They’re the very best in contemporary glass beadmaking, 1000 dazzling and unique examples by an international array of artists. This color survey has it all: the beads come single or in multiples, in jewelry or sculptural pieces, flameworked and kilnformed; and their diversity and beauty are amazing. Julia Skop’s intriguing Secret Surprise showcases clear glass beads with millefiori slices at the ends. Bruce St. John crafts his beads out of diachroic glass, then fuses and coldworks them at the lapidary well after completion. Nebula Black Necklace, from Rene Roberts, features an organic-looking focal bead adorned with fine metal leaf, glass shards, and a subtle dot decoration. An artist’s comment and detail image accompany many of the photos. A Selection of the Crafters Choice Book Club.

Features biographical sketches and the work of glass bead artists. Illustrates lampworking techniques.

A fully illustrated step-by-step guide to glass bead jewelry making, covering setting up a workshop, tools, materials, and techniques, and including fifteen unique glass bead designs and fifteen jewelry pieces to make.

All that glitters here IS gold--and it’s gorgeous! This addition to the popular Masters series focuses on a topic--gold jewelry--with mass appeal to a wide audience: jewelers, metalsmiths, collectors, museums, and just about anyone who loves beautiful workmanship. Leading jewelry expert Marthe Le Van has chosen 40 of the world’s best goldsmiths and presents their finest pieces. A short essay accompanies each eight-page section, along with choice quotes from the featured artists. The talented creators showcased here include: Eva Steinberg (Germany): Art Nouveau influences abound in her colorful earrings and pendants Namu Cho (Korea/United States): Cho employs the ancient technique of Korean damascene known as poe mok saang gum. Claude Chavent (France): He plays with the optical illusions of trompe l’oeil, bringing volume and movement to his dazzling flat pieces. Stuart Golder (United States): Golder weaves sheets and wires of gold on a loom, designing elaborate patterns based on traditional cloth weaving.

"For more than 75 years, the Penland School of Crafts has attracted the most creative crafters from across the globe. This ... focuses on glass and the ten top contemporary flameworkers who have taught at the school, all of whom have areas of expertise that make them leaders in their field. These skilled masters offer a very personal perspective on their influences and work, with revelatory essays that give their views on flameworking and art in general. In photographic how-to sections of about 25-30 captioned images, each one demonstrates a particular technique, usually resulting in a finished piece."--Global Books in Print.

This gorgeous and empowering picture book from award-winning author-illustrator Evan Turk paints the portrait of Marietta Barovier, the groundbreaking Renaissance artisan who helped shape the future of Venetian glassmaking. Marietta and her family lived on the island of Murano, near Venice, as all glassmakers did in the early Renaissance. Her father, Angelo Barovier, was a true maestro, a master of glass. Marietta longed to create gorgeous glass too, but glass was men’s work. One day her father showed her how to shape the scalding-hot material into a work of art, and Marietta was mesmerized. Her skills grew and grew. Marietta worked until she created her own unique glass bead: the rosetta. Small but precious, the beautiful beads grew popular around the world and became as valuable as gold. The young girl who was once told she could not create art was now the woman who would leave her mark on glasswork for centuries to come.