I've been collecting beads and making jewellery since I was a child. The bead shops I visit remind me of the old fashioned sweet shops with their juxtaposition of beautiful colours, shapes and textures. A few years ago I visited the famous glassworking island of Murano in Venice and have been fascinated by lampworking glass ever since.

In 2006 I did a professional grounding course in glass beadmaking with the talented Diana East and have since done courses with Ray Skene in Wales (who kindly answered my zillions of questions) and a metals/foils and enamels course with Dora Schubert at the Plowden and Thompson works in Stourbridge in 2007. I have a City & Guilds in Jewellery (Silversmithing & Design) which I completed in 1999 and have been a member of a silversmithing workshop for many years. I am now pasionate about both lampworking and silversmithing so Hothouse Beads is a natural fusion of the two.

Lampworking (Flameworking)

Lampworking is an ancient process where rods of glass are melted and wound carefully around a steel mandrel to form a  bead using a hot flame. The bead is then decorated further by adding more glass, metals, frits and enamels and can also be manipulated with various tools and heat to create beautiful designs. Glass rods come in hundreds of colours and are made in Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, America and in the UK. My beads are all kiln annealed for strength and durability and the holes carefully cleaned (unlike many cheaper imported beads that are mass produced).

I am a member of Glass Beadmakers UK http://www.gbuk.org/ which promotes quality glass bead making in the UK.

I am a Self Representing Artist (SRA).  http://www.self-representing-artist.com/  This is a body set up by Melinda Melanson for people who create and sell their or their immediate family's work. SRA members never sell mass-produced beads under this logo.

Silversmithing

Sterling silver sheet, tube and wire are pierced, hammered and soldered and then decorated by etching, reticulating and hammering to create unique jewellery pieces. The jewellery is then polished to create a professional finish.  My silver beads and charms are coming in 2008. These will all be my  own designs some of which will be cast and then handfinished in my studio workshop. Others I will make from Precious Metal Clay (PMC).

I am registered with the London Assay Office and my larger silver pieces are hallmarked. My beads and charms are not hallmarked as they can easily get damaged in the hallmarking process as they are more delicate.

If you live near Chelmsford in Essex and want to learn more about silversmithing then contact John & Sue Rogers who run silversmithing classes. See their website
http://www.silversmithingclasses.co.uk/