MELANIE MOERTEL works and lives in her tiny studio in the historic city of Bamberg/ Bavaria. After finishing school Melanie started to work as a graphic designer at several art companies and as a print media designer for for about 7 years. In October 2003 Melanie started doing lampwork beads, which meanwhile became her full time job. For her beads she mainly uses Moretti, Lauscha, Kugler, Vetrofond and Double Helix glass and she loves to work colorful and detailed. All her beads are unique and she sells only on ebay or sometimes specials on her website. Melanie doesn’t do custom orders because her beads are an expression of her personality, feelings and impressions. Which, Melanie says, is also good for you: if you fall in love with a piece you know that you will be the only one in the world who owns this particular bead. A big part of Melanie’s inspiration is the glass itself – the possibilities of combining opaque and transparent elements and the wonderful color world the diverse glass manufactures are offering – and also the fact that a cooled down bead can’t be changed.