The "Magic" of Manganese

The chemical makeup of glass and the interactions between one element and another makes a fascinating journey of discovery. I've recently learned that it is the element manganese that creates the metallic surface that I love ,with flashes of purple, blue, green and pink.At first I thought it was only a result of changing the flame chemistry by using more or less oxygen and propane at the torch. But I've found it is much more subtle, it is finding the correct spot in the edge of the flame that brings out the colors.It is a delicate dance between gently heating and cooling repeatedly that brings success. But just a bit too much heat and the surface goes back to shiny black, all suggestion of color gone. The two glasses in these pictures are dark silver plum and a new glass named "metallic black". They look very ordinary and unassuming in the rod form. Enjoy the "magic show" !!

So, what IS frit????????????

Some lampworkers jokingly say ,"I have a box under my table where I throw my dirty shorts." This just refers to the collection of stubs of glass that are too short to use but are crying out to be transformed into frit. I've always bought frit,( see PART of my collection of little jars) but have recently starting crushing my "dirty shorts" into great glass combinations. I hold the stub with tweezers into the flame, melt into a blob, the plunge into a bowl of water. There's the fun part! the sizzle, crackle, kerpow and the glass breaks. I use different sieves to separate the sizes and break the large chunks up further with a few whacks of one of my heavy brass tools.

Color Inspiration

A vase full of burgundy and purple sweet peas nestled into an orange climber named Sunset speaks of one of my favorite color combinations. Purple and orange create a vibrant partnership. I have knit a pair of socks in these colors and have recently created a frit mix for my beads in this pairing. I can't quite explain why I'm drawn to these colors, I have no purple and orange clothing.... yet! I was surprised by a pot by my back door that suddenly began blooming, and without planning it, there were those colors again!

My Fibery Pursuits

Finished scarves and shawls, some knitted, some woven.

Samples I've dyed and woven, click to expand size.

This is the warping reel I use to wind a warp, this is a 4 yard warp of linen for towels.



This is my loom with stacks of batts I've carded and some yarn I've already spun in the colorway. (And a beret I knitted in the yarn!)






This shows my loom with some completed fabric for a jacket draped over it - and the ever present companion, my Ragdoll cat, Whisper.

I wanted to add in what other color addictions I have- anything with fiber! I buy raw fleece, scour it,dye and card it, often blending gorgeous custom batts of mixed fibers and colors. Then I spin it on my trusty Ashford Traveler. I knit and weave with my yarns. I have a Schacht Mighty Wolf 8 harness loom.My new adventure is in trying soysilk, bamboo , and seacell for spinning.Here are a few pictures of my fiber travels.

Can Beads NOT be jewelry????????

I have made some tiny hummers to hang as light catchers in my breakfast room window and on the mirror in my car.

Here are some tiny decorated eggs I've made for an Easter "egg tree" table decoration.

My beads are destined to be jewelry... no, not always. Here I've made some mini narcissis wired up with copper and a tiny bead center for this spring bouquet in a miniature frog vase ( 1 1/2 in. high).

Sculpture tools

Sitting at my torch with my pointy little tools at the ready I feel like I'm in the operating room readying for surgery. "Scalpel please, knife please, scarey pick please.....) Only I have no one to hand them to me. The Very Best Tool is the little brass knife. In its other life it languished in a kitchen drawer as a mustard knife- a very useless existence. Doing hot glass sculpture means lots of tools and there are still many I don't YET own. Here are some more pictures of sculpted glass.

Moving on from "round" beads

Starting out, beadmakers focus on round beads and learning to work with gravity to make that perfect roundness happen. Then it's on to pressing beads in a brass press shaped like a lentil, button, or nugget. So what follows? usually it's doing sculptural work with the taffy like hot glass. This opens up a whole new realm of possibilities! I'm adding some pictures of my forays into sculptural glass but I have many more ideas yet to try.....