Alright, this week must be my week for spilling my lampworking secrets. I have been blogging about the sunflowers Greg made, since I was and still am over the moon about them. While he was busy making those marbles, he tried some pressed beads with his sunflowers and butterflies. These are the ones he made:
After Greg gets them out of the kiln, he says to me, “You should do something with that, you are much better as pressed beads than I am.” This is probably the third time he has said something to me about using his murrini in pressed beads in the last week. The topic has come up before, but I didn’t have a good hold on what I might like to do with the idea.
So after My marble was made, you know the Sunflower Bouquet (In case you don’t, here it is again), I was finally compelled to try his murrini in a pressed bead.
Okay, so my pressed bead really wasn’t what Greg was thinking, but it is still kinda pressed, I mean I pressed it into a tab using my marver. That counts…I think.
I am pretty pleased with the way this bead turned out. Pleased enough to put it on ebay. Using the murrini and having everything encased like it is, is new for me. I have used murrini before, but not really this way.
So, When Greg gets it out of the kiln he says “Oh I really like this one”. Then I said, “You should it’s your design”. Then we both start laughing and he’s looking at it, then he says “Is there anything about it that isn’t?”
I think about it a moment….Nope not really. Maybe the base color of the bead, but everything else is a technique that he came up with. The foliage on the base, the sparkling vines, and obviously the sunflowers are his murrini. Even where I put my signature chip. Although that is a basic one and most lampworkers do that.
So is it a collaboration or blatant rip off? We don’t know really. I know which way I am leaning, I am wondering what you think.
