Lampwork beads have been made for centuries by many cultures. Glassmakers guarded the secrets of making these beads for generations, passing them from family member to family member. Only recently has the knowledge become widely available so that people from all over the world can enter into this fascinating art medium.

Beads are formed one at a time, using a flaming torch. The heated, molten glass is wrapped around a mandrel with various designs being worked into the bead at the whim of the artist. From the simplest designs to the very complex that might take several hours. It's a labor of love.

In the early days of modern lampworking, the torches that were used were unsophisticated kerosene lanterns/lamps thus the name "lampwork beads". Today's lampworkers use torches crafted for the bead making artist. Specific torches are used to work with either hard or soft glass and to produce different types of beads. The quality of artisan created lampwork beads is glaringly apparent when comapred side-by-side to its cheaper, mass produced counterpart. Lampwork beads are, in the simplest terms, one-of-a-kind wearable art.