Rebecca Bigg

About the Artist

I am an Administration Assistant, wife and mother to a mischievous Miniature Daschund called Sassie. We do not have any 2 legged children as yet.

I grew up on a beef cattle farm on the Murray River in North East Victoria (Australia) and moved to Perth in January 2006 with my husband (then fiancé) for a change in lifestyle. We married in October 2007 (after 8 years of umming and ahhing!).

We have settled in the Swan Valley, Western Australia in our new home which also houses my glass studio in place of the 4th bedroom. When not at my full time job or rolling around the back yard with my puppy, this is where you will find me.

My mother is a professional quilt artist and has been quilting for as long as I can remember, so having been brought up in a creative household, the disease caught hold of me at a very early age. Over the years I have constantly been trying new hobbies and mediums, from making clothes for barbie dolls, children and teddies to knitting, calligraphy and folk art painting (the latter being influenced by my sister, who was MUCH better at it than I) all of which were abandoned as they just didn’t satisfy the urge!

I began making beaded jewellery about 5 years ago after picking up a book on seed beads in my local Spotlight store whilst on one of my regular prowls to find something to make.

I craved anything to release this creative urge that had hold of me! This medium, it seemed, was close, very close.
I started Glass Candy in 2006 as I had begun selling my pieces in a nearby Beauty Salon shortly after moving to Perth. Later that year, I discovered Artisan made Lampwork Beads. Hooked, instantly.
The concept of being able to MAKE my own unique beads had not even crossed my mind!

There is something truly hypnotic about working with glass. Glass can be violent in the sudden shattering (literally) shock that it undergoes if heated too quickly, but is also gentle and alluring in its soft and flowing molten state. The variety of colours that are available, along with the vast array of techniques used to work with glass, are endless. Even for the most masterful beadmaker, glass will forever hold the challenge of 'what if?'

The challenge not only lies with the harmonising of colour, but also mastering and bending the glass to your will, to MAKE it form that shape or react in that certain way. There will always be the challenge of control and, if not that, at least co-operation with this art form.
My formal 'training' in working with this medium has been a single 5 hour beginners workshop. I am self taught and have found a wealth of information and inspiration both in published works, on the internet and in conjunction with irregular get-togethers with other Lampworkers in the area.

My Creative Gremlin has a home. Regularly satiated at least, if not completely, there is now the hunger to learn, discover and explore the possibilities of this art form, and to find my place in the world of lampworking.