The thing is, at some point in the lampworker’s working life, they make nearly every shape of bead. In the practice required to make handmade lampwork beads, one way to alleviate the stress of making the same bead over and over is to try making the different shapes. So, a beginning lampworker will try to master making the plain shapes while practicing with the tools and process of making lampwork beads. Thus, the lampworker makes spacers beads in the form of rounds, bicones, rondelles, coins and other basic bead shapes. A savvy lampworker might begin each working session by making a few basic bead shapes to get back in the groove and warm up before beginning the process of making more complicated beads.
After some progress is made in forming lampwork spacer beads, the lampworker begins to work on making lampwork focal beads. The beginning of each ornate lampwork bead is a simple bead shape, to which is added layers and other parts to form the final lampwork bead. These can be in the form of animals, fish, birds, amphibians and reptiles, or symbolic shapes like stars and crowns, and geometric beads where the bead form is simple and the ornamentation is in the application of the colors of glass.
Lampwork glass beads, whether made one at a time by the true lampwork artist, or made as quickly as possible by factories full of lampwork stations making wholesale lampwork beads, the process is the same, although the time to make the bead and the hardening process may be skimped on for Chinese lampwork beads. The workers in a factory setting are paid by the number of beads they produce that meet a given quality standard, so the worker meets that standard but has no time to make the beads any better. Lampwork beads wholesale must be treated with care as they are not given the post forming treatment to make then more sturdy. They are easy to break with just normal handling, unfortunately.
So, we have basic bead shapes used to practice lampworking techniques, lampwork beads made with care and talent by lampwork artists as focal beads for glass jewelry, and factory-made lampwork glass beads made as quickly as possible and not tempered as well as they might be. Keep these types in mind as you shop at bead shows and online, and make sure you get the type of lampwork beads you need for your envisioned project.
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