Wild Rose Glass Bead Studio - Joy Benn

Joy Benn, of Wild Rose Glass Bead Studio, has been working in the glass medium for 5 years, but gained interest in working with the flame in 2009. Upon returning from a workshop in lampwork glass at Asheville Glass, she immediately made the necessary renovations to accommodate a torch in her small studio in Tapoco, NC.

Lampworking is the process of heating glass rod to a molten stage in a flame, then shaping the molten glass around a steel mandrel to create beads. Joy found lampworking glass to be a creative leap from stained glass. In stained glass, all the design work is done at the front end followed by technical work. In lampwork, the creative process is intertwined with the technical process of making a bead.  

 

Joy makes glass beads and casual jewelry. Her beads are sold at the Stecoah Gallery and from her home studio.