#CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--MYSTERY AUTHOR JANICE PEACOCK TALKS ABOUT GLASS BEADMAKING AND HER BEADMAKING SLEUTH

While working in a glass studio with several colorful and quirky artists, Janice Peacock was inspired to write High Strung, the first novel in her ongoing Glass Bead Mystery Series. When Janice isn’t writing about glass artists-turned-amateur-detectives, she wields a 2,000 degree torch to melt glass and create one-of-kind beads and jewelry. Learn more about her and her books at her website. 

Your Guide to Glass Beadmaking

The main character in my cozy Glass Bead Mystery Series, Jax O’Connell, is a glass beadmaker. That’s an unusual profession, and one I am quite familiar with since I am also a glass beadmaker. But, I want to be clear: I am not Jax. Jax and I have some things in common—we are both glass beadmakers and are women of a certain age. But in most other ways we are different—for instance, Jax is fictional and I am not. Jax is a newbie to the world of beads. Me? I’ve been creating glass beads for nearly 27 years, and I love the craft as much now as I did when I started.

I thought I’d write about how I make glass beads. If you want to see a video about the process (videos are worth more than 1,000 words) please visit myYouTube channel.

When I make a glass bead, I melt long slender rods of colored glass in my torch, which runs on oxygen and propane and achieves temperatures in excess of 2000 degrees. While melting the glass, I wrap it around a stainless steel wire called a mandrel that is covered with a clay-like substance called bead release. Bead release, does exactly that—it allows a bead to slide from the mandrel once it is cool. Where the mandrel once was, there is now a hole, which is what makes a bead…a bead.

Since I can’t touch the glass while it’s molten, I use tools to sculpt it in the flame. Many of the tools are things you’d find around your house, especially if you like scrapbooking: an Xacto knife, scissors, and tweezers.

People often ask me if I get burned when I work in my studio making lampworked glass beads. Yes, I do, but usually those burns are mild—about what you’d expect if you touched a hot pan in the oven.

In case you are curious: The word “lampworking” comes from a few hundred years ago when glass beadmakers didn’t have high tech torches and fuels like oxygen and propane. Instead, artisans used oil lamps and bellows to create flames that were hot enough to melt glass. I’m glad I don’t have to try to pump a bellows while making beads—that would certainly be too many things to do simultaneously!

Writing about Jax has given me the opportunity to think about glass beadmaking in a new way—to remember what it was like to be a newbie. It also allows me to figure out ways to talk about glass beadmaking to an audience of readers who have never heard of such a thing. I love making beads, and even though my time is now split between glass beadmaking and writing about a fictional glass beadmaker who solves crime in her spare time, I know that I’ll never give up the fun and excitement of lighting up my torch and melting glass.

The large necklace shown above is one I made a few years back that traveled around the world as part of an exhibition of contemporary glass beads. I made nearly all the necklace out of glass beads—even the pieces that look like shells and beach glass.

This necklace is called Anne Bonny’s Treasure. Anne Bonny was a pirate in the 1800s in the Caribbean. The inspiration for this piece was the notion that she might have collected little trinkets on her many voyages, and that perhaps she’d find a way to proudly wear her treasured collection.

To Bead or Not to Bead

The Glass Bead Mystery Series, Book 4

When a wealthy theater owner is killed by a falling art glass chandelier, glass beadmaker Jax O’Connell’s boyfriend, Detective Zachary Grant, quickly determines it was no accident. Jax and her friend Tessa try to carry on with a charity fashion gala at the theater, but with only a few days before the big event, they have to scramble to keep things from falling apart. The emcee quits, and to make matters worse, Tessa’s daughters are suspects in the murder. As the chaos unfolds, Jax discovers new suspects at every turn, including an edgy glass blower, an agoraphobic socialite, and a hunky former-cop-turned-actor. Can Jax piece together the clues to find the killer and uncover the dark secrets behind the victim’s family or will it be curtains for her?

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