Dobrila Studies in Murano

One of the canals of Murano

Techniques Dating Back Centuries
The Venetian Island of Murano is a port city famous for its glassmakers. Since the 10^th century, Murano glass has enjoyed a worldwide reputation. Murano’s reputation for producing extraordinary glasswork holds strong today. The artisans of Murano still employ techniques from centuries ago. If you’re interested in working in glass, Murano is your city. Few people get the chance to visit Murano, and not many get to study there.

Learning From Masters
In November Eleven Eleven Jewelry’s Dobrila Pintar got a chance to not only visit Murano, but to train with some master glassmakers. If you’re a follower of Dobrila’s on Facebook and Twitter, you know about her glass beadwork, her custom jewlery, and one-of-a-kind glass creations. Like all artists, Dobrila is constantly refining her craft through practice and additional training. In Murano, she got to learn from some glassmaking masters. Dobrila learned more about glassblowing beads and glass sculpture. She also got to work and learn alongside masters, including beadmaker and author Corina Tettinger (Passing the Flame: A Beadmaker’s Guide to Detail and Design).

Corina, Corina!
Tettinger, who hails from Washington State, is a world-renowned beadmaker who teachers classes all over the United States and Europe. One look at Corina’s schedule posted to her website makes one tired just looking at it. In 2012, she’ll be in France, the Netherlands, and Denmark! Stateside, she’ll be in Texas, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

One-of-a-Kind Jewelry
Dobrila, a talented artist in her own right and a talented artisan, has acquired new skills to help her create even more unique beads, jewelry, and glass art objects. Be sure to visit Dobrila’s website to see her latest creations in glass.

"Murano"

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What is Lampworking?

Dates Back to the 1st Century B.C.

Lampworking (sometimes called flameworking or torchworking) is a practiced art form that dates back to the 1st Century B.C. Murana, Italy, became the center for lampworking in the 14^th century. Often confused with glassblowing, lampworking does not use a blowpipe to manipulate the glass. Instead, glass rods are heated and manipulated over a flame or torch that uses propane or natural gas mixed with oxygen.

"In the Eleven Eleven Studio"

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Powered By Oil Lamps

In the beginning, lampworking was done using oil lamps (thus the name). Artist had to blow air into the flame using a pipe. Lampworking artwork includes beads for jewelry, Christmas tree ornaments, paperweights, and much more.

Dobrila’s Technique

Lampworking is the technique that Dobrila Pintar used to create her jewelry. The technique guarantees that each bead produced is unique and special. Dobrila sometimes combines glass beads with silver and other metals to produced interesting necklaces, bracelets, and rings.

One-of-a-kind pieces take time

In the new studio

Dobrila Pintar, artist and jewelry maker, just moved into a new studio. Watch this short video demonstration on how she makes glass beads. It’s a fairly labor-intensive process, but the results can be pretty spectacular. By using various flaming techniques, Dobrila can customize each bead, which makes every piece of her jewelry unique one-of-a-kind creations.