I am Male, 30 years old and I live in Downers Grove, IL, United States.

I have been a mintizen for about 1 year.

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About me:

I’ve always been an artistic person. No matter what I was doing my creative side would always kick in. When I happened upon this cheap little hobby kit for making glass beads I had to buy it and give it a shot. A year and a half later I am still doing it and enjoying every minute of it.

I am a 27 year old man who resides in the Chicago IL area(Downers Grove to be exact), and have a glass studio in my home where I create all my little works of art. Right now I mainly use soft glass such as morretti/effrette and a mixed gas torch using propane and oxygen. I have a little hobby kiln called a chili pepper which is used to anneal all my beads, which is a very important step in the bead making process. If the beads were not annealed they would be unstable and fracture from the stress from the molecules not being aligned correctly. Baking them in a kiln and slowly lowering the temperature over a period of 3 hours allows the molecules to realign and return the glass to its original strength and durability.

I started making glass beads about a year and a half ago. I started with an inexpensive kit from a hobby store and I was instantly addicted to the art of lampworking. My first 50 beads or so were not very pretty let me tell you. Now with all the proper tools and a better understanding I can say that I have come a long way in the difficult art of melting glass into beautiful treasures to wear or show and look forward to what the future will bring.

Website/Blog: http://www.AvenueBeads.com

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