lampwork.com

Gina Jeans of Raisin Mountain and her cool bead sets… each bead with its own voice…

Are you strictly a bead maker or do you also create sculptures or figurines?
I’m strictly a bead maker.

Do you have a favorite style of lampwork beads, such as animals, perfectly placed dots, organic, etc?
I love clear encased beads. I have more fun just messing with the “inside” of the bead and then encasing to see what the effect will be.

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?
The first time I saw a lampwork bead was on eBay. And, YES, I immediately knew I had to make my own beads!!!!!

What is your favorite color or color combination?
I love purples and greens (all the shades) the most.  And luckily, with the 104 COE glass, you can always count on these colors to work well for you.

Do you have a favorite tool?
I use a graphite marver and a pointy brass tool for shaping, and I use tweezers for picking scum off the clear glass.  Every once in a blue moon I will use a bead press … that’s about it.

If you had unlimited resources, how far on the planet would you go to get a lampwork bead or sculpture that you wanted?
With unlimited resources that bead would be mine, I would go anywhere to get it.

Where do you hear about new techniques or see new beads?
When I get time, I like to look at the magazines and the online bead galleries.

Did you learn how to lampwork by teaching yourself or from a friend or from a class or book?
When I saw those lampwork beads on eBay, I immediately ordered Cindy Jenkin’s book and read it about a hundred times.  I had made tons of beads in my mind before ever buying a torch. Everything else I know, I’ve learned from reading, practice, and just playing around with the glass.

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?
Yes, I am a member of a couple of forums, but I mostly spend my time on TAM, that’s where all my beady friends hang out.  While there is plenty of bead information there, it really is mostly social.

Other than lampwork what else do you enjoy doing?
I also make jewelry from my beads.

What is the hardest technique you have ever attempted, ie florals, implosions?
I can handle encasing and florals pretty well, although they are constantly evolving techniques for me.  I’ve never made a decent implosion, and I have a real problem with raised scroll work. I have trouble melting the scrolls evenly.

What is the next technique you would like to learn?
I would love to get great colors out of silver glass, or even raku.

Do you love your wonkie beads as much as your other ones?
I do.  I never stop making a bead, even when I know it is messed up.   Even if the release comes loose, I will keep going.  I may have given beads away, but I’ve never thrown one out.

Raisin Mountain