Murrini Mania: A Work In Progress (Part 1)
As you've probably noticed, I've been somewhat murrini-obsessed since I got back from Murano. Suddenly, commercial millefiori became a "legitimate" material to use in my work - I had never really liked the idea before. I'd tried it once or twice in the distant past, could barely lift up a piece with tweezers, couldn't figure out what that white scummy stuff was, and set the whole concept aside, thinking I didn't really want to use "premade" stuff in my beads anyway. But seeing it everywhere in Murano and even spending some time in the place where it comes from gave me new perspective - it's like putting tiny pieces of Murano in my beads. Well, technically, most of my glass comes from Murano (or close enough) anyway - but you must admit, it makes a good excuse.
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Commercial millefiori can be a real pain in the ass to work with. I know many lampworkers struggle with this stuff, so here's a little mini-tutorial on how I do it. Enjoy.
| 1. AVOID chips that have white on the outside. Just don't use them. (Give/sell them to someone who does fusing.) |
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2. Lift a murrini chip with your tweezers. Hold it in the side on the flame, gently warming the bottom side of the chip. DO NOT let the top side of the chip touch the flame at any time. |
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3. Make sure the surface of your bead is warm enough for the chip to stick, and press it on. Once again, be sure never to let the top part touch the flame. |
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4. Melt the tip of a thin clear rod (or stringer), and place a drop of clear over the top part of your murrini chip (the chip should be hard and cool when you do this, and the clear glass should be very soft). Make sure the clear covers the entire design. |
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5. Heat the murrini in the flame until the clear forms a smooth, round drop, perpendicular to the surface of the bead. |
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6. Holding your graphite marver parallel to the surface of the bead, press the drop in slowly and gently, taking special care not to smoosh the hell out of the design. Repeat this one or twice if necessary. |
| 7. Now it's up to you - you can flame-polish and leave the murrini raised, or continue heating to melt it into the surface. | |
Anyway. Not having nearly enough variety of millefiori in good colors, I was thinking I needed to either get more, make my own, or both. So, I got myself two little birthday presents: the first was an optic mold for making my own murrini, and the second was a bunch of millefiori from Murano Millefiori (in Florida), just in case using an optic mold turned out to be something I wouldn't have the patience for. I've been running eagerly to check my PO box ever since, wondering which would come first - as of now, neither has arrived yet. (Hasn't it been 6-11 business days since my birthday? Argh.)
About a week ago, I decided to stop waiting and just make my own murrini, without the aid of an optic mold.
A quick explanation for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about: 'millefiori' means 'a thousand flowers' in Italian, and the term usually refers to the flowery little chips you can buy in bags. Millefiori is a type of murrini - the term 'murrini' refers to the chips in general, which don't necessarily have to have flowers on them.
The technique for making murrini is somewhat similar to making sushi. The cane is assembled, then stretched into a long rod - then sliced into chips to reveal the design inside. This may sound easy, but it actually requires much time and patience. Precision and heat control can also be quite helpful.
Did someone say "time and patience?" As you all know, I don't have much of those - which is why I haven't done much murrini making in my beadmaking career, beyond the simple starbursts. Once I tried to make a face, but that didn't go too well - I made some not-so-bad-for-the-first-try eye cane, then some this-just-looks-like-a-red-smudge-but-people-will-know-its-a-mouth mouth cane, and then I was thinking I would make a nose, add on the eyes and mouth, and just pull. Turns out, not so easy. I ended up with a big-blob-of-nothing cane, which ended up in my icy cold jar of rejection, and the making-my-own-murrini concept ended up in the "stuff I'll never have the patience for" category.
But lately, I've been in this sort of hyper-creativity mode. I've been torching constantly. I need to melt glass every day, or else I get stressed out and depressed. I spend hours on the torch making beads each day, and then late at night, when my kiln is well into its annealing cycle, I find myself heading back to the torch to pull cane. Everything else is just a blur. Sleep is just a necessity; food is just fuel. I've been stopping by this great falafel stand I discovered (on the corner of Nordau and Ben Yehuda, if you're in the area) - just a guy in a simple booth, without a bunch of fancy toppings and stuff - just damn good falafel with all the necessities for a quick, easy, cheap and tasty lunch. Lately, falafel guy has been greeting me with a groan. "I'm cooking lunch AGAIN?"
"I'm too busy working", I smile.
"Well, in that case, I'll do the dishes too. Aren't I the perfect man?"
"Yes. Yes you are."
I stop for my daily supply of diet coke on the way back, and then it's back to the torch.
My first batch of murrini came out looking like this. Not bad, but not quite what I was expecting.
Notice the triangles and the spiral-wannabes - I'll be getting back to those later.
I learned a crucial lesson with this batch: one of the most important parts of making your own murrini is choosing the right colors. You need to work with high-contrasting shades - or else, when pulled into cane, the colors will just look like they're blended together. Even if the colors look different enough in rod form, such a small "format" changes everything.
Anyway, I was eager to try them out on some hollow beads - and in some cases, even happy with the results.
These three are now up for auction on eBay!
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I made one bead using the triangle murrini. I wasn't so happy with this particular cane, but for some reason, I became obsessed with the idea of triangles... which led to a whole night of pulling triangle cane. |
Triangle murrini and much more, coming up in PART 2... it should be ready soon, so stay tuned!
Thanks for the awesome tutorial! The weird thing is that I figured out what you'd done before you posted it here.
*taps foot impatiently* I'm about a month to 6 weeks away from getting my own torch setup. It can't come soon enough!
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Hey Sarah, I've got that exact optic mold. You'll love it.
oh while I'm here Hi Lindalee. *waves like a looney*
Sharon
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nice work!
I love the reflections in the hollow beads! I just wanted to chime in and say, when you put the murrini on the bead...if you get the bead really really hot. then place the chip, then touch with the graphite, chill murrrini, and press until flush with the glass, then use the graphite to put the glass around the murrini; not the murrini in the glass...hm...food for thought. That is if you do not want to encase them. once the outside of the chip is touched with the hot glass around it, it keeps its detail...I have been working hard on not screwing up my running man murrinies when I place them. hope I make sense. glad I stopped by to read this.
your work looks great!
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