lampwork.com

Wendy Puckett and her adorable critters … what a fun way to make a person smile …

Are you strictly a bead maker or do you also create sculptures or figurines?
I’m still a bead maker. I’ve made one off mandrel piece and remain completely intimidated by the process.

Do you have a favorite style of lampwork beads, such as animals, perfectly placed dots, organic, etc?
I like to make beads with silly faces. They make me smile. and sometimes other people smile when they see them.

Do you remember the first time you saw a lampwork piece? What was it? Did you want to learn how to lampwork as soon as you saw it?
I stumbled onto Corina Tettinger’s website one day and was instantly fascinated. Her beads were so perfect that I tried to figure out how she made them. It took me three months to find a local class and three more to pay on the layaway plan just to take it.

What is your favorite color or color combination?
Blue has always been my favorite color. I don’t think I have a favorite combination when it comes to glass.

Do you have a favorite tool?
My Smircich Tail Stock Holder is my favorite tool. I use it every session, and it has helped immensely in getting a more evenly round bead.

If you had unlimited resources, how far on the planet would you go to get a lampwork bead or sculpture that you wanted?
I’m not really sure.

Where do you hear about new techniques or see new beads?
I read most of the glassworking forums, browse their galleries, occasionally wander through Ebay and read several lampworking blogs and magazines.

Did you learn how to lampwork by teaching yourself or from a friend or from a class or book?
I took a basic bead making class here in Raleigh at a local bead store.

Do you ever visit lampwork forums? If so, is it for the social aspect, to see the beads being posted, or to learn a new technique?
I do visit several of the lampwork related forums. The forums have been a primary source for my learning new techniques and building on the basic skills that I was taught in my first class.

Other than lampwork what else do you enjoy doing?
I love to read.

What is the hardest technique you have ever attempted, ie florals, implosions?
The hardest technique I’ve tried so far has been encased florals.

What is the next technique you would like to learn?
I’d like to learn to make my silly faced beads as sculptures instead of beads.

Do you love your wonkie beads as much as your other ones?
I don’t. While each of them represents a step in learning more about this beautiful medium, when it doesn’t go as I planned I’m disappointed. I have a “bad bead bowl” in my living room that a few of my friends like to dig through when they can sneak it away from me, but mostly I don’t look in that bowl. I’m definitely my own worst critic.

Giggleworks Bead Studio