Hi! Welcome to Sunsations Art Glass. Here I'd like to allow you to step into my mind so I can introduce you to some of my ever-changing creations in both stained and lampworked glass.
"What IS lampworking?" you ask. Although the art form of lampworking has been practiced since ancient Syrian (1 Century B.C.) times, it became widely practiced on the island of Murano, Italy during the 14th century. This early form of lampworking was done in the flame of an oil lamp, with the artist blowing air into the flame through a pipe.
Most artists today use torches that burn either propane or natural gas for the fuel gas combined with either air or pure oxygen (which can be produced by an oxygen concentrator) as the oxidizer. The artist uses a steel rod, called a
mandrel, and dips it into an alumina hydrate aznd kaolin mixture simply referred to as "bead release." Once dry the bead release prevents the molten glass from sticking permanently to the mandrel. A glass rod is slowly spun in the
flame until it is molten and at this point the artist begins to wrap the molten glass onto the mandrel. Using gravity and various tools the desired shape takes place. Now that the piece is complete it is placed into a glass kiln to be annealed. Anealling is the process of heating the bead to a controlled temperature that prevents it from getting stress, cracks and even broken due to uneven cooling.
"What IS lampworking?" you ask. Although the art form of lampworking has been practiced since ancient Syrian (1 Century B.C.) times, it became widely practiced on the island of Murano, Italy during the 14th century. This early form of lampworking was done in the flame of an oil lamp, with the artist blowing air into the flame through a pipe.
Most artists today use torches that burn either propane or natural gas for the fuel gas combined with either air or pure oxygen (which can be produced by an oxygen concentrator) as the oxidizer. The artist uses a steel rod, called a
mandrel, and dips it into an alumina hydrate aznd kaolin mixture simply referred to as "bead release." Once dry the bead release prevents the molten glass from sticking permanently to the mandrel. A glass rod is slowly spun in the
flame until it is molten and at this point the artist begins to wrap the molten glass onto the mandrel. Using gravity and various tools the desired shape takes place. Now that the piece is complete it is placed into a glass kiln to be annealed. Anealling is the process of heating the bead to a controlled temperature that prevents it from getting stress, cracks and even broken due to uneven cooling.
