“Despite no formal qualifications in art or design (not even so much as an O level!), I have always had a lively imagination and a need to make things. I started making simple jewellery around 2005 and gradually became aware that people were actually making glass beads in their own homes! I bought my hot head torch at the end of August 2007, booked a lesson with Sally Carver a couple of weeks later – and upgraded to a semi-professional kit just another week or two after that!
Since 2010 making glass beads and jewellery and teaching lampwork has been my full time occupation and I still start most mornings excited to open the kiln and delight in the previous day’s work – whether they’re my own beads, or those made by a student.
A garage conversion in 2011 has provided me with a fabulous three-torch home studio in the beautiful Worcestershire town of Malvern where I offer beginner and intermediate tuition, as well as “torch time” (follow-up un-supervised torch sessions). My beads and tutorials regularly pop up in UK beading magazines and I sell through my own website and an Etsy shop.
In 2012 I plan to sell at a number of local Arts Markets and will be participating in Worcestershire Arts Trail, an open studios event. See my website for a full list of events.
See Julie’s handmade glass beads, buttons and jewellery at http://www.lushlampwork.co.uk