This is a golden raspberry hybrid called Valentina. It still shows a lot of its pink raspberry heritage, because each berry is a mixture of pink, apricot and amber cells. You won't see these in the grocery store but might find them in a seed catalog or raspberry lover's garden. These glass Valentina raspberries are so realistic that you have to be careful to keep them away from children. They are heirloom quality art works. Start your collection now, or give as a gift to the foodie, gourmet cook or gardener in your life.

These lampwork fruit sculptures are the size of real raspberries that you would pick in the garden - just under 3/4" (19mm) high. They are so lifelike you'll think they are real fruit until you touch them. But unlike the real fruit, they will last forever and become treasured family heirlooms. Almost nothing in nature is perfectly round, smooth or even, so I deliberately avoid making my glass fruit and leaves too perfect. I put on splotches and speckles, make them a tidbit lopsided, and add other imperfections so that each berry or leaf is unique. This makes them look much more "real".

I make each of the glass fruits by melting glass rods in the flame of a torch and shaping the glass with simple tools. Every single drupelet (cell) is individually applied over the surface of the fruit in a painstaking process and each has a slight vertical indentation. Believe it or not, each of these raspberries is made from a single strand of glass. Because I mix three different colors together, the cells may come out ivory, pink, apricot or amber, depending on how they are heated and cooled. It take pains to make sure each raspberry has a blend of several different tones. Like real raspberries, my lampwork raspberries are mostly hollow and have a matte surface. When the raspberries are handled, the natural oils from your skin enhance this soft sheen.

Elizabeth Johnson Art Glass, LLC