The Glass Zone - De Makes Murrini!

I have seen some amazing murrini made by some amazing glass artists!

De, of The Glass Zone, on Etsy,
is another artist who makes amazing murrini!
One of the things that fascinates me is that De makes her murrini using a torch called a Hot Head.
This torch is a single fuel torch that is commonly considered a
beginner's torch.
De has taken this torch up to a new level and makes murrini that would be considered
collectible.
Her shop is full of murrini!
You must take a look and check it out!

The Divine Image of Jesus is available in her shop.
What did I say about amazing?
When you visit De's store,
be sure to read the description of each item.
She tells a lot about her work.
This is called "Lion's Paw Shell", and it's also in De's store.
Amazing!
The detail in De's murrini is amazing!

This is another one of my favorite murrinis in The Glass Zone!
I love flowers,
and these orchids
are
exquisite!
Don't you agree?

Remember sock monkeys?
De even makes those for her store!
Amazing, isn't it?
There are so many other wonderful works of art in
The Glass Zone.
Take your time when you visit.
You don't want to miss anything.

Featured Artist De from the Glass Zone on Etsy

The Glass Zone - De

De is a lampwork artist in Arcadia. She works on a Hot Head Torch*, which makes me even more impressed with her skills, especially when she makes her murrini. I make simple cane murrini, but De makes things with her murrini. For example, look at this awesome orchid murrini! ---------------------->
I am so impressed! How does she do this?





De shares a secret or two in this wonderful tutorial on making her Citrus Slice Murrini.
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This tutorial is well written and full of wonderful photos! De is so talented!










De makes beads, too. This is a big hole bead that she has listed in her store. It used some of her very own murrini! Wow! I'm impressed! De calls this bead Purple Pansy and Wildflower Big Hole Bead. It's beautiful!
Be sure to visit The Glass Zone. You won't be disappointed!


*A Hot Head Torch is usually considered a beginner's torch because it is a single fuel torch and it doesn't get as hot as other torches. There are those amazing artists who do these wonderful things with their hot heads. De is one of them!

What do You buy when You Buy a Lampwork Bead

Let's talk about lampwork beads and their cost.
This is a set of spacer beads that I currently have listed in my Artfire store. I call them Outrageous Orange Spacers. I priced these spacers at $18.
There are 12 beads in this set. All of these beads are handmade.











Where does the cost come from. What are you buying when you buy this set of beads?

Cost:
1. My first class cost me $110 for two hours. I have since learned that there are better beginner classes for less money.

2. I have taken 2 other classes taught by professional bead makers at $200 and $400 each. I am scheduled to take two more classes in 3 weeks at $285 each.

3. My first torch was a Hot Head, which I loved, but I have since upgraded to a mini cc which had been used in a class. The Hot Head cost me $40 and the mini cost me $225.

















In order to run my mini cc, I need, not only propane, but a source for oxygen. When I bought my mini I also bought an oxygen concentrator. I have since added a second one because I mini does work better with 2 oxycons than with one.

I got a good deal on the oxycons. I paid around $280 for each one. That did include the shipping costs.














I also had to buy the hoses and the regulator for my propane and oxygen. That cost was an additional $70.

A small, but good addition, is my holding tank. I paid about $25 for that. I should actually upgrade to a bigger holding tank because of the extra oxycon, but I haven't done that yet.


















I also bought a used kiln. That cost me $450. I love my digital kiln, and it's clearly needed, but it's an additional cost.

















Whew! All right, what else do you need?


















Now, you need mandrels and bead release. I save money on mandrels by purchasing tig rods from the welding store. If I could make my own bead release, I would. I do buy the bead release in bulk, so that saves on expense. Without bead release, a person would never be able to take their beads off of the mandrels.


















Lastly, you need tools and glass. Glass can cost as little as $3.75 for a quarter pound to $22 for a quarter pound. Depending on which tools you need, they can range in price from $7 to $80 per tool. And don't forget the electricity you need for the oxycons, the light switch, the kiln, and the IPod. (I do need to listen to music when I work.) There are also books and tutorials that help a beadmaker develop new skills and techniques.

I'm afraid to add all of this up, and, please remember, I didn't buy all of these items all at once. I bought them over time. That helps with the cost. So, when you buy a lampwork bead or a glass sculpture, think of what you are buying. It's a lot more than the cost of the beads.

First Beads

I'm tired. I need to take a break from shopping. I promise, there will be more shopping later because there are so many more wonderful stores I want to show you.

We all have histories. The history I was want to show you today is my history of bead making.
I started to make beads about 2 years ago.
My first bead making class was 2 hours long, and, truthfully, we didn't do much. The teacher was prepared with a lot of information, but, as far as teaching us how to make beads, we didn't get much direction. What I have learned, the information I have gleaned has been through on line forums and two fabulous classes that I was privileged to take: one with Anne Ricketts and one with Michael Barley.

As I worked, my beads improved. Here's a sample of some of my first beads. I put them on memory wire. Here's the bracelet with some of my very firsts beads. Yuck!


















You can see that I played and tried a lot of different techniques for making beads. Very few of these beads were well shaped with good ends, but I was playing, right? I had to learn somehow!




















At the time I made the beads for this bracelet, I was still working on my much loved Hot Head torch. The Hot Head is considered to be a beginners torch because, unlike a dual fuel torch, it generates enough heat to melt glass, but it doesn't generate enough heat to make the bigger beads. (At least, that's what some people think. I once made a 4 inch bead using my Hot Head.)
I loved these beads so much that I turned them into a bracelet. I wore it so much, and then, one day, I dropped the bracelet on ceramic tile. The most beautiful bead broke, and I don't think I could recreate the bead. I keep the bracelet as a reminder of what a person can do with a Hot Head torch.



















Now, that I am a better bead maker, I'd love to reproduce this bead! You can see the sharp ends on the bead, the poor shaping, but I love the colors and the random pattern of the dots and stringer. If anyone can help me identify the base color of the bead, I'd sure appreciate it.
If you can identify the colors of the dots, I'd appreciate it. I think the blue is periwinkle blue. I'm just not sure about the others.
Any ideas?