It is difficult to imagine a time when glass wasn't a part of everyday life, but for centuries glassmaking techniques were a carefully guarded secret. Fathers passed the craft of glassmaking to their sons, but rarely to anyone else. Today we take glass for granted, but it is a wonderful material with almost magical qualities. I am proud to be playing a part in keeping this ancient craft alive in the 21^st century.

I love the fact that melting glass cannot be rushed, because it forces me to slow down, and focus on the moment. It also satisfies the mad scientist in me as I discover new colour reactions and learn to push the glass to its limits. I am inspired by a whole host of colours and shapes from the world around me, and I am always planning how I can capture these within a glassy work of art. The fact that my relationship with glass will always have the potential to develop to another level is what enthrals me most.

I use a variety of techniques and materials in my beads, often incorporating fine silver. I use mainly Italian glass, which is manufactured on the island of Murano. Much of the glass I use is rich in silver which enables me to create fabulous colour effects, and even to produce metallic shimmers.

My jewellery designs make a simple statement and their intention is to showcase the beads. I find enormous satisfaction in being able to produce an entire piece of jewellery from raw ingredients. I have recently begun to make silver charms and other silver components to incorporate within my jewellery designs, and this has given me the ability to make the exact item to  compliment my glass beads. This has been one of my exciting projects for 2008.

I hope you enjoy wearing my beads as much as I have enjoyed making them. If you have a particular requirement, please contact me, as commissions will be considered.  

How I Make a Glass Bead

Before beginning a bead, there is a little preparation to be done. I dip the mandrel that I will be using to make the bead in "bead release". This is a liquid clay/silica solution and prevents the glass from bonding to the steel mandrel.

I turn my kiln on, heating it to 500 degrees centigrade. I switch on my oxygen concentrator. This device generates the oxygen that feeds into my torch, along with propane gas. I light my torch (briefly closing the oxygen valve so it doesn't pop!) and adjust the flame so it has just the right mix of propane and oxygen.

Now I need to decide what kind of bead I'm making, and how I'm going to decorate it. I use rods of soda glass, sometimes called "soft" glass. The rods measure roughly 8mm in diameter, but for fine detail I use "stringers". These are thin strands of glass that I pull out from the melted end of the rod.

For beads such as my "Fossil series" beads I need to make "twisties". These are made from a number of different glasses, melted and then pulled and twisted until a candy-cane pattern emerges.

I might also decide to use frit (crushed glass) and silver in my bead too, so I get them handy so I can easily reach them when I need to.

Once I have everything I need I can make my base bead.

Firstly I heat the mandrel in the flame until it glows a little. Unless it's warm the molten glass won't stick to it. Then I slowly melt the end of a glass rod until it forms a "gather" the consistency of treacle. I touch the gather to the mandrel and carefully wind the glass around the mandrel. I rotate the mandrel in the flame, making sure that the glass is evenly distributed and the bead gradually pulls itself into a nice round shape.

Now I can begin to shape it, using a graphite marver. Once I'm completely happy that the shape is perfect, and that the bead's holes are nicely dimpled I add my decoration. This is where my pre-prepared stringers and twisties come in.

It is very important that I keep flashing the bead in the flame to keep it warm. If it cools too quickly thermal shock will cause it to crack.

Once my bead is finished I pop it in the kiln where it is held at 500 degrees centigrade until the end of my torch session, when I ramp it up to 510 degrees, which is the temperature needed to "anneal" the beads so that they are durable. Once the beads have "soaked" at the annealing temperature for one hour, the temperature ramps down to room temperature over a period of around 6 hours, avoiding thermal shock.

Now the beads have to be removed from the mandrels. This often takes brute force! Then I use a reamer to remove the bead release residue and wash them in soapy water until they sparkle.

Sometimes I like to give my beads a matt finish, and this is done by soaking them in etching solution for a few minutes.

Now my beads are ready to be used in one of my jewellery designs, or maybe one of yours!