Ah, there you are, have you come to find out a bit about me, ok then, follow me and I'll tell you more
Hello, my name is Tania Grey, I am Cornish born and bred and I am as much a part of the county as the cliffs and the sea. I adore Cornwall and I believe its influences show in my beads. I live in Hayle with my husband Colin, various furry creatures and three gorgeous dogs that take me for loooong walks every day across the beaches or through the countryside. Inspiration is at every turn.
I am a self taught lampworker, I started in 2001 after trying and failing to obtain glass beads to match my enamelled pieces. I came across some crudely made beads at a village fair and the stall holder told me that someone local had made them. Thats when it struck me that I could make my own beads!!! Where to begin, what to do?
I started with a welding torch and stained glass offcuts, interspersing this with beer bottles, in fact any form of glass that I could melt was melted. People were amazed at my recycled beads but I was fed up of the restrictions and knew there was a wider pallette. Enter the now famous Cindy Jenkins, Making Glass Beads book. Now I knew the proper names of what I was looking for, Moretti rods, mapp gas, hot head torch. I found a uk supplier and ordered all I thought I would need and I was off.
It was a bewildering few years to begin with, I made so many mistakes, information wasn't that available to me but slowly I learnt. Over the years I have refined my techniques and tried hard to create a style of my own, this year I progressed from my little welding torch to a proper lampworking torch. It's fantastic!!
I told you it was a little studio!! It's a little piece of heaven, surrounded by all of my glassy bits and bobs. The door to the garden is just to the right of the picture, the little corner at the bottom right of the picture is the edge of the kitchen counter so I really am in the heart of things!
I am a self taught lampworker, I started in 2001 after trying and failing to obtain glass beads to match my enamelled pieces. I came across some crudely made beads at a village fair and the stall holder told me that someone local had made them. Thats when it struck me that I could make my own beads!!! Where to begin, what to do?
I started with a welding torch and stained glass offcuts, interspersing this with beer bottles, in fact any form of glass that I could melt was melted. People were amazed at my recycled beads but I was fed up of the restrictions and knew there was a wider pallette. Enter the now famous Cindy Jenkins, Making Glass Beads book. Now I knew the proper names of what I was looking for, Moretti rods, mapp gas, hot head torch. I found a uk supplier and ordered all I thought I would need and I was off.
It was a bewildering few years to begin with, I made so many mistakes, information wasn't that available to me but slowly I learnt. Over the years I have refined my techniques and tried hard to create a style of my own, this year I progressed from my little welding torch to a proper lampworking torch. It's fantastic!!
I told you it was a little studio!! It's a little piece of heaven, surrounded by all of my glassy bits and bobs. The door to the garden is just to the right of the picture, the little corner at the bottom right of the picture is the edge of the kitchen counter so I really am in the heart of things!