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Handcrafted Lampworked Glass Art Beads
By Barbara Birbeck
Made in my home studio in sunny Riverside, California.
I haven't had much time this year to keep this website up to date, AT ALL! Please do not attempt to purchase anything without checking with me first to see if it is still available. I will get this site updated when I get a lull in my schedule.
6/22/10 - Just when I thought the Perspectives exhibit was going to make one last stop...the ISGB notified me that the Kobe Museum in Japan wants to host the exhibit also this year! Pretty exciting news for me. And I'm so grateful that the ISGB puts out so much effort to support the artists and create opportunities like this.
And yes this website is still seriouly outdated. But I will get it up to date soon.
4/25/10 - I know it's been a while since I updated this site. Life has been very busy lately. If you happened to be by my booth at the L.A. Bead show today thank you for stopping by. I will get this website updated soon, but please feel free to send an email if you would like to see more of my work. I will be happy to notify you when I post more either here or in my Etsy store.
The Perspective's exhibit that began in Corning, New York last summer ended on November 30th. But "the show will go on"! Next stop is at the Ohio Glass Museum in Lancaster, Ohio. This exhibit will run from January 1st through February 28th. http://www.ohioglassmuseum.com/
From there it will go to the Bead & Button show in Milwaukee in June and finally to the ISGB Gathering in Corning, New York in July.
I'll post links to those shows as the time draws nearer.
12/09/09 - Keep an eye out for the Winter 2009 edition of The Flow magazine. This is their 6th annual "Women in Glass" edition. For the first time, this one was juried and limited to 100 artists. I feel honored to be among those chosen. I know, 100 artists shown in a single magazine seems like a lot, but they get a lot of entries which is why they had to limit the number to 100. This magazine went on press today and should be available soon.
A new necklace I just finished with one of my hollow shells. All sterling silver components with 48 premium Swarovsky crystals, Tiger Eye, and Mother of Pearl beads. You can find this for sale on my necklace page.
 A sculptural piece I made that was on display at the Riverside Art Museum. The glass fish and shells were made by me. The leaves and sea kelp are patinated copper, some of which came from bits of the copper roof on my house that the wind blew down. The little rocks came from my grandparents. They used to collect them on the Oregon coast and polish them.
As you can see from the pictures above, most of my beads are sculptural. I love manipulating and forming molten glass into different shapes and figures. I find it much more exciting than making round beads. I do make round beads occasionally and tubular beads or whatever strikes my fancy when I sit down at the torch, but sculptural work wins out most every time.
All my beads are kiln annealed to give them the strength and durability to last for a very long time. However, please bear in mind that they are glass, and those that have small, thin parts to them, such as appendages like fish fins or bird wings and hollow shell beads are subject to breakage if dropped and can't be guaranteed if broken.
To learn more about lampworking or flameworked glass beads, go to my Links pages and click on the Wikipedia link. This is a good and brief description of the history and process.
I also have more beads listed in my Etsy store, so be sure to check these out too.
Thanks for visiting!
 Member # B-45
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