Emiko Sawamoto

Ruri Glass Studio

emikoruri@earthlink.net

Artist Bio

Emiko Sawamoto came to the United States to teach Japanese language at a university in 1983 and taught

there until 1995. After leaving the job, she visited Italy and fell in love with glass art. Although she does

not have any official art training, she was always artistic and clever with her hands. After trying a few

forms of glass art classes, Emiko found glass beadmaking to be her metier. She set a studio in her garage at

the end of September 1995 and started to make glass beads. She was featured in the October issue of

Lapidary Journal in 2002, the December issue of Bead & Button in 2003, and Annual Bulletin of the

Paperweight Collectorsí Association in 2002. Her work is also shown in Formed of Fire, 2003, and

Contemporary Lampworking, 2002, by Bandhu Scott Dunham, Beads of Glass, 2003, by Cindy Jenkins,

More Than You Ever Wanted to Know about Glass Beadmaking by James Kervin, Symbols of Japan,

2001, by Marrily Baird, Making Beautiful Beads, 2002 by Suzanne Tourillott, and in 1000 Glass Beads

by Lark Books, 2004.

Although she is primarily a beadmaker, she started to make small lampworked sculptures in 1998, and

miniature paperweights in 1999. Her work was exhibited internationally. She has been helping Japanese