Welcome to Firebird Flamework. I'm Deb Batten, a Christchurch, New Zealand based glass bead artist working from my home studio.
Enjoy a relaxed browse around my website where you will find a wonderful range of unique, one of a kind lampwork beads ready to be incorporated into your latest design or creation. Often with an earthy, organic or tribal look to them, my beads are born of a passion for the mesmerizing process of mixing fire & glass, rather than with regard to current trends.
There is one current 'glass trend' that I do find myself enamoured with. New Zealands own Gaffer Glass has produced a fabulous new colour in glass. Perhaps the 'colour' should be a plural.
Meet Gaffer 109 - "Chalcedony"
This amazing glass produces an absolute myriad of colours & effects, depending on how you apply it & treat it. Above are some of my test beads - in hand they are absolutely stunning, I've been so thrilled with the results that I'm not sure that I can bear to part with them...just yet. Gaffer Glass have truly outdone themselves with "Chalcedony".
If you are a lampworker the good news is that a friend with foresight saw the possibilities for this glass & is providing it in a way that makes it possible for lampworkers to buy smaller amounts suitable for instant use. Chalcedony is fabulous when used in Shard form! A wonderful dreamy river of colours just flow all over the bead. In Frit form it is outstanding, working well with additional design elements & offering a different look again. As Murinni, the possibilities will be almost endless.
Be sure to click on the image above & visit Knatty Dreadz Store on Etsy. This store is a positive treasure trove of specialty glasses offered in the various forms that not all lampworkers can create themselves. Last time I peeked there were some of the fabulous (virtually unobtainable, except for this store) StrikingColor glasses being offered in the shards section, as well as a lot of the other fabulous 'silver glasses'.
Beads I'm especially pleased with can often be found previewed in My Blog before I decide which venue to sell them through. If you see anything you like there please contact me for pricing.
Prices throughout the website are in New Zealand dollars, however there are links that lead to my Etsy Store where the currency is in US dollars.
