Meet the Artist Behind the Art
Craftsmanship in Every Piece
Meet the artist behind the flame! At Heather Ferman Art Glass, every pendant and earring begins as a glowing rod of borosilicate glass, transformed in the heat of the torch into wearable art. With funky imagination and meticulous skill, Heather creates one-of-a-kind treasures that are whimsical, bold, and full of personality.
Join the Journey of Glass Art
From delicate lampwork beads to vibrant statement pieces, each design is a little universe of color and detail, born from fire and finished with love. No two are ever alike—because your jewelry should be just as unique as you are.
Lampwork Glass Artist
Gifts by Heather Ferman
Available at my Etsy store or my Goimagine store.
Hundreds of years ago artisans made glass beads by heating the glass using oil lamps. This became known as lampwork. Today flamework glass artists use a special blowtorch fueled by a mixture of oxygen and propane to create lampwork beads in temperatures above 2500F.
In my studio, I use a torch to melt both glass and silver. I start the beads by melting the glass around a steel rod called a mandrel and decorate the bead using thin threads of glass. I create the beads shaped by constantly rotating the newly formed bead in the flame. I create beads with flowers, murrini fish, and many other patterns. Finally, I put the bead in the kiln and fire it overnight at 960f, slowly decreasing the temperature for added strength and durability.
On many pieces I have silversmithed the settings to hold my lampwork creations. I have also cabbed stones to go into my sterling silver settings. I love working in both glass and sterling silver to create small treasurers that are wearable. These make great gifts for your loved ones.
🔥 Fire is my friend. I’ve always loved working with torches, and yes, that started long before glass.
My artistic journey began in a pottery studio at Pinemere Camp in Pennsylvania, where a young camper I first fell in love with making things by hand. Fast-forward to today, and I’m a full-time glass artist working in sunny Jacksonville, Florida, creating one-of-a-kind borosilicate glass earrings and pendants using heat well over 1,500 degrees.
I’ve always been a campfire builder (for cooking only—promise!), so working with hot glass felt like a natural fit. My goal is simple: to create unique art glass pieces that feel as individual as the person who wears them. No molds. No mass production. Every piece is made one at a time, by me, at the torch.
The path here wasn’t exactly straight. I majored in accounting and minored in art, then spent 25 years as a professional potter before discovering glass at an artist conference at the Penland School of Craft in 2003. That moment changed everything. Since then, I’ve studied with world-class artists at Corning and Murano, taught glassblowing, beadmaking, and silversmithing, and never stopped learning.
My work has been exhibited internationally and can be found at the Corning Glass Art Studio, the Corning Museum Gift Shop, and the Cummer Art Museum gift shop in the past in Jacksonville. I’ve also been featured in numerous publications and am proud to be the only American glass artist showcased three consecutive years in Bead Review, which highlights the top 40 glass art beads worldwide.
While health issues no longer allow me to exhibit at art festivals, I continue to share my work through my Etsy shop and special one-of-a-kind commissions. One of the most rewarding parts of what I do is connecting with people from all walks of life and knowing that something I made by hand becomes part of their story.
Thanks for being here, and for supporting handmade art. 💛
