Tell me a little background about yourself

I live in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia but have also lived in London and Melbourne. Both of these were while I studied. I have a Bachelor of International Studies and a Graduate Diploma in Social Health and am passionate about politics and human rights issues.

I have family in the UK and Philippines and my younger sister is currently trekking around South America. I’ve done quite a bit of international travel myself, mostly around Europe, Asia and North America. I visited Venice several years ago, before I became interested in glass, and would love to visit again. I hope to do some further lampwork training overseas in the future.

I was diagnosed with severe myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) in 1995 (age 14) and this means that there are many days when I’m unable to work at the torch.

How long have you been lampworking and/or sharing your work with the public?

I started lampworking in August 2006 after being introduced to it by a friend. I did a 4 week, 1 night a week beginner’s course with Sharon Griffiths of Beads Indeed in Adelaide and then kept practicing on my hothead at home.

I moved to Melbourne for study in 2007 and was unable to take my torch with me so apart from the occasional trip back to Adelaide during the year, I spent most of 2007 unable to do any lampworking. However, I did a one day intermediate workshop with Pauline Delaney while in Melbourne, during which I used a Minor for the first time. I upgraded to a Mini CC with oxygen concentrator in December 2007.

I joined Etsy in May 2008, and up until this time I didn’t sell publicly – just to a few friends and family.

Selling through Etsy has enabled me to reach customers in North America, Europe and Australia.

Where do you get your inspiration for your work?

I have learnt a lot from tutorials online but get most pleasure from experimenting and discovering for myself new designs and color combinations. I’m inspired by nature, particularly the ocean, and this is reflected in the colors and designs of many of my beads. I’ve always had an interest in astronomy and the fantastic NASA photos also provide me with much inspiration.

        

What other interests or hobbies do you enjoy?

I’ve done several photography and darkroom courses and studied film production for a while before changing to politics and international relations at university. My main interests beyond glass are politics and human rights and I read a great deal on these subjects.

I also do a lot of knitting in the evenings and enjoy taking on quite large projects such as rugs and shawls.

Where can people find your creations?

http://elysiumbeads.etsy.com is the easiest way for people to see my beads.
I also have a personal website at http://www.elysiumbeads.com and store photos of some of my work at Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elysiumbeads/collections/72157608774509787/