Janice Peacock

www.janicepeacock.com

Janice Peacock has been involved in the glass world for over 14 years as a glass flameworking artist, focusing primarily on the creation of unique handmade glass beads and jewelry. Flameworking is the process of melting glass in a 2000 degree torch, layering colors of glass, and then finally shaping the glass with various tools.

Peacock has studied glass working techniques with many of the worldís finest flameworkers, including Loren Stump, Vittorio Costantini, Suellen Fowler and Robert Mickelson. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and Communication Studies at University of California at Santa Barbara, as well as a Masters degree in Communication Studies from the same institution.

She has taught glass bead making workshops in the San Francisco bay area since 1997. Peacock also travels to teach advanced flameworking classes at a variety of studios across the nation. She has been a frequent lecturer at bead society meetings and glass conferences, including the California Glass Exchange in 1998 and 2002, and the International Society of Glass Beadmaking conferences in 2002 and 2005.

As Director of Education for the International Society of Glass Beadmakers, Peacock has led sessions for new glass instructors, in order to improve their teaching skills, and has implemented a set of guidelines which help new instructors teach beginning glass beadmaking classes. Peacock is also Vice President of Public Programs at Public Glass in San Francisco, a non-profit glass studio focused on teaching various glass-working techniques. She has been a flameworking instructor at Public Glass since it opened.

As an artist, Peacock has exhibited throughout the United States and internationally. Her work is in private collections in the U.S. and Europe, as well as in many galleries. She has participated in many juried and invitation-only exhibits over the past several years.

Artist's Statement

I have always been attracted to miniature objects, and I love the idea of making and wearing these small works of art. I try to combine a modern sense of style and color with ancient techniques. I enjoy the interplay of colors and designs, the smooth feel of glass, and I like to play with fire.

I am inspired by tribal masks, as well as other ethnic carvings. Wearing a mask allows an individual to become another person, animal, or deity for a brief period of time. My hope is that my beads have a similar transformational effect. All of my beads are flameworked. To create an ancient look, I use glass powders on many of the beads. I also use dichroic glass layered between layers of clear and opaque glass to create a ìmodernî type of mask. These beads are acid etched so that they glass glows instead of sparkles.