My name is Mandy Williams Ramsdell, and I have been making glass beads since June of 2004.  I have been drawn to art since I was a very little girl, and especially loved making jewelry. Through jewelry making I found out about making glass beads.  I was 13 at the time I realized I just had to buy some supplies and start making my own beads, but my parents made me wait to start my new hobby until I was 15 because they were afraid of letting their daughter work with hot glass in a torch flame.  In those two years I read as much as I possibly could on the subject and drooled over other artist's handmade beads. 

 

 

I have been working as an artist full time almost four years now.  My art is inspired by nature. I am lucky to live close to the ocean in rural Maine and have plenty of inspiration for my beads all around me.  My hobbies include photography, gardening, hiking, cross country running, skating and skiing. 

 

I got the idea for my business name, Lion's Paw Jewelry and Glass Art from the Chronicles of Narnia.  To me, it is a way of saying inspired by nature and God's beautiful creations.