A bit about the Beads and Bead Maker

I'm Lezlie Belanger. I've been an avid (passionate-obsessed) bead maker and melter of glass since the mid 90's.
I work on a mini CC torch with an oxygen concentrator and have a Glass Hive kiln and a Chili Pepper kiln, both with digital temperature controllers.
The beads are made by melting glass in the flame of the torch and then placing them into a kiln at 950 degrees and cooled very slowly
This annealing process is to equalize the temperatures in the glass and to reduce the internal stress that comes from the glass cooling too quickly or unevenly.

My beads and the designs I make are constantly evolving, and, while I sometimes revisit an old style, many beads prove to be nearly impossible to recreate.
I love that about handcrafted beads! Each one is unique and that's a major part of the charm!

I experiment a lot with different kinds of glass and fascinating reactions and effects that can produced with different combinations of glass, enamels and metals.

My history:
I've been a "maker" all my life. Some of my earliest memories are of creating things, or trying to. My parents were always encouraging and supportive of all my efforts, and they instilled me with the confidence that I could make anything that I could imagine.
Over the years I've worked in many mediums, from fabric to paint, paper to porcelain and nearly everything in between! I was an event decorator for many years, creating theme designs on a giant scale with metal, balloons, foam...lighting...you name it! I've been a seamstress, a hairdresser, a florist, a cook for a rectory of priests, lived in Europe twice. My favorite job (besides raising my two children) was working as a design assistant to the head glassblower of a large glass company. We had such a great creative synergy! It was like working in the "Q lab" of the James Bond films coming up with crazy inventions every day! That was over fifteen years ago and I still miss the team we had there!

I'm so glad to be working on a miniature scale today with my glass! It's a journey of discovery that remains as fascinating to me today as it was the first time I lit my torch!