By
Patsy Evins

Doing bead shows is always a wonderful, stimulating and information packed adventure for me. Visiting other lampworkers’ booths and seeing new and innovative techniques always stimulate my creative juices.

Being immersed and consumed by the world of glass for 12 years, I sometimes am taken off guard by the newcomers to the world of lampwork. When I am asked, “What is this bead made of “? I tend to be dumbfounded for a moment. Then I take a deep breath and begin my world wind educational lecture on what lampwork is, trying to fit all I know in a 5 minute nutshell.

First of all, it’s glass! No, it’s not clay or stone or heaven forbid, wax. Yes, I have been asked all these questions, many more times than I can remember.

I get much of my glass from Italy. The same glass the Venetians use to make Murano paperweights. It probably was the easiest glass to come by 30 years ago for the first lampworkers here in the US.

Usually the next question is “Is it a mold”? Czech glass comes to my mind. Czech glass has been around for a long time, too. The Czech Republic is known for its press glass, referring to putting molten glass into bead molds producing almost any kind of bead imaginable. Around the turn of the century these types of beads were very popular.

Here in the US about 30 years ago, Bullseye and Spectrum were the main suppliers for stain glass studios. Many lampworkers past professions were in the stain glass industry. It seems melting glass instead of cutting it was the next logical progression in their evolution with glass.

“How do you get the colors”? This question has a long or short answer. Here is the short one. Each manufacturer of glass creates a color line of glass rods. Murano (now called Effetre) comes in over 100 different colors. They come in varies thickness but the most convenient size of rods for me are about pencil thickness. The rods come about 3 feet long that I cut into thirds for easy handing. I can melt and blend 2 or more colors, make twisties or layer transparent colors over opaque colors. The combinations are unlimited. Or I can pull the molten glass rods thinner into stringers that I can then use to decorate on top of a bead. My favorite stringer use is for making flowers.

As the shopper gazes in wonder at the delightful morsels before them, my beads beg to be touched. It is natural for the next step to be to run your fingers over the cool, smooth surfaces. Usually, there is a hesitation and fear because my flowers look fragile and delicate. I tell the looker not to worry, take another deep breath, and begin explaining about bead annealing.

I received a BFA in drawing and painting plus four years in private art institutions. In 1998, I changed my focus from painting to glass. My studies in glass have been extensive with training from leaders in the glass industry. My fine art lampwork beads have been featured in magazines, books and competitions, as well as in art museums and personal art collections. My paintings have been exhibited and sold in Japan, Europe, the Far East, Puerto Rico, and the United States. Visit my Work at https://patsyevinsstudio.com.

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