The Makings Of Beads by Clare Scott.....: Reactive glass lessons....

Wednesday, 7 May 2008

Reactive glass lessons....

Yesterday I gave a 'reactive glass' lesson. (Hope you dont mind me using your pic Kathy!)

I think they are fantastic - these beads were produced on a 'hothead' torch - not my minor burner!! Wow!

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Me & my beads.....

I Am Self-Taught Lampwork Artist And Jewellery Designer (which basically means I have been a bit of a hermit since I discovered you could actually make glass beads!!)

In 2007 I left my Veterinary Nursing job and had a big think about what I wanted to do with my life....

I have always been creative and realised I needed an outlet for this pent up creativity.

I spent night after night on the internet, scouring the prospectuses of local colleges as I wanted to study jewellery design.... or so I thought.

Luckily I came across a local jewellery maker - Anna Richards @ Beads on Toast. I asked if she knew of any jewellery courses in the area. She replied saying she didn`t know of any but she ran lampworking courses. LAMPWORKING COURSES?! Now THAT sounded interesting!! Playing with glass over a big hot torch! FUN! I never knew you could actually make glass beads!! I pestered the life out of poor Anna for information about this amazing subject (thankyou SOO much!) and decided to take my own path. Ever since that day I have been a complete hermit - with my head in glassy books, reading up on techiques on forums, trawling the internet for video tutorials etc etc...

Next step was annealing my beads whilst I saved up for a kiln.... huge thanks to Helen Prole @ Beady Bugs for your kiln space.

I was given a 'hothead' torch for my 28th Birthday in April 2007. I instantly knew making beads was for me and quickly upgraded my setup to a Nortel Minor burner running on bulk propane and Oxygen.

I still have so much to learn....

My Studio Can Be Found In The Beautiful County Of North Yorkshire, In The Heart Of England.

My favourite glass made by a company called Double Helix in the US. It is called 'Psyche' - a beautiful deep purple rod loaded with silver that produces an amazing array of peacock colours when worked in the flame.I also love their Aura (light & dark) Triton, Gaia, Elektra.... The Glass I Use Is COE (Co-Efficient Of Expansion) 104. Double Helix, TAG, Effetre (Moretti), Vetrofond, Creation Is Messy (CIM). These Glasses Are Italian, German Or American.

Recently I have been playing with Borosilicate (Pyrex) glass, it gives wispy organic reactions - it is COE 33.

I am a member of the Self Representing Artistry. (google 'self representing artist' for more info) My beads are 'annealed' in a digitally controlled Paragon SC2 Kiln, thoroughly cleaned of bead release and temporarily strung for you to use in your designs.

I have two websites. One for jewellery designers to purchase my lampwork beads and the other for my jewellery customers to purchase unique pieces of wearable art.

I love experimenting with glass, finding out how to get the very best results from reactive glass but best of all I love hearing from my happy customers and seeing their creations.

Thankyou for stopping by, if you would like to get in touch please do, I`d love to hear from you - claredscott@hotmail.com.

Clare x

The Makings Of Beads by Clare Scott.....

Wednesday, 7 May 2008

Reactive glass lessons....

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