Chris Phoenix's odyssey into glass art
...Or, why glass beadmaking has
seduced me away from the high-tech world.
As a child, I would watch in fascination as artisans made crystal sculptures from rods of glass with a flaming torch. And I would play for hours with melted plastic, honey, candle wax, and similar substances.
These fascinations came together earlier this year, when I finally
took a lampworking class... and was immediately hooked!
I was fortunate in two ways. My first piece of fortune was my first instructor, Norikazu Kogure, who does beautiful work, creates space for his students to excel, and is generous with his knowledge.
The second piece of fortune was that my first class used Japanese technique and Japanese glass - very soft glass that is worked with a special low-temperature torch.
Although I couldn't know it at the time, this medium and style of lampworking are the closest to my childhood play - so close that I was able to make attractive beads immediately. Below are my first few beads; most were made during Kogure's class.
Since that first joyful and captivating introduction, I've attended the yearly International Society of Glass Beadmakers conference, and learned from Akihiro Ohkama and Beau Anderson.
I have learned some Tonbo-Dama (Japanese style) designs...
... as well as starting to develop my own style. One of the object below is not a bead; I found it a few days after I made these beads.
The designs that can be made with hot glass are almost infinite. I'm barely getting started!
My personal website is Xenophilia. My former careers include dyslexia correction, software engineering, and molecular manufacturing. You can reach me at cphoenix at gmail dot com.