If you are looking for a site with more personal imput on every subject involving glass (and a bunch of other stuff) and are willing to do a simple search, YOU ARE HERE> LAMPWORK ETC. I have learned everything and then some from primarily THIS SITE. I have never taken a class, (there were never any available in proximity until recently, and frankly I dont have the $$$) would I like to take a class, HELL YA! I have only met a few lampworkers ever in real life! would I go back and take a class... maybe, only maybe, if it were available. Now I just want to take speciality classes
(not gonna happen on my budget! but I can dream!!) I am serious about LE though. LOOK, READ, READ, READ, and Experiment!!! I am kindda an independent learner, but really all the info anyone could possibly ever think of is here... somewhere. And anything else you can possibly think of can be answered by the amazing minds of the lampworkers who inhabit this site
. I have the threads I like categorized into my bookmark folders for reference.
Oh I do have Cindy Jenkins book "Making glass beads" very basic, and you take it from there! Corina's book "passing the flame" I got years later, and at first I was very annoyed with it, she speaks just like she writes, and I kept hearing the voice in her movie
But I have adjusted to it, and it has some great info, and more projects in it. It gives you more direction than cindy's book does. Cindy gives you the basics, and you pick and choose how you use them. Corina's book basically is like getting project cards in the jewelry isle at the craft store! You have any many different projects to try.
Pick a subject, say Frit (crushed up glass in various sizes and color blends). Go into the tutorial section, or to this section and hit search, type in something like "what is frit" or "how do i use frit"
Another great way to learn about frit is to visit one of the frit vendors that pop up in the side bars. They usually have examples of the effect you get by just rolling and melting in. If you want to know more about reactions in frit, its a bit more work, but Kalera has a thread right now "ask me anything" that has some great frit tips! We are all learning about frit reactions every day. there is SO much frit out there!!! Then check out the gallery for some examples. There are new examples almost every day in the gallery.
Lampwork 101
