Art marbles are high quality collectible

marbles A marble is a small spherical object often made from glass, clay, steel, plastic, or agate. They vary in size, and most commonly are about in diameter. These toys can be used for a variety of games called ''marbles'', as well being placed in mar ...

arising out of the

art glass Art glass is a subset of glass art, this latter covering the whole range of art made from glass. Art glass normally refers only to pieces made since the mid-19th century, and typically to those purely made as sculpture or decorative art, with ...

movement. They are sometimes referred to as contemporary glass marbles to differentiate them from collectible antique marbles, and are spherical works of art glass. Glass artists interest in marbles at the end of the twentieth century brought about a resurgence in hand made marbles.Sullivan, Ken (2006).
The West Virginia encyclopedia
', p.447. West Virginia Humanities Council.

Types

Dichroic glass Dichroic glass is glass which can display multiple different colors depending on lighting conditions. One dichroic material is a modern composite non-translucent glass that is produced by stacking layers of metal oxides which give the glass shift ...

is a very popular choice with glass artists today, especially so when creating marbles, because of its properties of having more than one color and when viewed from different angles, has a sparkle effect, much like a cut gemstone. Dichroic glass is actually a product created by the space industry, and was first used as an interference filter for precise scientific measuring. To create this effect, glass artists use a thin layer of metallic oxides including magnesium, silicon and titanium at high temperatures. This style of marble was invented by Geoffrey Beetem circa 1989 and are called Stardust Marbles. First publication was by Marilyn Barrett in 1994, Dr. Morito 1996, Glass magazine in 2000, and in Marbles and Related Art Glass, by Mark P. Block also in 2000. Vortex marbles are a very popular style created by forming a cone at the end of a rod of clear glass, typically borosilicate or scientific glass. Various patterns are created on the outside of this cone, a spiral being the most popular. This is encased to create a hemisphere. More patterns are usually added to the outside. The opposite side is turned into a lens and the entire piece is shaped into a sphere. This style was created by Kevin O'Grady circa 1994. O'Grady is a pioneer in the contemporary glass marble movement.

Artists

Contemporary marble artists include Josh Simpson.

References

Glass art {{Glass-art-stub