An Evening with
Roger Parramore
Thursday, March 24, 2022
Roger Parramore has worn many hats in his life: teacher (in the US and abroad), artist, craftsperson, mentor, entrepreneur, academic – and he is currently writing a book. Among his varied skills and interests is a continuing love of and talent for glass. His fascination with glass began over 40 years ago as he watched lampworkers at the mall create small figurines. We are thrilled to welcome Roger to our Speaker Series.
Check out his website and Facebook business page to read more about Roger and see some images of his exquisite glass creations and other diverse skills (he makes boro glass and banjos too!).
After the Demo Update!
(If you missed it, remember that members can watch the recorded demo on the Facebook Members’ Page, check it out! And if you aren’t a member but would like to be, visit the Membership page)
Roger Parramore is a borosilicate glass artist of long standing, having worked with glass for over 50 years. He fell in love with glass early, and at nine he and his father built an outdoor kiln and melted glass. He was hooked after that. He gave us an abbreviated explanation of his glass history and how he ended up where he is today. He more recently visited Lauscha, Germany and ended up buying a house there, where he hopes to set up a studio – perhaps even an Airbnb and give workshops.
Along with that experience, Roger has gained a wealth of knowledge. He has taught classes worldwide He talked about many of the aspects of glass and the importance of understanding them as you work with glass, including heat control – of which he says “you’ve got to understand heat if you work with glass.”
Two others he mentioned were Coefficient of Expansion, or COE, and CTE (Coefficient of Thermal Expansion) and how they affect our lampworking. Roger also discussed the importance of practice, incorporating technical skill building in our practice instead of repeating what we know, and how we should place a value on that time because it is how we move forward with our skills.
Glass beads are heavy, and large glass beads very heavy, so Rober was motivated to make his large beads hollow. He noticed that many hollow beads are fairly plain, and developed a way to add decorative touches to his hollows more easily. His process was the topic of his demonstration.
Roger showed us his work space and how he has things set up for best use, including the two torches he sometimes uses at once for large pieces, one across from the bench facing toward him! He talked a bit about tools, and whether we need to have every tool available or not.
Roger had done the prep work ahead of time, but explained what he had done before beginning the bead. Once ready, he moved into a demo showing his way of using tubing to make a hollow boro bead that could be more easily decorated.
Thank you Roger, for sharing your time and expertise with us!
Roger has a Patreon page with several videos which include most of the fundamentals he includes in his classes. Although he does not actively promote the page, it is available if you are interested in learning more.
Dragon Members have access to this recorded presentation on our Facebook Members Group page.