Heating the canes slowly to prevent popping glass, beginning the gather. His canes are preheated by sitting in front of the flame. |
Gather the glass to begin the bead.Since its a large bead, he needs lots of glass melting. |
Slowly building up the bead. Turning the mandrel away. |
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 Centrifical force helps create a ball. |
 Using a form to get sizing/shape. |
 Marvering the bead on a graphite paddle. Helps cool the bead. |
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 Adding the dots of color - note they are on top like little points. |
 Always keeping the bead hot & ever turning, burning in the first dots |
 Now beginning the second color on top of the first set of dots. |
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 Third color is added. |
 Yet another color. |
 Look at all the little dots on top of dots here. Yep all colors are there! |
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 Now begins the burning in of the dots. The dots pull together as they fuse into the bead |
 Always rotating the bead (Or gira, gira as they say in Italian) |
 Now it is almost done, note the complete fire glow. |
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 The final delicate part, taking a rod and twisting for the final effect. |
 With steady hands, Nicola twists at the junction of each color |
 Blowing a little helps also. |
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 And a final flash annealing on all sides, top and bottom before we put in the annealing oven. |
Nicola makes it all look so easy, but his skill at the torch comes from many years of working. He started as a young boy in Murano learning lamp work, helping his father make the clowns, Santa Claus, fish, swans, any animal you can imagine. He has made countless thousands of Murano glass candies and lollipops. But since beginning the Venetian beads, it has become new again to him and he is enjoying the creativity of making lamp work beads. |
A side of Venice tourist seldom see. Its a tiny island where vegetables are grown, grapes and many people commute to Murano & Venice to work daily. |
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