Lampworking 101

My husband bought me a beginners lampworking kit a while back. These beads are my very first attempt. My first and only attempt at lampworking.

I really enjoyed working with the flame. Watching the glass melt, continually rolling it onto the mandrel, adding decorative bits of glass, and millifori was totally cool. I'm definitely going to try working with it again, after the weather breaks and my garage "studio" is much warmer. Yet at this moment, I wonder if it is really the right medium for me. I found myself worrying about every movement, being afraid to burn myself or my house. Perhaps with practice the whole "dance with glass and flame" would become second nature and more enjoyable. We shall see.

While I already had a tremendous amount of respect for those that work glass with fire, having tried my hand at it, my admiration is even greater.

One place to admire the work of masters is the Museum of Natural History at Harvard University. My nephew is on their swim team, so in a couple weeks I plan to watch him compete. Then off to the museum to see the Glass Flower Collection exhibit. This will be my second visit to see these flowers.


The Blashka's of Dresden, Germany spent 50 years making life size glass replicas of about 846 plants. I was mesmerized by the lifelike detail of each piece and the sheer number of them. Bless my husband's heart. I know he walked around and saw a bunch of aged, fading glass flowers, in very old dusty display cases, yet he said he enjoyed the exhibit. Me, a gardener and someone who appreciates the work involved in making each piece, was blown away. I was totally eating it up. Can't wait to go back! Click here to visit the Musuem's website about the Glass Flowers Exhibit