Scented Glass Pendant
Lampworking a hollow form.
by Liz Kuhns and Heidianneliesa Brodersen

Intermediate-to-Advanced lampworking project

This is an excellent project of eye-hand coordination and is suitable to a glass artist with hollow bead making experience (see “Hollow Beads,” April 2002). This project also teaches an important lesson in patience, that of starting small and working your way up to larger bottles once you get the feel for making hollow vessels.

Liz Kuhns profiles Heidianneliesa Brodersen in “Scented Glass,” p.37 of the May 2002 Lapidary Journal.

Take the preheated mandrel and flame-heat the bead release area in two separate places, 1" from the end of the mandrel and also at the tip, leaving a small area in between unheated by the torch. By leaving a small area unheated, your bottle will blow out more evenly with the build-up of gases inside.

You build the bottle from two ends at the same time. At the area farthest from the end, make a wrap of glass 1/4" wide and roll it smooth into a cylindrical shape around the mandrel. Even up any edges with your graphite marver. This will become the neck of your bottle.

To build the base of the bottle, form a disk at the end of your mandrel. Remember to keep the neck hot while building the base. The base needs to be only 1/2" at this time. When done, return to the neck, making a disk at the farthest point of the neck. Move back to the base to add another coil of glass to the disk. Alternate in this manner till you get to about 1" in diameter on both the base and neck disks.

Throughout this project, remember to keep both disks heated equally as one disk may crack if you forget to keep it hot. However, if it should crack, don’t fret, it can be fixed! A successful bottle just takes practice and patience and a mantra: “Keep both ends heated”. You do this by continuously moving the mandrel horizontally in the flame while turning. To join the two disks, begin coiling from one disk to the other to form a closed cylinder, keeping both ends heated until you reach the other disk. You have just finished the hard part!

At this stage there will be tiny open holes in your coils. These need to be sealed. Unless the holes are all closed, your bottle will collapse and not form a vessel. Move back and forth in a horizontal motion to keep the bottle heated. Keep your glass rod molten at the end and ready to fill any little holes by dabbing glass on quickly, sealing in the air. Remember also to keep the neck hot! With all the holes filled, your project may look like a lumpy blob of glass attached to the end of a mandrel. This is normal.

To keep the ball hot, continue turning the mandrel and moving it horizontally at the same time, thus heating from the neck to the base, all the way around. At first this may seem difficult, but with practice your movements will become very smooth. When the glass reaches the same temperature throughout, the coil ridges will start melting away, and the hollow ball of glass will puff out on its own due to the build up of gases from the heat and the bead release compound inside the ball. The lumpy blob of glass will smooth out into a beautiful shimmering bottle. Do not keep the flame in one spot too long. The glass must remain in motion, so keep on turning to maintain horizontal heating.

Take your graphite marver and marver the ball into a perfectly round vessel. Hint: When marvering into a semi-hemisphere marble mold, you need to use a mold that is a cup size smaller than the bottle itself and to place the vessel into the mold gently, using this mold to shape the outer aspect
of the bottle.

When you are ready to place the bottle into the smaller sized cup, let the surface of the glass cool slightly. If you place the bottle in the cup when the glass is still bright and glowing, the bottle will become off-center and melt ridges into the glass that you will have to puff out again. Once the glass has cooled slightly, place the bottle into the smaller cup while turning continuously, using only the weight of the bottle to shape itself. Remember, do not force the bottle into the cup. To quote the late painter, Bob Ross, “two hairs and air” are all you need.You may have to do this several times, with reheats in between. Congratulations, you have just made a wearable perfume bottle!

Decorating your perfume bottle
Now the fun begins, but remember to keep the entire bottle heated while decorating. It is easy to get carried away with your design and forget to keep the other areas, not being decorated, heated.

To make a flower with five two-tone petals, start by placing five white base dots for each petal onto the glass bottle, using a Czech white stringer. Now add a secondary color of your choice on top of each white dot; in this case it was Czech opaque orange.

Continue to heat the bottle, turning it and maintaining horizontal movements. This will allow the dots to melt completely and spread out flat.

Take your trusty dental pick and pull each petal’s inner edge into the center, and remember, after pulling each petal, dip the tip of your tool in water to keep it cool.

Hint: “A cool tool is the rule.” Never use your metal tools in the flame. They will disintegrate and stick to your glass, causing your bottle to collapse or go off-center. Rather, do it this way: first heat the area of flower you are working on, take it out of the flame and then use your tool. Once you get the feel for this, you will get into a rhythm and your tools will
last longer.

Take your trusty dental pick and pull each petal’s inner edge into the center, and remember, after pulling each petal, dip the tip of your tool in water to keep it cool.

Hint: “A cool tool is the rule.” Never use your metal tools in the flame. They will disintegrate and stick to your glass, causing your bottle to collapse or go off-center. Rather, do it this way: first heat the area of flower you are working on, take it out of the flame and then use your tool. Once you get the feel for this, you will get into a rhythm and your tools will last longer.

Now gently add a stamen either by filigrana or using handmade stamen murrini. Do not plunge — it will cause the deflation of your lovely bottle!

Add your signature cane. I have two that I use, one with my initials and the year, the second a simple “HEIDI.”
Signature canes are the best protection against knockoffs.
Andrew Dorhn keeps a record of all glass signature canes used by glass artists. His registry will help identify our glass artwork permanently, giving the collector a date of manufacture, and the name of the artist.

Finally, to create a smooth surface, encase the bottle using clear or Czech 12 mm encasement crystal #00068E, or by dipping into a crucible of clear. Be sure to preheat the encasement crystal in a furnace, as it will allow faster melting.

We leave the neck’s rim for last because if we make it first, it will be the first to break while making the bottle.
At the end of the neck, wrap a coil of molten glass to form
a disk. The size of the rim should harmonize with your design. You may also add handles at this time. I have left the handles off of this bottle because I will be making a sterling bail to hang the pendant from.

When you are satisfied, place the bottle in your kiln, heated to 960°F for Effetre, 1000° for Czech, 1050° for borosilicate and anneal for about an hour. Slowly bring the kiln down to 540°F then allow the kiln to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, the mandrel will extract with ease and you will marvel at the wonder of your own glass perfume bottle.