Creating goddess beads is one of my favorite ways to play with hot glass. I start with a basic body shape, and then I add the curves. The surface tension of glass makes it "want" to be round, and this works like magic to create a voluptuous female form. I mostly use this surface tension, in addition to gravity, to shape my piece; a small amount of shaping with various tools is also involved.
The bead-hole runs from head to toe lengthwise, so this bead can be easily attached to a necklace, or displayed as a miniature art piece.
In a very real way, all of my goddesses are self-portraits. Like many women, I have certainly suffered from my share of body image and self esteem issues. But these goddess beads are about celebrating the beauty of the female shape - they just wouldn't be as lovely without those curves. In this way, they are both inspiring and empowering to me. They are a reminder that there is an intrinsic beauty that all women possess - something female that is intangible but absolutely there.I work in soft glass, and I love the reactive alchemy that I can produce with just the right combinations of colour. To me, working with glass is a contemplative, almost meditative process. Its vast potential for experimentation makes it such a wonderful source of creativity and self-expression.
I have a small glasswork studio in the (converted) garage of my home in Victoria, B.C.
Dimensions: ~2.5" long from end to end
Materials: soft glass, torch-formed
4 comments:
Amy, you are an inspiration!
This is woman at it's proudest. With my limited experience with all cultures of the world this piece brings happy flashbacks of watching women who could truely bellydance. I'm not going to say anything about the nipples though.
I like the true feminin shape of this goddess. Nice work.
Nicely done. You have captured the female goddess essence very well.
Female curves are great curves. I like how you have embellished them.
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