Ken's lampwork paperweights

 

Ken Rosenfeld an American glass artists who makes incredibly realistic flower posies

inside a glass paperweight, all made from glass using the “Lampwork” technique.

The detail in this beautiful rose is an example of his work.   

Each tiny piece is made from glass using a flame torch

= a bit like a Bunsen burner attached to a bench. 

When it is complete and all the pieces have been attached,

it is encased in clear crystal glass to make a permanent floral display 

- which will never die or fade.   

Recently Ken has developed a new technique of cutting the crystal glass

to make an even more complex and beautiful item, like the one shown here.

  

Ken is the Featured Artist on the Paperweight Collectors Association website this month, 

which you can see at http://www.paperweight.org.   

I'm the editor for that website.

Ken’s glass studio is in Milwaukee, Oregon in the States.

Nazeing Glass

During a visit to the UK I went to the Nazeing Glassworks just north of London and met their Managing Director, Stephen Pollock-Hill.

This is a green Nazeing posy vase belonging to my friend Anne. Isn't it a beauty.

Nazeing has a fascinating history, which you can read about at
http://www.glassencyclopedia.com/Nazeingglass.html

The company remains profitable whilst most of their competitors have closed.

In 2008 Nazeing supplied over 1,100 magnifying lenses to China to light the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Around 1900 the Kempton's (who later founded Nazeing Glass) were recruiting day labourers to their glassworks in Vauxhall.

A thin, weak-looking out-of-work actor took the job.
He found the heat and physical effort too much for him
When he fainted he was thrown outside on a sand pile to recover.
He never returned to the glassworks, not even to collect his pay.
The story is told in his autobiography. His name - Charlie Chaplin

Welcome to the ABGN blog

Welcome to the first post for this blog.
I'm Angela and I used to have a Glass Newsletter years ago.
I'm modernising and learning new tricks. So now its a blog.
I hope you are going to enjoy it.
To get us started, here is a picture of a Pirelli Glass Pheasant.

I've put him in because he's very rare - I only know of one other.
I searched for years and kept thinking I'd found one, but no.
So now I have quite a large collection of "non-Pirelli pheasants".
But this one with his label and subsequent confirmation
from Pirelli glassworkers has finally answered the question
"What does a Pirelli pheasant look like".

I'll follow this up soon with the first serious Glass Newsletter Blog.
Stay with me.
Angela