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This article is not intended to give the reader a scientific course in glass and its properties, just an overview on the origin of Pyrex and where this humble bead maker thinks it is going.

Pyrex is often called borosilicate in the glass world, but for ease of reading, I will stick with the word Pyrex and go on from there.

The history of glass beadmaking is long and complex. There is no way to establish when the first glass pioneer decided to sit down and make a bead. OK, before we go any further, maybe there is a way - but we aren't going to explore that here! We do know that the first glass beads were made using "soft" glass (remember, I am not going to go into the properties or scientific names of different glasses) and not the newer Pyrex or borosilicate glass that has become so popular today.

From the time I first started beadmaking I have been fascinated by what the flame and the glass can do in the fire. As I sit and work with each glass rod, my mind wanders, and I often wonder what else I can create using glass and flame. I assume that these thoughts are not original and have actually plagued many lampworkers before me. Just as scientists strove to meet the needs of past glassblowers, this lampworker strives to meet the needs of her collectors and designers.

Pyrex glass is in its infancy at this time, however its ancestry is long and distinguished, if you consider it to be a cousin of the first glass, which was made millennia ago. The first Pyrex glass was "born" in Corning, NY, in 1924. Scientists in Corning created this glass to meet the need in the scientific community for containers that could contain caustic chemicals without the problem of leaking. Pyrex could also be heated and re-heated without the threat of breakage that its cousin, "soft" glass, has.

Once Pyrex was created a whole new problem arose - how to melt it!! The old method of using an oil lamp to melt soft glass did not work. The quest for an answer led scientists to the metal industry. Welders used oxygen and gas to work metals, why not glass? Once that occurred to them, scientists borrowed that design and the oxygen torch was created, replacing the old oil lamps.

Time did not stand still for glass or torches. As the need arose, torches were adjusted to meet the requirements of the glassblower. Thus, Pyrex revolutionized the glass world by spurring on the creation of the bench-burners (torches) artists and professional glassblowers utilize today.

Glass and fire have taken over the heart of many an artist. As Pyrex evolved, so did the art community. Today, Pyrex beads, more commonly known as Boro Beads, have taken the marketplace by storm. New colors and techniques are being created every day.

The earthy tones and strength of Pyrex beads make them a wonderful addition to the jewelry-designer's palate, adding its beauty to the already popular soft-glass bead industry.

Just as soft-glass art is an addiction, Pyrex glass has taken the souls of glassblowers through years of creativity and enjoyment. To hold in your hand a raw piece of glass that will become art is an amazing experience. The pleasure is indescribable to those who are not affected by this need to see what can be created.

Pyrex glass is an amazing medium, constantly surprising the bead artist who works with this wonderful, exotic material. Each color has its own properties that are affected by where the glass has been worked in the torch. A single color rod can become multicolored just by working the glass or changing the annealing times.

In order to obtain even more vibrancy, the artist will layer colors, and it is very common that he or she is surprised by the results. The amazing beauty of a Pyrex bead is usually enhanced by heavily encasing it in crystal-clear Pyrex. The flow of the colors is greatly magnified when the bead is encased, revealing a world of mystery that fascinates many an artist and designer.

These beads were created using one rod of exotic blue. Once encased, this one rod produced hues of amber and a hint of lime green hidden in the blue.
	These beads were created by using olive green and deep amber purple rods, encasing only the amber purple, which provided a depth to the purple areas of the bead.
The flower-like design in this bead was created by mixing caramel and blue and then laying on dots and twisting in the center.

This animal-print design was created by using caramel rods and black-hole rods.  In order to ensure the dot-like effect, these beads were not encased.	The same animal bead, the only difference is that it has been encased in crystal-clear Pyrex. The encasement gives an entirely different look to the bead.

Pyrex offers a world of possibilities!!!

Every time I sit at the torch, I am reminded of those pioneers who went before me, striving to preserve a piece of themselves in the amazing properties of glass.

I see no end to the love affair between humans and glass art. As the centuries fly by and new technical advances move our society forward, the need for art made by human hands will remain a force that cannot be destroyed by technical advances. While I am grateful for the creation of machines that make our life easy and our days less stressful, I am forever reminded that nothing can replace the spirit and love that a glass artist puts into each piece. When I am old and gray and my hands can no longer work as they do now, I can hold in my hand creations that will remain upon this earth long after I cease to exist. Just as those that have gone before me, my soul shall live on in each bead I have dared to bring to life!

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