Stella Nova 2021
From Furnace to Flame: A Journey In Glass
For every bead I attempted to make, I made 3 to 9 and picked the best from the bunch. I ended up with quite a collection of beads.
The final beads I produced were made from recycled stained glass, Coca Cola, wine, and whisky bottles. I even attempted to make some polychromatic beads with stained glass windows. Normally, one would not mix glass of unknown COE due to the risk of thermal shock. In this case, I wanted to experiment with doing this method. So far, the beads have held (at least at the time I was typing this almost two years later) .The Norse would have used both scrap glass and reclaimed tiles from Roman mosaics. I was wanting to play with using glass not in rod format in the spirit of this pre-modern method.
First, I had to sort through all the beads. Then, came an endless parade of pictures documenting the beads, the process and tools used for the project. I even documented the refused. Then, some of the final beads were made into jewelry.
My final presentation was a paper and a virtual display of the product and tools used for the project. One of the nice things about doing this project during the plague, is it enabled me to present my research from the workshop.
The final jewelry was inspired by examples presented in Wondering Elf’s blog and in Risom’s book.
Inspired by a necklace from Birka Grave 847 using beads that were from the import period at Ribe. I used the grasshopper as the focal bead. The Birka version used a melon bead. The piece is strung on jute.
Three Ribe bead strands based on beads found at Ribe as depicted on page 17 of The Bead Maker From Ribe. Strung on jute. 725-750 BCE
Based on the bead strand depicted on page 73 of the The Bead Maker From Ribe, using beads from the wasp explosion period. 760-790 BCE.
Inspired by the bead strands depicted on page 74 and 76 of The Bead Maker From Ribe. These were my favorite beads from the height of Ribe bead production. Strung on silver wire and finished with silver findings for attaching to an apron dress or brooches.
