Etsy artist of the week: Isinglass Designs

To me, glass is the ultimate eye candy. Lampwork glass beads can hypnotize me with their color and depth. The lampwork of Laurie Ament holds me spellbound.

Laurie’s Etsy shop is Isinglass Designs, and her Etsy username is glassbead—in case you feel inclined to search for her work.

Laurie says she and her daughter began learning to make glass beads together about 7 years ago, following Cindy Jenkins’ Making Glass Beads. These days, she’s a pro who teaches at venues as prestigious as the Arkansas Arts Center and whose work is carried in museum shops in Arkansas and Louisiana and at Kittrell Riffkind Art Glass in Dallas. Laurie also has direct contact with the community—she participates regularly in the artists’ area of the Little Rock farmers’ market.

Laurie explains her technique:

“All of these glass beads are handmade by me using the centuries-old lampworking process. Each color of soft glass is individually melted and manipulated over the flame of a torch. The molten glass is dotted, twisted, and shaped using everything from table knives to scissors and ice tongs. All of the beads are then kiln annealed to ensure the stability of the glass, and they are meticulously cleaned.”

Laurie hails from Little Rock, Arkansas, and is an active member of at least two Etsy street teams: AREtsy (the Arkansas Etsy team) and CGGE, the Creative Glass Guild on Etsy. You can see her amazing beads in her Etsy shop or at her online gallery.

Her haiku about her art:

Random perfection
Placing autumn leaves on trees
Bent over water