Lampwork Beads

I was born and raised in Germany, in a small village in the Rhine valley. But since 2006 I live and work in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, close to Redmond and Ames Lake, Washington.

My passion for beading began with simple beaded necklaces and within a short timeframe I set up my own showcase at Craft World in Auckland, NZ.  I was using mainly sterling silver, semiprecious stones and Swarovski crystals in my jewelry designs at first. But only until I discovered lampwork beads! I still remember when I ordered for the first time artisan lampwork beads through Ebay and they arrived with the mail. I was hooked and started to read everything I could about beads and the ancient art of lampworking.

I set up my own lampworking studio in 2006 after attending classes at Bellevue Community College. After much encouragement from my family and friends, I am now selling my glass art beads through Ebay, Etsy and here on my webpage.

My beads have been published in "The Glass Bead" magazine, "The Flow" magazine, "Women in Glass" magazine, the "Fifth Silver Color How To eBooklet" and in the AGLF calendars of 2010 and 2011.
I am a member of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers, the local Pacific North-West ISGB chapter "Fire and Rain", and a  participant in the Self-Representing Artists community.
Self representing artist guarantee that you are buying artist-made beads directly from the artist, not through a middle man.

Each bead is individually crafted using a centuries-old technique called lampworking (also called flameworking) in which molten glass is wrapped around a stainless steel rod (mandrel) to create glass beads. The beads are then cooled in a digitally-controlled kiln for strength and durability.

Here you can see me doing a demo on shard beads during the 2011 ISGB (International Society of Lampworker) Retreat in May 2011. 

This photo shows the main working area of my studio.

On the left (light gray machine) there is the oxygen generator which brings oxygen to the torch. On the desk are two kilns (one shiny silver box and one red box with green door) who are important for annealing the beads. They cool down the beads at a very slow rate to ensure durability and stability within the glass.

The torch is difficult to spot, as it's rather small ... but follow the green & red hose, and you can spot my GTT Cricket torch sitting on the table right in front of the chair. The green hose brings the oxygen to the torch and the red hose brings Propane (propane bottle is located outside of studio, you can't see it on this picture).

The lovely shiny metal box hanging from the ceiling is the very important ventilation system which takes care that no dangerous fumes are staying in the working area. On the right side you can see part of my glass stash.

Close-up of my torch and in the background you can see some of the many tools that I need on a daily basis ... presses, picks, shaping tools, mashers, rakes, mandrels and many more.

Top 100 Lampwork Artists
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