m going to make with this! Almost as if the bead is showing me how to turn it into art. Sometimes I notice a subtle color in the background, a cluster of flowers, or waves in the glass as they twist and swirl that speak to me. I follow that. Almost always, you’ll see the lampwork themes echoed in the final piece I create.

More of my favorite lampwork glass artists

Continued from the feature in April, I’m delighted to share with you three more of my lampwork artists’ inspirations. I collect these creations for my art jewelry (and I sometimes have favorites I don’t want to let go of!). I love these artists’ creativity, sense of humor, and willingness to stretch outside of their usual genres and experiment.

Please enjoy this picture-filled post of their unique styles and the work they inspire in me!

Kathleen “Kayo” O’Connor

Every one of Kayo’s glass beads has character and personality. Her black cats are always making mischief or looking innocent. Her lampwork beads are fun to turn into pendants for colorful whimsey. Here are three of my pieces featuring her work.

Tammy Mercier

One of my favorite things about Tammy Mercier is that she’s not afraid to try something new. Her work is inspiring and diverse—from abstract to floral, and from realistic critters to heirloom pieces.

“Free-form horses are the most challenging,” she told me. “It’s hard to find a place for the hole. And because of the shape of the horse’s head and neck, I have to fight the entire time for it not to form a ball.” Not surprisingly, each of her whimsical, colorful beads take up to five hours to create.

Melanie’s necklace with Tammy’s work

This greyhound is one of Tammy’s beads, and I just love its character. From the lampwork bead design, I pulled in the rosy pink with pearls that show off this girl’s classy side.

Joy Munshower

As an experienced bronze sculptor and ceramicist, the level of detail in Joy’s lampwork wildlife beads is stunning. Her Etsy shop is like a walk through the jungle, a swim in the ocean, and a stroll through a pasture full of horses. I marvel at her ability to capture animals’ personalities—and even facial expressions—in glass.

Melanie’s wire art with Joy’s beads

I fell in love with one of Joy’s otters, which became the focal piece for my wire art sculpture, Same Ocean, New Tide. I entered it in the Madera Circle Gallery show, A New Journey. Notice how Joy’s flowing aqua waves surrounding this playful creature continue into my metal swirls and scrolls.

Another of Joy’s beads became Morning Song. This handsome rooster anchored one of my first entries in the Madera Art Council’s Celebrate Agriculture and the Arts Show in 2015. In wire, I imagined his call spiraling out to greet the morning.

Artists for artists

I love the interplay between these lampwork artists creations and my own. If you enjoy the art you see here, be sure to follow these talented artists’ social media accounts and say hi!

You otter see this!

February 1, 2017 Leave a Comment

The project

As an artist, you think you’re in control, but sometimes the materials make demands on you.

I took this photo of “what’s on my bench” last November. With a whole season of flowing, water-themed work behind me, I already had coils made up. In this tray of materials, you can see ocean blues and foam spray with white and metallics. That was the idea, anyway.

The inspiration

Then Otter showed up. This bead has been talking to me since it arrived.

This lampwork art glass bead is by Joy Munshower. She’s really good at animals and gets great personality and sparkle into them.

He’s really cheeky. It looks like she’s using dichroic or silver glass–something under the surface that catches the light and reflects it back out. Even though it has a matte finish, the eye is still shiny and sparkling, just like in nature.

For months, I’ve been carrying this otter bead around, looking at it, putting it near the top of the “I wanna do that” pile. I kept thinking I would get to it.

Well, he hopped right into the middle of all my watery blue coils to stay. I had the idea that he’d have a little pearl or some treasure, and the blue water background would highlight it nicely.

The challenge

In spite of my efforts, the concept of the otter necklace wouldn’t come together. Sometimes that happens.

I moved things and reshaped, but I couldn’t get the necklace to work. Eventually I realized it didn’t want to be a necklace. But that’s always a big decision because once I cut it, it won’t be a necklace anymore!

Once I snipped, otter hopped right into the frame. The piece changed shape for the better, and the pearl and starfish went more easily into place than on the necklace. I’m finally happy with the way this bead is set and glad this sweet little guy has a home at last.

Otter on view!

I titled this finished piece, “Same Ocean, New Tide,” since it combines my theme of watery colors with a new visitor. I’m thrilled it’s being included in the first Madera Circle Gallery‘s art show of 2017. If you’re in the area, feel free to stop by to see their New Journeys show.

I don’t make art glass beads, I make them even better

October 31, 2016 Leave a Comment

Do not pass go

I’ll never forget how surprised I was the time I got turned down to show my work because the focal art glass beads in my creation were not my own.

Even though the sting has worn off over the years, this experience gave me an insight into the standards of the art world. Painters don’t make their own paint. Sculptors don’t quarry their own stone. Similarly, when wire artists use beads, frequently they are not of their own making.

Many artists, many styles

From the very beginning, it was a conscious choice to use others’ artist-quality beads in my necklaces, earrings, and sculpture. Here’s why: no on can be good at all things.

Instead, my finished pieces are different and unique as Breastplate for Ninsun, the Scaredy Cat collection, and the Morning Song rooster necklace.

BreastPlate for Ninson Silver Necklace

Professor Specs pendant

Morning Song rooster necklace wire art jewelry

Morning Song necklace

What I love best about working with artist-quality beads is the variety. From Joy Munshower‘s animals and the art glass of Gail Crosman Moore to the whimsical cats of Kathleen O’Connor and Robin Poff‘s dragons, these gifted makers inspire the art I create.

The art of wire design

When you work with wire as I do, the artistry comes down to creating a beautiful, balanced piece using a variety of elements. Wire artistry entails knowing how many scrolls and coils create a harmonious look and also recognizing the point at which you stop adding.

Using focal beads means understanding color and choosing accent elements that highlight the theme. For example, in my pendant using Kathleen O’Connor’s Wicked Witch, I echo the fun, square-kinked tails in the wire scrolls of the drop on this pendant.

Although I have taken lampwork bead-making classes, it’s not my medium. Understanding the kind of work that goes into making fine art glass beads makes me appreciate artists that use this medium even more. If I tried to do it all myself, I’d be a beginner for a long time!

My specialty is in creating a beautiful, well engineered settings with high-end materials and choosing gorgeous color palettes that bring out the uniqueness of the focal beads that are made by other artists and by Mother Nature too.