January 2013
Hi,
I am Jenni and I live in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
My biggest passion in life ( apart from my family!) has been learning to make lampwork beads. I have a small studio in my backyard where I have a double fuel torch connected to propane gas and oxygen which is supplied via a concentrator.
I use steel mandrels which have been coated with a release as a base for the bead. The hot glass is wound around the mandrel and formed in to a bead. When the bead is finished, it is placed in to a digitally controlled kiln where it stays at a given temperature whilst I work. The kiln then cools down slowly and the next day it is opened and the beads are retrieved. They are then removed from the mandrel and the core is cleaned of the remaining bead release.
I spend a lot of time here playing with the glass, learning about the way it responds to heat and differing concentrations of gas and oxygen.... and occasionally making some beads!
During the Southern hemisphere hot weather, October - February I tend to rarely use the torch and kiln, as it is just too overwhelmingly hot in the small space. ( Hoping to rectify this soon!)
This is the time when I try to spend a little bit of time working with metal and learning metal-smithing techniques. I have mostly learnt this on line ( There are heaps of You Tube videos teaching both metal work and lampworking techniques)
I spent last term at NMIT ( Northern Melbourne Institute of Tafe) in Fairfield, Melbourne, joining in to a beginner metal-smithing class.
This year, 2013, I will start the intermediate class at the end of January.
I also love writing the blog, and as you may have noticed, I have two others!
One is a travel blog... which only get updated VERY infrequently.
Taken in Venice, 2011
Thanks for dropping by, contact me if you wish... I have a 'contact' link on my front page.
Regards,
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