Sales
(mt Etsy Site)
Archived Event
Pictures
Glass Craft & Bead Expo, Las
Vegas - April, 2009
Loren Stump Class, Mesa, AZ - November 2008
Bead-A-Thon, Tucson, 2008
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2008 Bead Review
3, publication picture
2008 Creation is Messy contest winner, publication picture on their webpage
2008 Beads of Courage Fundraiser, Artist making beads
2009/10 Beads of Courage, featured picture on advertisements
2010 Glass Community.com, featured Artist of the month
2010 Soft Flex.com, featured Artist of the month
2010 Beads of Courage Fundraiser, Ran the torching event
2010 Flow Magazine, Winter issue, publication picture
2011 Flow Magazine, Spring issue, Emerging Artist
2011 Making Glass Beads by Jeri Warhaftig, publication picture
2011 Glass Line Magazine, Aug/Sept Issue, Eye Tutorial publication
My name is Jeannie Cox and I just LOVE to create glass art, beads
and jewelry with molten glass and a torch. The torch flame is just mesmerizing
and creating works of art from a rod of glass by melting, shaping and
manipulating is both exhilerating and relaxing at the same time. There
are endless possibilities for color combinations, shapes and designs that
I don't ever think I could discover them all.
My first try at lampworking (melting glass with a torch) was way back
in 1996. I received a boroscilicate torch, supplies and glass rods for
a Xmas present. I was enthralled and excited to learn how to make small
sculptures, pendants and figurines of my own. I always had a desire to
learn the craft I saw artists demonstrate in malls and fairs since I was
young, but try as I might, I just could not seem to get the hang of shapiing
the glass the way I wanted. I fooled around with glass here and there
for a little while, but a home move and lack of room to set up my workbench
basically ended my desire to make glass art. Not having the space to work
or seeing any potential in myself made me decide (at that time) that I
may never improve or be good enough to create neat art pieces from glass.
I put the "dream" out of my mind.
Jump to 2005/2006. For some reason (and I can't really remember how this
came about, exactly), I received some store bought beads from a relative
and started making jewelry and other items. I enjoyed stringing patterns
and creating unique pieces, and of course this led to a desire to find
more rare and unique beads to put in my jewelry pieces. Hence, I discovered
many beautiful lampworked beads, created by artists all over the U.S.
and other countries. These pieces were mostly made using "soft glass",
which melts at lower temperatures vs. the boroscilicate glass.
As I examined some of these gorgeous pieces of art, I thought to myself,
"I know how this was made!" Because of my short time spent failing
to make anything so beautiful with boroscilicate, I at least knew enough
to know how some of these pieces were created. And then it dawned on me
that maybe I should try my hand at making beads. It's a different type
of glass and also there was a mandrel (steel rod that you make the bead
around) to hold the glass so that there was a little more control.
I started with a Hothead torch in May of 2007, not wanting to invest much
money if I just couldn't get the hang of this craft, either. Right away,
I was able to make some fairly decent beads. I was thrilled - finally,
I could create! I seemed to advance fairly quickly for a time, re-learning
the feel of the glass, the way it flows. It seemed I had come full-circle,
like I was always meant to work with glass. I finally had my desire fullfilled!
I consider myself to be basically self-taught, learning from reading books,
viewing instructions on-line, looking at cool bead pictures and trying
to repeat the effect, or mostly just by experimenting with the glass myself.
I signed up and took one, 7-week beginner's class in lampworking. The
classes were fun, and I was able to use a Minor-burner torch instead of
my Hothead, which was a MUCH better torch (and I ordered one the first
week of classes). I had a wonderful instructor, Laurie Nessel, and I learned
a lot just from viewing how she held the glass, applied decoration, used
the flame, etc. I have since taken classes under the guidance of Margaret
Zinzer, who makes cool color effects pop out in her beads, and also Deb
Crowley, who was wonderfully enthusiastic about her fish beads. My most
recent instruction was from Lauren Stump in November of 2008, and that
class just blew me away. It was a week long, usually putting in 12 or
more hours per day, but boy, was it worth it. So many ideas flowing through
my head, things I never thought of attempting with glass. Amazing! We'll
see where these ideas take me.