I am a hot glass flame worker and flameworking instructor. Along with creating a strong and fundamental curriculum for students to learn about flameworking glass, I am also creating work that is sculptural and environmentally sustainable.
I began exploring lampworked glass in 1996 (thought I did try making some beads in 1986 using boro stirr rods and salts, see prtfolio for image) and have tried many different techniques over the years. I continue to use glass as my main medium of expression, mixing it with bicycle inner tubes, shrink plastic, rubber cord and other objects.
In 2000, I developed a method to reverse paint with enamels and wrap the painted work onto a bead, very similar to a glass blowers ‘roll-up’ technique, but at a torch.
Jim Kervin wrote a booklet (“Bronwen Heilman Vitreous Painting Techniques for Glass Beadmaking”, and fusing) about this and other techniques I was doing at the time (2004)
I am currently (since 2008) exploring the use of bottle glass in ways that go beyond the bottle. Flameworking this glass affords me to take the ‘bottle’ out of this glass, and begin manipulating the raw material to create forms that do not resemble the original product.
My work is inspired by urban life and the advanced style of women around the world. The people, the places, and the soul of the urban traveler.