RENE NICKEL -Glass Jewelry

4790 Kaye Rd. Memphis TN 38117 901-767-8898 The work you see here is glass, made into jewelry. I begin with sheets or rods of colored glass, and each piece is made individually either by fusing or lampworking. Fusing:  Glass is cut, shaped, arranged, and layered. Some pieces have fine silver (99% pure silver) inclusions, and occasionally other metals or enamels are used. The piece is then placed into a kiln, fired to 1350 - 1500 degrees, and cooled slowly (annealing). Lampworking:  Glass rods or strips are heated using a torch and wound around a mandrel to form the base bead. This is then shaped and decorated in the flame, adding colors, patterns, or texture. When completed each bead goes into a kiln for annealing. I have no assistants (other than my dog!) or employees, so anything here was made by me, other than metal findings, such as earwires or clasps and seed beads, which I purchase. I appreciate your interest.

Copper Bracelet and Earrings

Rene has been working with glass since 1989. Although she started in stained glass, Rene discovered kiln-forming in 1991and lampworking in 1995. "I love the interaction between the glass and heat." She goes back and forth between fusing and torchwork, and has also added bead-weaving. Rene sells her work at juried craft shows in the Southeast and Midwest. You can find her work locally at the Memphis Arts Collective and the Center for Southern Folklore. She is an active member in the International Society of Glass Beadmakers and the National Association of Independent Artists.