Heather Boardman is a jewelry designer and glass artist from Montgomery County, PA.  Heather’s jewelry line features her handmade glass beads combined with semi-precious stones and fine metals to make unique contemporary artisan jewelry.  By creating all of the glass and metal components, her creative point of view is present throughout the pieces.  Bright and bold colors are balanced by organic earthy recycled beads.

Recycled Glass
Recycled jewelry begins on a historic Bucks County, PA property, where Heather and her husband Harry dig up old vintage broken bottles from a farm dump.  The glass is cleaned and re-melted using a bead-making technique called lampworking.  Through this process, the original color of the recycled bottle is maintained; however, Heather is able to transform the glass into many shapes, which are then used in her jewelry line.

Lampworking
Lampworking, also known as flameworking or torchworking, is a type of glasswork that uses a gas fueled torch to melt rods and tubes of clear and colored glass. Once in a molten state, the glass is then formed by shaping with a variety of tools and hand movements.  Although the art form has been practiced since ancient times, it became widely practiced in 14th century Italy.  Early lampworking was done in the flame of an oil lamp, with the artist blowing air into the flame through a pipe.  HMB Studios uses a modern propane and oxygen mix torch to melt and form the glass, which is then slowly cooled in a kiln to prevent cracking and ensure the highest durability.