My name is Mary Mau and I’ve been making glass beads since 2001. My early memories of glass are from a beautiful Italian vase my mom had when I was a child. The shape, brilliance and transparency of glass became ingrained in my mind. Those memories resurfaced again when I saw a documentary on Dale Chihuly on PBS and immediately set off to find a glass blowing class.
As I was researching glass blowing I discovered lampwork beads and was immediately hooked! I took my first class in 2001and I’ve been making beads ever since. Many people ask me how quickly you can learn making beads…the truth is it depends on the time you dedicate to it. If you practice daily, your learning curve will be much faster than someone who practices over the weekends (like me :)).
As far as taking classes…if you’re interested in making beads, check the internet for local classes on lampwork. If you’re in the SF Bay Area, a great place is Arrow Springs. I’ve been fortunate I was able to take Sharon Peters and Andrea Guarino’s classes there. You can also find books to get acquainted to the process. Corina’s Passing the Flame, Cindy Jenkins Making Glass beads and Jim Kervin’s books are a wonderful source of information.
As I was researching glass blowing I discovered lampwork beads and was immediately hooked! I took my first class in 2001and I’ve been making beads ever since. Many people ask me how quickly you can learn making beads…the truth is it depends on the time you dedicate to it. If you practice daily, your learning curve will be much faster than someone who practices over the weekends (like me :)).
As far as taking classes…if you’re interested in making beads, check the internet for local classes on lampwork. If you’re in the SF Bay Area, a great place is Arrow Springs. I’ve been fortunate I was able to take Sharon Peters and Andrea Guarino’s classes there. You can also find books to get acquainted to the process. Corina’s Passing the Flame, Cindy Jenkins Making Glass beads and Jim Kervin’s books are a wonderful source of information.
