I have made and sold handcrafts for many years - working with fabric, concrete, clay and stained glass.

I loved working with stained glass, so I decided to try making some glass beads. I bought a book (Making Glass Beads by Cindy Jenkins), a torch, some glass and a propane bottle. I read the book, hooked up the torch in my spare bedroom and with a shaking hand, (hoping the insurance cover on the house was adequate), lit the torch - and made a really UGLY bead.

I am totally self-taught and always seem to be trying to work beyond my ability - some beads are so bad they end up as pot-plant decorations - they do add sparkle to the dirt!

I now have a small workshop in my garage and have started making sculptural beads. My sculptural failures don't end up as pot-plant decorations, because they explode and bits of hot glass land on me or, (preferably), the floor. My workshop is littered with glass leaves, petals, fish fins and butterfly wings. Oops - check I'm not on fire and try again!

I love working with glass. The possibilities are endless and every year new colours come onto the market. Some are easy to use, but others, especially the reactive and silvered glasses are downright capricious. One day they will do exactly what I want, yet on another day they will refuse to co-operate, producing nothing but mud! Rude words don't appear to help! I know this because on occasion, the air around my workshop turns a lovely shade of blue.

Suzan Elliott

Fire-Light Beads, Wanganui.
www.fire-lightbeads.com