As with the hummingbird To Make a Dolphin LeRoy starts with a clear glass rod. Next comes the base color. In many of his creations LeRoy likes to work with multiple colors.

LeRoy works in both hard and soft glass but generally prefers hard. "Northstar" is one brand that LeRoy recommends because of the wide variety of colors and the density of the rods. Another type of hard glass that most people are familiar with is "Pyrex". "Pyrex" and other hard glasses can withstand a greater amount of what is known as "thermal shock." The glass rods can be put right into the torch without the cracking and spitting that soft glass would give you.

Hard glass also flows more slowly in the torch so that it is easier to create more complicated bead sculptures such as this dolphin. One of the last steps in this dophin is to poke a hole through it so it can be worn around the neck. A fancy bead for sure!