Nirit Dekel :

 Inspired by the Chihuly exhibit and impressed by the versatility of glass, Nirit  took a one-day course to learn the traditional technique of lampwork bead making. "Then I sat for hours with the torch and experimented with the material," she says.

Today, Dekel, 38, is an accomplished jewellery and glass beads artist whose work is sold in museums, galleries and high-end clothing stores in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, London, Los Angeles, and Chicago and Australia.

Dekel is one of 500 exhibitors selected from among 1,330 applicants by the TOAE's expert juries. "The criteria that we place in front of the juries are originality, quality, consistency of workmanship and ideas, and design excellence," says Alison Eagles, executive director of the TOAE. Nirit Dekel qualifies for all.

Each of Dekel's pieces is wearable art. One item features amber orbs covered in bulbous baby-blue protrusions. Another is made of ballet slipper pink glass spun to look like cotton candy. On a third, graphic black and white stars nestle into one another.

It can take up to 40 minutes for Dekel to craft just one bead. Depending on their size, a bracelet may be made of 10 to 14 pieces of glass, and necklaces of between 40 and 150. Not only is each bead independently designed and handmade, each is also conceived as part of a complete piece of jewellery. "I think about the styles and colours that will combine together," says Dekel.

As she is creating the beads for an item, Dekel also mentally pieces it together. By the time she strings a bracelet or a necklace, Dekel knows exactly how she wants the final version to look.

"What I see when I go out in the street or go to a ballet show - my designs and my inspirations are very much from the place that I live in," says Dekel. "And I have a collection that's very colourful," she says. "That's uniquely Israeli."

Several pieces are available for sale through this website.