The Little Bead Shop is home to a purpose built Lampwork Studio. Our In House Artist Emma Baird can often be found at her torch creating little glassy works of art. Every week she sets an afternoon aside during which you are welcome to come into her studio to watch as she works. Open Studio times and dates are always announced in our scrolling news which you can see on the right.

Lampwork, or Flamework as it is known in the States, is a type of glasswork that uses the process of melting glass rods over an open flame. The glass rods come in a huge variety of beautiful colours and the open flame comes from a special beadmaking torch (currently a minor burner in Emma's case). Once the artist is ready to to begin working the glass rod is slowly introduced into the flame. Working slowly in this way helps ensure the glass does not suffer from thermal shock and crack. The glass is heated until molten and is then would around a steel rod called a mandrel, which has been dipped in bead release to prevent the glass from sticking. The glass is heated and the mandrel rotated until gravity helps form a prefect base bead. From here various tools and techniques can be used to further shape and decorate the glass. Once completed the bead is placed directly into a hot kiln for annealing, ensuring it cools slowly and thus avoids thermal shock. This means the beads are strong and durable and with care can last a lifetime.