A few years ago Mark thought a glass bead class sounded intriguing, so he took one class and was hooked. I just looked over his shoulder and read any glass making books we could get our hands on. We started to fill the studio in our home with many glass jars bursting with colorful glass rods, two torches and a kiln, pushing aside the bundles of fabric and clay used in Linda�s art doll making.

At Linda has always had a fascination with anything you can create with your hands. Making wearable art has been a favorite since learning to sew at a very early age. Color selection is the catalyst for anything I create. Linda has collected beads and made whimsical jewelry for many years. The obsession with glass bead making has taken her work to the next level in being able to create many one of a kind piece's.

"Sculpting fish or faces in glass is a passion that does not seem to get satisfied. As soon as I finish one piece, I am thinking about the next piece. Some days I cannot make the support beads that go into the pieces and end up with lots of fish or faces staring up at me out of the kiln" explains Linda.

As a novice bead maker Mark would get up long before work to have some torch time before his real job. Now we both spend several hours a day in front of the flame melting glass into a whimsical, magical spheres of molten color.

Prices for Linda and Mark's art range between under $50 - $500. They sell their work through retail, wholesale, consignment, commission and studio venues.You can view their art at Silent Poetry in Burnsville, reach them by telephone at (828) 678-9235, or visit them at their studio at Shimmering Light Creations, 259 Mountain Farm Road, Burnsville, NC 28714.

The Merry Maids of Enchanted Dreams	Ocean Delights	Tribal Daze