The Art of April M. RimpoJewelry Gallery
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April creates two types of glass jewelry: bead jewelry and fused glass jewelry. April creates the beads for her bead jewelry by working with rods of glass in a torch. Some beads include metal inclusions, such as gold leaf, silver leaf or brass mesh. She then forms sterling silver or gold wire into links and clasps, incorporates her beads into the design and uses purchased accent beads to complete the jewelry. The result is a unique necklace, bracelet or earrings that cannot be duplicated. 
Her fused glass jewelry often is composed of glass that she created by blending shards of glass that form an interesting color palette. April then cuts that glass into pieces to create her jewelry, firing the composed piece in a kiln to fuse the glass together and smooth out the edges. This approach results in a very organic look to this jewelry. April has some jewelry made from dichroic or iridescent glass, which is glass with a metalic finish. Sometimes she uses dichroic glass to create small dragonflies, one of her favorite subjects.