Each individual bead is melted by hand in an open flame. The raw material used is mostly Italian Murano glass in rod form. In addition to Italian glass, I also work with American glass and the particularly stable borosilicate glass.Soft glass melts at approx. 600 - 800°C and is then melted layer by layer around a metal rod. Depending on the size and design, it can take up to an hour to make a single glass bead.The final tempering process in a special oven ensures the necessary stability.

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The craft of glass blowing had been known in Venice since the 10th century, but it only became really relevant there from 1204. From then on, the number of glass blowing workshops increased significantly and the centrally located workshops led to some major fire disasters. So in 1291 it was decided to move the glass blowers to the island of Murano.But not only fire protection was an important reason for moving to Murano, but also the non-disclosure option. Glassblowers were forbidden to leave the island of Murano under penalty of death.

It so happened that recipes and secrets of glass blowing art passed down through the generations only within families and eventually Murano became the world capital of glass. The quality, workability, purity, stability, brilliance and transparency of the colors of the glass produced on the island of Murano are excellent.

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I have been working with this special glass from Italy since 2003. The term Murano glass therefore not only refers to products manufactured there, but in particular to the raw glass that is manufactured there.