Fish make wonderful lampwork beads for several reasons. First, the tropical reef fish come in many colors and patterns for those who want to recreate creatures that exist, and the possibilities of the fish shape allow others to create wonderful animals with bright colors in a form that is not too complicated.
The fish shape makes a great bead because the basic body volume is central. Whether the fish is placed lengthwise on the mandrel or perpendicular to it, the mass of the body remains against the mandrel, making the bead strong. Then fins and eyes can be added to make the fish recognizable. Remove and anneal, and there you go.
For imaginary fish, the body shape can be round, or a flattens circular coin shape. Other geometric shapes can also be made into fish: squares, cubes, rectangles, pyramids (maybe pushing the possibilities a bit) or amorphous shapes. Conjoined shapes, two or more, are more likely to turn into insects or non-fish creatures. A fish is a simple, single shape with additions.
The fins and tail can be added using clear glass, so they appear very thin like they do on fish, or they can be made from matching or contrasting glass colors. The imaginary fish bead can thus use any combination of two or more colors, to suit the lampwork artist. Tails can be any shape, as can fins, as long as they are attached to the body at only one point. For long and frilly fins, the glass can be brought back to touch on the fish body as long as the fin does not sink into the body and disappear as a separate part.
For natural looking fish beads, there are still an enormous number of variations available to the lampwork artist. Pam Dugger is one such who make natural looking fish beads.
Spotted Grouper by Pam Dugger
As you can see in this example, the thinner glass of the fins, although they are not clear, show the thinness as if they were real. This bead is approximately 2 and 3/4 inches by 2 inches (7 cm by 5 cm). Approximately one inch (2.5 cm.) of the mandrel was covered by the body, and hole runs from just in front of the top fin to just before the anal fin, the bottom right fin.
Lampwork artists are not the only ones who recognize the possibilities of the fish shape for making beads. Many bead manufacturers make fish beads because the colors can be bright and the shape is so conducive to strong beads. A quick browse of your local bead stores will provide any number of fish shaped beads to incorporate into fun jewelry.
If you like your animal beads to be realistic, there are lampwork artists who make fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians as well as mammals that are easily recognized by family if not genus and species. For those who are less interested in natural accuracy, there are many more animal beads available.
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