TexasBeaders is a YahooGroups  list for beadwork artists living in Texas. Its purpose is to share info about local bead resources, bead gatherings and retreats, classes, shows, bead stores, traveling bead vendors, beading techniques, bead websites and members' latest work.  This website provides additional resources for those wanting to learn more about the art of beadwork in Texas.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TexasBeaders/

The Art of Glass Beads
By Ryan Horn
 

In the beginning, glass was a natural substance formed from a volcano, but today glass is a plate, a vase, a bead. Today, glass is artwork.

Part of that artwork is the art of glass bead-making. In Texas, and all over the country, this art is being practiced every day. Diane Schulz, Edwidge Denyszyn and Royelle Giddings create glass beads through lampworking. Lampworking is the use of a torch to melt glass and create a bead and can be accomplished at home with the right tools.

Schulz, a former representative of The International Society of Glass Bead Makers, has been creating glass beads for about 10 years. She has been interested in glass and the art of bead-making all her life. As a child, Schulz lived near Cape Cod and would spend her time collecting 17th and 18th century sandwich glass. “I like my glass beads to be organic, looking as much like stone and semiprecious gems as possible, as opposed to flowery and sculptured,” Schulz says. According to Schulz, her glass beads require anywhere from five minutes to an hour to craft into an art piece.

Giddings, however, is new to glass bead-making and, as a beginner, took her first class from Schulz. Giddings says that she got into the art because she liked the idea of making her own beads. For her and many glass bead-makers, the love of this art form comes from the challenge of melting and molding glass into something new and discovering what it becomes.

Giddings belongs to a group of women called the Houston Hotties, an affiliate of The International Society of Glass Bead Makers. This group of about 50 women meets monthly, sharing their knowledge of glass bead-making and learning more about the art.

For anyone interested in lampworking, but are hesitant, Giddings suggests taking a class. “Diane never misses anything,” Giddings says of her first teacher and her attention to the art and the safety of it.

Denyszyn also enjoys the challenge of creating something from glass and seeing where it takes her. She, like Schulz, has taught lampworking to anyone wanting to try it.

Denyszyn has been a bead vendor for several years and got tired of buying so many glass beads that she started making her own. “I originally wanted to get my husband started on it, but after a month he had only made 10 beads,” Denyszyn says.

The basics of glass beading start with safety. Ventilation, an oxygen tank and special glasses, which protect the eyes and help the bead-maker see the flame better, are needed.

While safety is one of the most important elements, without the proper tools, glass cannot be shaped. Besides the torch itself, there are other tools needed to make a glass bead. The most important of all the tools is the glass; glass rods come in many colors and can be developed into beautiful beads in all shapes and sizes.


To mold the glass into a bead, the bead-maker uses a mandrel, a rod of stainless steel with a release on the end which ensures that the glass will not stick to the rod. Another tool, Schulz cannot live without is a graphite marver.

The marver is simply a smooth rectangle of graphite with a handle on the end. The marver helps shape the glass into forms other than the traditional round bead. Schulz also recommends oversized stainless steel tweezers to aid in the creation of the bead. A kiln is needed to cool the glass bead slowly so that the bead will not crack. With just these tools and the right know how, anyone can create a glass bead of their own.

Glass bead-making may seem like a daunting task, but anyone can learn the techniques. Diane Schulz teaches classes for aspiring glass bead-makers. To learn more about Diane Schulz’s work or sign up for a class, go to www.outoftheordinarybeads.com.