I have dabbled in many art mediums throughout my life, but I have always been involved in beads and jewelry making (as far back as I can remember). As a young girl, my father would bring home wonderfully colored telephone wire, and I would fashion the wire into jewelry pieces with various beads for myself and my friends. Growing up, I was also very intrigued watching glass blowers make intricate sculptures and designs with glass. It wasn’t until one holiday season when I became interested in making my own glass beads, and received a Hot Head Torch and kit as a Christmas present. Melting and manipulating glass quickly became my passion.

Each glass bead is created one at a time using the age old craft known as lampworking. In the Victorian era, the flame from candles (lamps) were used to heat and melt the glass to form the beads. Today, torches are used to melt the glass. Steel mandrels are coated with a special release to wind the glass around to form the basic bead. Once the glass is wound around the mandrel and the bead is formed, additional colors of glass are heated and manipulated in such a way to create designs. When the bead is complete, it is placed into a digitally controlled kiln and annealed overnight to reduce any stress within the glass, and to ensure lasting durability of the bead.