Lampwork Glass Paperweight

Steps:

1. Break down 9mm rod into 12-inch lengths by scoring and popping. These will be used as handles.

2. Heat red colored rod in the flame of the torch lightly and pull a 2mm stringer. Cut the glass. Repeat for the blue and green rods.

3. Flame-cut 20mm clear glass rod to 4-1/2 inch lengths.

4. Gather 20mm rod into a ball, leave about one inch of 20mm rod remaining.

5. Flatten and gather into a disk on the marver plate.

6. Put a dot in the center disk.

7. Draw the first layer of petals around the dot.

8. Reduce the disk so that it pulls the petals into the glass. It will form a dome.

9. Flatten the disk to push the pattern into the clear glass.

10. Repeat the reducing step until you see the first layer of glass resembling a small flower.

11. Flatten the disk and draw a second set of petals.

12. Reduce and flatten until the second layer of petals is floating in the glass.

13. Flatten and draw the leaves. Reduce and flatten two more times. Keep reducing and start the rounding process.

14. Round the marble by spinning in the flame using gravity to assist.

15. Finish the rounding process with marble molds.

16. Heat up red color and gather about a dime size ball of glass.

17. Push the ball of red onto the marble and then down onto the marver plate to flatten and make the base.

18. Cold tack the handle to the bottom of the paperweight base.

19. Take off the top handle and round the top in the marble mold.

20. Tap off the handle and flame polish the area.

21. Using tongs put the miniature lampwork glass floral paperweight into the kiln and anneal.

For Shawn Nelson of Iowa City, Iowa, there is a direct correlation between installing heating and air condition units and blowing glass. That's because he learned the art of glass blowing and lampwork as a trade-off for installing a glass artist's ventilation system. But the deal was more than a payment arrangement for Shawn; it was an investment in his creative future, as he now spends many an hour creating exquisite hand blown vases, paperweights and millefiore pendants.

We apologize but no further information is available for Shawn Nelson.