One of the techniques used in my jewelry is lampworking. I start in a flame that is 2,300 degrees, gently waving a glass rod across the flame. It starts to glow and becomes ready to melt. Once a sufficient amount of glass has melted and balled up at the end of the rod, I let it drip onto a spinning mandrel where it becomes a bead. Then the inspiration is added and hopefully a beautiful bead emerges. Then my baby goes into a fiber blanket to cool down slowly. Once the cooling has occurred, I put my babies into the digitally-controlled kiln overnight to anneal properly. The final step is to remove the bead from the mandrel and clean the hole of the bead. The babies are then ready to be used in necklaces, bracelets or anything else that your imagination can come up with.

The other technique used in my jewelry is fusing dichroic glass. Most of my pendants are made from dichroic glass; “di” - 2 and “chroic” - color. Dichroic glass reflects one color and transmits another. It is a most gorgeous medium that was first developed by NASA for use in satellite mirrors. There are many layers of metal oxides vacuumed onto the glass, making it highly reflective and colorful. The brilliance of the glass makes it highly desirable for jewelry. I fuse from two to four layers of dichroic glass together; the layers give the glass a holographic look. Then I shape the glass with cutters, grinders, and/or saws. Another firing in a kiln heated up to 1,500 degrees polishes the sharp edges of the piece. Then the glass cabochons are ready to be used in creating pendants, bracelets or earrings.

See samples of my work below.

Wearable Works of Art!

Owner:
Cynthia Kelly, "The FireCat"

(607) 324-0294

FireCat@FireCatGlass.com