German Lampwork Beads 3

Ever wonder a baby face in a flower-formed bead? I definitely never imagine one! Sometimes I feel I've seen so often flower beads that share common similarities: flat or raised flower details, or sculpted petals with dotty stamens; and I need to see a change. When I browsed Dora Schubert's website by chance, I didn't prepare myself for an unexpected find: sculptural baby flower beads! A chubby baby face sorrounded with sculpted petals. The idea is clever and original. Each bead is big enough to be worn singly as a pendant. It's clearly a head-turning piece.

Dora's creations are distinctive. She makes details on clean-colored backgrounds meticulously. She does the same with colorful motifs and backgrounds. She has her signatures in making sculptural and non-sculptural beads. When I stop by at her Flickr site, I'm sometimes speechless to describe her extraordinary works.

German Lampwork Beads 2

I’m a fan of lampwok glass beads. When I don’t do anything with my kids or work on jewelry projects, I take my time to marvel at the work of lampwork bead artists. Their skills and creativity to produce something wonderful and interesting in small-sized forms and assorted shapes and colors often makes me wonder: how do they make them? How does, for example, Michou Pascale Anderson combine many colors that turn out to be so irresistibly cool? I personally admire her color style. Bold, bright, eye catching. Not only is she good with colors, she also makes beads with different motifs from birds to water creatures to flowers and many more. Another example of my curious thought: how long does Silke Buechler spend to finish one bead with such a beautiful color combo and lots of fine details? I can’t help but say ‘wow’ to myself everytime I look at her exquisite work in her website’s gallery page. She sure has her own style to create one-of-a-kind pieces.

In my previous blog entry I wrote that artisan beads bear their own uniqueness. Michou and Silke’s beads prove to be like that. Unique. For me it’s become a love-and-love connection to keep checking back their work.

Click the artist’s name and you’ll be directed to their website.

German Lampwork Beads

I adore lampwork glass beads. They please my eyes and entertain my soul. They can be my inspirations when I need fresh design ideas; momentarily take the pressure away when I’m on a tight deadline to finish a project; bring me smile anytime during my hectic hours of the day or when I’m in a gloomy mood; and of course make me feel good when I wear them.

Since I live in Germany, a country where one of reputable glass material brandnames Lauscha is produced, I’ve googled to find lampwork beads made by local artists. Among many German lampwork bead makers I've spotted, I’am fascinated with the artisan works of Anja Basan of Anastasia Beads, Melanie Moertel and Manuela Wutschke. They have their own way to interpret objects found in life and present them in miniature works of art. I’m always in awe to see their endless creativity like, for examples, how Anja potrays seasons and underwater life in her glass focals and bead sets. They’re oh so magnificent! I sometimes wonder how Melanie could come up with unique elephants and fairy characters in her glass work. They’re truly original ideas. I also have no clue how many hours Ms. Manuela spends to create a delicate bird in a small-sized glass space but for sure she must have done it patiently and meticulously.

The facts that their beads are one of a kind and become collectible items make them highly priced in ebay auctions. I’m no longer surprised if bidders don’t mind paying more than one hundred US dollars (or even a thousand dollars!) for a single set as they’ll get beautiful jewels that they can treasure in many years to come.

Click here to see the artists’ websites:
http://www.anastasiabeads.de
http://www.melaniemoertel.de
http://www.manuela-wutschke.de