Lampwork Glass Beads

Welcome to the beauty of Lampwork Glass Beads!

People from various cultures around the world have long been fascinated with glass beads, especially lampwork glass beads. They are such beautiful and colorful works of art. These lovely glass beads can be worn as pendants, earrings or bracelets to suit any occasion or dress from casual to evening.

The art of lampworking requires great patience, thus a suitable craft for those truly passionate about creating beautiful beads. The term “lampwork” originated from earlier times prior to the use of torches where special lamps were necessary for this craft. Today, torches are used to melt the glass and forming it into a variety of shapes.

One of the signature characteristics of lampwork glass beads are the trapped air bubbles inside the glass. As the glass is heated by the flame, air bubbles form inside the glass and expand creating these hollow spaces. Now with the use of kilns, the shaped beads are “annealed” in the kiln for many hours. It is crucial to anneal the glass beads in the kiln which cools the glass slowly to make them more durable and resistant to cracking. The creative possibilities for lampwork artists are endless. The molten glass is able to be twisted, curved and stretched into any shape imaginable as well as being poured into molds. It can even be cut and polished like a gemstone, or have metals integrated into the designs.

A true lampworker understands both the glass and the torch flame, knowing precisely how much heat is needed to shape the glass without melting it. It can take years to master this skill. Normally, thin rods of glass are melted, though I have heard the exceptional colors come from cutting flat pieces of glass. The molten glass is shaped around a mandrel, a thin piece of stainless steel. The space created by the mandrel becomes the hole through the bead. As the mandrel is turned under the flame heat, the glass melts into form. Other tools are available to perfect the shape desired.

The craft of making lampwork glass beads is exceptional. The lampworker’s creative mastery and skill result in glass beads with beautiful color, light, design and  dimensional brilliance. When you find glass beads with these qualities, you have found the work of a lampwork master…a real gem to be treasured.