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It was a full house at Andrighetti Glassworks for a demonstration
by Washington based bead-maker Larry Brickman.
After getting talked into trying a bead class, Larry walked away
from a career as a missile systems engineer in the U.S. Navy
to become a full time bead maker in 1996. In addition to creating
his distinctive Brickman beads, Larry travels constantly, teaching
classes, reping for various companies and setting up lampwork
studios for individual clients.
After telling everyone a little about himself and introducing
his constant companion Toby (a Boston Terrier Beagle), Larry
gave a talk on the technical side of lampworking, including setting
up proper ventilation, torches and various choices of bead kilns.
Then, for the next three hours Larry took us through the many
meticulous steps it takes to create two types of beads: the twisty/swirl
bead and the warring state bead.
The Two Handled Mandrel
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Larry worked on an 18” mandrel, with bead release spoon-spread
onto the middle and tapped smooth. Because he creates such large
beads, the two handled approach makes it easier to hold the bead
for long periods of time, and as well you can flip the bead (keeping
it level) for even dot placement. However, you do need to make
sure an 18” inch mandrel will fit in your kiln before you
start!
The Twisty Bead
Larry started off by doing a demonstration of a twisty bead,
using the “gather” method to make a typically (for
Larry) large base bead. Larry calls this the most important step
in bead making. If you don’t have a perfectly round bead
with puckered bead holes, everything else you add will be for
naught.
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Once Larry had made his perfect base bead he marvered the apex
(or equator) to create a flat surface, which both makes dot application
easier and creates a larger area for the finished design to be
seen. Larry advised everyone to use a large marver for smoother
application. |
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Larry marvering the bead later on in the process
to maintain that flat aspect. |
Making a Dot
Larry is all about “bigger, better and more dots”.
He is one of the premier dot specialists in the bead community.
To make a dot Larry heats a gather on the end of the rod, applies
it perpendicular to the bead, pushes in to create a footprint
and then burns-off, careful not to pull away as flame cuts the
glass. Larry applies each dot carefully, taking his time. For
consistent bead placement Larry uses ‘test dots’ to
mark a spot on the opposite side of the bead. If the mark isn’t
right he takes it off with a tool and tries again.
Each bead Larry demonstrated took over an hour to do, which was
probably a short amount of time for Larry. “Take your time,”
is Larry’s credo and his commitment to quality bead making.
The Swirl
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Once all the dots were placed, Larry turned down the flame, found
a stringer that was strong enough, heated an area between the
dots, put the cool stringer between them and twisted. After a
little blowing on the heated spot he snapped the stringer at
its base. He repeated this step between each of the dots he had
applied, then heated it smooth. |
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And here is the nearly finished bead. |
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The Warring State Bead
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One of Larry's Waring State Beads (and a heck of a necklace!) |
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For this bead, Larry used an overall pattern of alternating transparent
and opaque glass. He started out by using the gather method to
make a large transparent green base. |
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Once the base bead was properly laid down, he marvered the apex
to provide a large enough surface for the four large white dots
that are the base for the final rosette pattern. Larry used tiny
indicator dots throughout his demonstration to ensure symmetrical
spacing for his dots.
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The four large white base dots were mashed straight down with
a marver. |
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Then a second layer of transparent glass was applied over the
white layer and also mashed down. Larry melted each layer of
dot down slowly, taking his time as he went to ensure control
over the finished product.
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Next, Larry applied four white dots to the ‘corners’
on both sides of the bead, between the big four base dots. |
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Once the white base was down, he started stacking alternating
transparent and opaque glass dots to create the ‘horns’
of the bead . |
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Using stringer, Larry placed small white dots between both the
horns and the large mashed white/transparent dots. After setting
them in with a bit of heat he applied transparent glass stringer
on top of them. |
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The final application of glass is the 7 dot rosette pattern.
Using white stringer, Larry applied two small dots opposite each
other on the large mashed base, and then added a center
dot and the rest of the dots. |
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As with the rest of the bead, Larry applied a transparent glass
over the white dots, choosing a different colour for the center. |
The Finished Bead!
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And that is a brief description of how Larry makes his warring
state beads. So if you have an hour and a half, or two hours
or three, why not give it a try? Just remember to keep your bead
hot throughout!
Happily for us, Larry had gotten some time in his studio, so had lots of lovely beads for sale.
We thank him for coming up to Vancouver and sharing some of his
expertise and enthusiasm with us.
Monique DaSilva won the twisty bead as a door prize and Larry
donated his demo warring state bead to the Pacific Pyros. It
will be auctioned off or be a door prize at the next Pacific
Pyros general meeting. Now there is some motivation to attend!
If you’d like to see the bead before then it will be on
display at Andrighetti
Glassworks.
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