During my apprenticeship (2002 to 2005) I learnt the centuries old craft of a goldsmith, how to forge my own tools, chisel script and Bohemian Glass bead winding. This traditional craft was transported from Bohemia by refugees fleeing the communist system at the end of World War II.
I like tradition, I like combining solid craftsmanship with passion and producing quality. My main tool is a traditional Bohemian Lampfire, a steampunk looking contraption with 13 individual jets. I found this some 90 years old temperamental machine in the cellar of a retired glass workers. 20 years ago she made the journey to Australia with me where she is most likely the only one of its kind in the Southern hemisphere. However, my concession to progress is a kiln that allows me to anneal my beads and as a result make them break resistant.
The molten glass can be coaxed into shape, manipulated with tweezers and spatulas, twisted, pulled and decorated. Some beads undergo multiple processes of layering different glasses and manipulating it into shape and adding texture before I am happy with the result.
It is an intuitive process that makes me lose myself in my own space. I love making this kind of jewellery. Working with glass, engaged with its diversity and pushing the boundaries of glass beadmaking opens endless options. I constantly absorb colour, shape and texture, whatever I do and wherever I go. These impressions somehow work their way into my art. I combine precious Saltwater Pearls with my glass work. They form an intriguing partnership especially placed next to marine life inspired beads.
Many of the glasses I use to make my beads are still made according to centuries old formulae. There is glass resembling amber, others look like garnet, ruby, emerald, some have a mother of pearl sheen. No matter how beautiful the colours are, more and more formulas disappear. They were handed down from one generation of glass maker to the next. Unfortunately, today many of the traditional methods of glass production are giving way to lower standards of mass production glass with cheaper production costs – quality and tradition are disappearing. I still have contact with some traditional glass workers in Germany. They supply me with the precious glass only a few people have access to. It makes me very sad that once their cellars are empty these treasures are gone for ever…