The festive holidays has rusted my lampwork flow!
I love the holiday’s festivities is an understatement! The artist in me embraces wreath making, baking & decorating to the point that my house is overflowing with the Christmas spirit.
Christmas is over now & my Christmas cheer will be sadly coming down this weekend. I”ll so miss the magical twinkling lights and my enchanting wonderland.
But Valentines is floating my way and I’ve already started daydreaming about romantic hearts, flowers and the luscious color of Red!
Back to My Studio!
But it’s been a month since I’ve torch and I feel all out of whack, kind of like putting a wooden ball into a square hole. It’s got me to thinking about how I swore I would never take too much time off from torching because this always happens.
So today is my second day of struggling and I’m slowly starting to feel back in the groove. It wouldn’t hurt to leave myself little messages about what I was doing a month ago! I must make a note of that but I probably wouldn’t be able to find it in my studio’s clutter.
Take solace: Lampwork is a difficult medium to learn
All this fumbling around got me to thinking about the difficultly of mastering glass lampwork techniques. It always surprises me how glass is soo challenging to master. I’ve been torching since 1998 and I always feel like a beginner each time I learn something new with glass. I fumble a lot and get really frustrated.
In other mediums, like painting, it is pretty simple to master brush stroke techniques. And once you learn them, there are no limits to what you can paint… landscapes, still lifes, architectural scenes. Of course, you do have to learn perspective, color theory, design concepts but there are painters called Primitive or Folk artists that know nothing about these things and they’re managing to sell their art.
With lampworking, don’t be surprised to find that you have to master techniques starting with the basics. Simple techniques like how to use gravity to make a bead round or the right flame temperature to keep a bead from cracking are daunting. Sadly, here are NO shortcuts.
The Good News
The more techniques you get under your belt, the more clearly you are able to express yourself in glass, creating more complicated beads. I started lampworking in 1998 building these techniques. To be honest with you, I feel I have only scraped the surface of knowledge in glass lampworking.
The bad news
You still need perspective, color theory and all the other elements of art to create artisan glass lampwork beads! But don’t get discouraged! My tutorials can help you master this part of lampworking!
Eye candy from my Abstract background
Here is a little eye candy to enjoy. This abstract lampwork bead comes from my love of abstract art and my 2 years of training in abstract art at Silvermine Art School. My inspiration is the beauty below the ocean surface and my observations while joyfully snorkeling among God’s creatures. There is no better teacher of abstract art than by nature itself!
Pop Quiz for Fellow Lampworkers! I have counted 12 different glass lampwork techniques on this bead. Can you come up with any more? Would love to know if I missed one!
Using Dichroic glass, fuming, encasing, silvered glass reactions, twisties, stringers, wounding glass on mandrel, heat control to prevent breakage, knowledge of glass reactions through experimentation, sculpturing molten glass, removing bead from mandrel, cleaning of bead
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Wow, these colors are gorgeous!!
Wow, these colors are gorgeous!!
Thanks Karen! I just had fun with colors and shapes and playing around with silvered glass reactions. When I play, I’m able to relax and let spirit guide. Feels goooood! :)
Thanks Karen! I just had fun with colors and shapes and playing around with silvered glass reactions. When I play, I’m able to relax and let spirit guide. Feels goooood! :)