Each lampwork bead begins from a rod of imported Morretti glass from Italy. An oxygen/propane torch is used to heat the glass rods to a molten state. The glass is then wound on to a stainless steel rod that has been coated with a clay-like bead release. Different colors of glass are used to create patterns as well as other processes that cause unique changes in the surface of the bead. When the bead has been completed, it is placed in a 960-degree kiln for up to eight hours. This annealing process stabilizes the glass, adding strength and durability.
Beads typically take 15 minutes to make and are eventually compiled to make sterling silver necklaces, earrings and specialty vessels.
Always interested in glass, Schroeder transferred her artistic energy to beads after watching a co-worker search for lampwork glass on the Internet.
She subsequently ordered a $25 starter kit and a torch. Schroeder then decided "to focus in on jewelry."
Ultimately, she invested $1,000 to set up her studio and learned the subtleties by trial and error. Always comparing her work to master jewelers, she believed her pieces to be festive but not award-winning. At the April 18-19 St. George Art Festival, however, her submission was awarded first place in the jewelry division.
CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE
Currently her work is for sale at Stephanie's Diamonds in Logan, Utah; The Smith-Klein Gallery on Pearl Street in Boulder, Colo.; at Spirals in La Jolla, Calif.; and at Michelle's on Main in Park City, Utah.
Bracelets cost between $80 and $160 and small pendants are $10 to $35.
She had a booth at the downtown Northland Hospice Fair of Life art show this summer, travels to other arts shows and is beginning to find home shows to be fun outlets. For a home show, a host invites Schroeder into her house so that friends and neighbors can look at beads and personalize a piece. Meeting people and sharing her art is what she most enjoys.
Moving from Logan, Utah, in November with her husband, Chris Lauver, a quantitative ecologist for the National Parks Service, she wants to know more people in Flagstaff, and thus far she has felt welcomed.
Originally from Kansas, where she baked bread and pies endlessly in her restaurant, Schroeder is glad life is now saturated with the projects that occupy an artist's time: photographing her work, updating a Web site, taking custom orders. She also wants to keep her flower garden fully stocked.
If a bead does not properly release from a rod, Schroeder pokes the glass-adorned metal into her front-yard garden. Passersby have swiped all of the sticks.
"Oh, I have to make more," Schroeder said. "I love the fact that people want to take these home."
More information about Schroeder's beads can be found at www.totodesigns.net.
The Appetizers and Open Studios Web site is www.flagstaffopenstudios.com.
The Coconino Center for the Arts is located at 2300 N. Fort Valley Road (Highway 180) in Flagstaff