Interview with Glassbead

First off, please tell us a little bit about you.

My name is Laurie Ament and I have been making lampwork glass beads for about 9 years. I started out with Cindy Jenkins’s book Making Glass Beads and a kit with a hothead torch. Watching people work with hot glass had always fascinated me, and when I found out that you could do it on a small scale at home, I just had to give it a try. My daughter was in high school, so I thought I’d get her a kit for Christmas, and we could both learn. I could never have done it without her help! One of us would look at the book and critique while the other one was on the torch. She’s a fast learner, so I learned a lot just by watching her.
I don’t really have any kind of art background, but was encouraged to do crafts as a child, and continued to try out new things, such as origami, loom beading and egg decorating with my own daughter. When I started making glass beads, I could tell it was going to be a good fit. I have a bit of a fondness for detail, which I think actually helps me with my lampwork. With so many different techniques to be learned, there’s always something new to think about. When I make beads, it takes up pretty well all of my thinking ability, so it’s almost like a kind of meditation, taking me away from the troubles of the everyday world.
I had the opportunity to work in a glass shop for a couple of years, which was kind of a dream job in a lot of ways. I learned a bit about fusing, stained glass, and even got the chance to work with a glass blower a few times- talk about hot! I taught a few classes there, and have taught at the Arkansas Arts Center; I also do a yearly workshop at one of the local high schools. Teaching classes is great fun, and I find that I always learn new things from my students.

Does your glass inspiration come from someplace special in your life?

I find there is inspiration all around me. It could be a bug roaming by, the colors someone is wearing, artwork, or just something I happen to be thinking about. Who knows what turns the mind in a certain direction? I often have ideas about color combinations or designs when I am kind of half awake. The problem is remembering them later, and trying to make something kind of like my idea actually happen in glass!

How would you describe glass?

Well, I like to say it’s malleable color. I love the fact that it moves- sometimes where I want it to, sometimes not so much. It’s like trying to control water. I did an interview once that asked for a haiku about my work- so I might as well include that here:
Random perfection
Like placing leaves on a tree
Bent over water.

Is your studio all you want it to be?

Well, no, but it works. I really don’t pay a lot of attention to my studio when I’m in it working! I’m too busy thinking about other things.

Do you listen to music while working? If so, what type?

Well, I like a bit of music, when I have a working CD player. Otherwise the same song might play over and over again in my head. Making glass with an ear worm can be frustrating.

When things don't go quite right in the studio, what comforts you?

I don’t know how to answer that. I’m really only comforted about the bad glass day when the next one goes better. If things aren’t going well, I may just turn off the torch and try again the next day. It does happen sometimes that everything you make on a certain day is just not where you want it to be. Why is that?

When you have a really good glass day, do you celebrate?

Well, not really, though I may do a blog or show some pictures on my flickr or something like that. I do get excited when I think things have gone particularly well, and don’t want to wait to look for the hours it takes my kiln to cool off.

What is the best part of working with glass?

I love the freedom glass allows to continually create new and different things; also the fact that there is so much more to be learned, so I stay challenged

What is the worst part of working with glass?

Well, hot, sharp, exploding rods, obviously!

A few words of wisdom?

I don’t profess to be very wise, so words of wisdom are few and far between. If you are a lampworker, I’d say, just get on that torch and practice. When I first started doing this, I was working in a glass vacuum. I had a book, some glass, a few tools, and a bit of time. Practice, reading and re-rereading the instructions, and a strong will to make a couple of beads that were pretty good kept me going. The more I learned, the more I wanted to learn. That still keeps me going today.

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