A Touch of Glass Benicia

A Touch of Glass Jerry Hild and Barbara Richardson

A Touch of Glass has been in the making since August 2008. Jerry Hild, my partner, and I first got involved with jewelry making when we joined Vallejo Gem Society making our own cabochons and casting rings from wax molds. We then purchased torches and kilns for the flamiworking and annealing of the glass to make custom beads and pendants.

We’ve been developing our own style of wire-wrapped custom jewelry for the past 2 years. Our philosophy with our business at this stage in our life is to keep producing contemporary jewelry that keeps the market place interesting but affordable for a wide range of customers.

We have been producing jewelry for over three years, but have been licensed for just over a year.

Working with glass is such a fluid medium that holds your interest and allows you to create very small detailed beads up to large plates and platters according to the size of your kiln. I’ve always had an eye for the unusual pieces of jewelry since moving to California in the early 70’s walking the streets in Berkeley and San Francisco seeing all the different mediums to work with. Glass has grown in popularity over the years with endless possibilities to create one of a kind pieces of art.

Our raw glass comes from several sources including a local company in Richmond, Ca. C&R Loo, as well as Bullsey Glass in Oregon.

We have added two new lines to our custom jewelry. One is vintage buttons that I have collected over the years to turn into bracelets and rings. The vintage buttons are more popular with the more mature crowd because the buttons are recognizable for that generation. As the buttons I’ve chosen for the younger crowd they are more vibrant in color and whimsical in style. I have taken a class in wire wrapping at the Crucibles, in Oakland to learn how to enhance the custom flameworked beads we make in our studio.

Thanks to Steven Tyler, from American Idol, feathers are flying from our hair and earlobes. We have been creating one of a kind feather earrings from all kinds of fowl from pheasants, chickens, roosters, quail, ostrich,peacock and more. I use Jerry's beautiful custom flameworkeed glass beads to bring out the vibrant colors of the feathers to make eye catching earrings.