Neferene

Besides being a lampwork glass artist, coin ring maker, and jewelry designer for over 20 years, I am also a registered occupational therapist/certified hand therapist of 20 years as well. Both careers are great loves of mine and are near and dear to my heart. It is always my goal to provide the most beautiful one-of-a-kind, quality hand-made art that can be found. I 100% blow and sculpt handmade lampwork beads that are individually made in my own studio. I use a specialty glass torch with glass from Murano, Italy to sculpt figurines such as dolphins, turtles, pirates, frogs, and hollow steam punked beads. To make each bead is very time consuming, but to get good quality, it's worth every minute. I also take old coins and make them into rings, steampunk art and my specialty strung beaded sets are Ethiopian inspired.

Glass is an organic material. It is made out of soda, lime, sand and different natural metals. With a little help from electricity or the occasional lightning bolt, Wha-la glass is born. Lampwork beads are handmade glass beads made with a hot torch. They are made using a centuries-old process called lampworking - a term which refers to the oil lamps once used to melt the glass. Modern beadmakers, such as myself, use a variety of torches, tools, and glass to produce individual glass beads which may contain remarkable detail and artistry. To put the process simply, a slender rod of glass is slowly melted in the torch at around 1700 degrees (F) and once the bead is completed, it is removed from the flame and either immediately annealed, Further cleaning and/or processing will be required before each distinctive and unique glass bead is ready to then be fashioned into a piece of my jewelry