Artist’s Bio

Fran has been a bead enthusiast and collector for as long as she can remember. In 1989, she became a pioneer in North American flame working. Working as "guerilla" bead maker in her tiny one bedroom condominium, she stubbornly honed her skills. She lives on beautiful Texada Island, where her passion for glass bead making (the ideal cottage industry) is perfectly harmonious with her other loves - gardening and hiking.

Fran was one of the first glass bead makers in BC. Her beads are all made one at time. Using a torch with a mixture of propane and gas, she builds up layers of molten glass on the metal rod called a mandrel. The patterns are all glass, which has been melted, spun and manipulated by the artisan.