Tink Martin is not only one of the, if not the finest, lampwork vessel makes around, but her torch always seems to know exactly what she wants it to so. And with this fantastic "Zissou Water Globe Pendant" handmade glass bead, the only work that will describe it adequately is "alchemy."

Part of the magic of this beautiful crafted bead is contained within. Each tiny piece of glass cane is handmade; gathered over the last five years with this specific bead in mind, each handmade stringer, cane, and flower stamen was chose especially for this piece, with an added touch of antique German glass glitter added to the glycerin to give it the right touch of sparkle just as the light hits it.

The glass globe containing each of these miniature works of glass art is also handmade, blown in the innovative manner that Tink discovered, which uses a hollow tube of steel from an auto parts store to blow the sphere. Once created and filed with glass wonder suspended by the added glycerin, this bead was capped using a handmade sterling silver cap, also made by Tink, with just the right amount of texture to add to the elements within.

Truly a masterpiece of bead art, and one that will hopefully inspire more beaders to concentrate creative energies into creating single, one-of-a-kind beads, to give more balance to the current trend of large collections of beads made from the same type of glass. Individual bead, even a masterpiece such as this, can be affordable to more bead designers, and can give a great boost to the interest of smaller designers.

Thank you Tink, for sharing the gorgeous bead with us. I know I'm hoping to see many more of your designs, and more single-bead designs from other lampwork beadmakers, begin to become available for beadwork designers. You are an inspiration to us all!