Melting Glass
It is not only the brilliant colors, the intricate detail, the translucency and depth available when working with glass that gets me. I am in love with the process.
When I was a small child, my parents took us to visit the Corning Museum and Glass Factory in Corning, NY. That was the first time I saw flameworkers melting and shaping glass in a torch. The artist would start with a clear glass rod, melt it into a blob and using only heat, gravity and another rod, create a flying horse. I was awestruck.
In much the same way, I begin with glass rods of myriad colors. Holding the rod in the flame of the torch, I create a gather, or a blob of hot glass. This gets wrapped around a specially prepared steel rod called a mandrel. The mandrel creates the hole in the middle of what is now a donut-shaped bead.
From here it is simply a matter of adding or heating the glass to change the size and shape of the bead. It can be shaped freehand, using only gravity and heat, or it can be pressed into a mold.
Details are added by pulling tiny stringers of glass and melting them carefully onto the surface of the bead. In many ways it is like painting with hot, thick paint. Different effects can be created by layering colors or by manipulating the glass with tools while it is still hot.
Simultaneously, I must keep the bead evenly warm. If it gets too hot, it will melt into a puddle on the table. If too cold, it will crack.
It is an entirely absorbing and meditative process. When I am working on a complicated piece, it is much like creating a mandala. Hours go by before I emerge again.
Nancy Ebel
Indigo Handmade Beads