Intro to Glass Beads: Playful Form and Character with Daiqi Cui

This introductory workshop is designed for students with little to no prior experience in glass. Participants will learn the fundamentals of soft-glass beadmaking while creating small, cute animal-inspired beads. The class will cover essential torch safety, heat control, basic shaping techniques, and simple color application. Through guided demonstrations and hands-on practice, students will explore how to build animal forms using simple sculptural gestures, focusing on proportion, balance, and playful expression. Emphasis will be placed on building confidence at the torch and understanding how small details, such as eyes, ears, and posture, can give each bead a unique personality. Students will leave with finished animal beads.

What to Expect: The class will start with a few short demonstrations (no longer than 30 minutes) and the remainder of the time will be given to students to create their own beads using the techniques from the demos and working with Julia to answer any questions. Beadmaking requires a little practice at heat control with the torch to create successful beads. Students can anticipate making at least a handful of mini beads, along with some failures, while also refining their skills and growing more comfortable with hot glass.

Clean-up time is included in the duration of class, and usually the last 20 minutes of class are dedicated to cleaning your workstation. Read more about how to prepare for class on our Registration Info page.

While beadmaking, participants primarily engage in seated activities such as working with glass rods and torches. The environment can be bright and loud at times. Handling glass and tools may require a certain level of dexterity. To learn more about accessibility the Accessibility page on our website.

Eligibility: No previous experience required. Open to ages 12 and up.

Pick-up: The glass needs to cool down overnight then be carefully removed from the mandrels, so the students will have to return to UrbanGlass once notified to pick up their work.

This is an in-person class taking place on-site at UrbanGlass. Health and safety guidelines will be emailed to you upon registration

We recommend registering for classes early to reserve your spot! We base materials, and teacher needs off of student enrollment. Early registration not only guarantees your spot in class, but also helps to ensure the class will run. Classes with low enrollment may be cancelled within two weeks of the start date of class. Contact our Registrar of Education, Ari Eshoo, at [email protected] if you have questions about the class or would like to arrange a payment plan.

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