This Shop is Owned By:

Art of the Firebird

United States

Market Member Of:

Glass Artisans' Alley
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LaWatha's Glass Creations

They're all beautiful! Indigo Stone looks pretty amazing. Nice work!

Three Fates Design

Beautiful work. I love the hearts, especially the "small but mighty" one!

Glass Art By Margot

I just love the colors in Autumn Stone. I can only imagine how beautiful it is in real life!

Marjorie's Cracked Plate Jewelry

I have great respect for lampwork artists. It's an amazing craft and your work is especially beautiful!

Art of the Firebird

Thank you to everyone for the compliments!

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Mandrels and Bead Release -- Tools of the Trade

Every glass artist has their favorite type of glass with which they work. Likewise, every flameworking glass bead artist has their favorite "consumables" to use for making the beads. Mandrels are the metal rods on which we wind our molten glass as we make the bead; it's the mandrel that leaves the hole in the bead once removed. Bead release is akin to a potter's kiln wash, and coats the mandrel to keep the glass from sticking to the mandrel permanently without permanently fusing to the glass itself.

Recently I tried out a new type of mandrel and a new bead release. You can read about my results at my regular blog, http://artofthefirebird.com/wordpress/2009/01/0....

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