Linda Lawrence is a glass beadmaker and jewelry designer who has been working with hot glass since 1997. She has studied lampworking with nationally known glass artists and continues to broaden her working knowledge taking workshops and seminars across the country. From an early age, Linda has been involved in the arts; first as a dancer and then in the visuals arts. Her background in dance and her love of color and movement permeates her work today.

Linda’s glass beads are created using a torch and colored rods of glass, a technique called flameworking. Colors of molten glass are wound around a mandrel, tools are used to manipulate the hot glass and designs are embedded to create each individual bead. Lawrence uses traditional Italian techniques such as latticino, murrine, and filigrana combined with other methods to form each piece. Each item of jewelry is then choreographed to form a unique piece of wearable art.

Linda graduated from West Irondequoit High School in 1980 and still calls Irondequoit home. Her window design is based on an Iroquois legend that explains the star constellation Ursula Major, also known as the Great Bear. She felt that her representation of this Native American legend was appropriate since the Iroquois once called this area home too. Linda’s glass beads, a glass sandcasting, and wire work comprise the windows design. “ I am thrilled to be part of Windows on Irondequoit. It was challenging yet fun to think of a way to incorporate my beads into a window design. I’ve grown up in this town and feel honored to be part of the school districts public art project.”

Linda teaches art in the Greece School District and teaches flameworking at More Fire Glass Studio in Rochester. She also runs a small studio from her home in Irondequoit. Her work can be found at arts festivals and galleries around Upstate New York. She is a member of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers, the Glass Art Society and the Rochester Arts and Cultural Council.