Thursday, April 9, 2009

Trying Silver Glass


Do you ever make a bead and then it reminds you of a place?

I had been playing with some silver glass from a local glass maker, and I started seeing all these striations in different colors on my bead posted below.  Immediately, it reminded me of the bands of rocks in Colorado, where I used to live.

Oh, I know the colors aren't the same at all.  It was the layered look that got me thinking.

This silver glass doesn't have a name, and I tried to find my friend's Etsy shop where he sells it.  No luck.  I'll find him and then post the information.

He told our Southern Flames group that his best luck for getting color out of it,  is heating and then cooling and repeating for the color....like striking. He also likes an oxidized flame.

Not being a silver glass connoisseur, I'd love to hear from you silver glass users whether that's what you do too?

I had used this same glass and got some purples and pinks out of it.  But I was using a different torch.  Does the torch with oxy versus a concentrator make a difference?  Okay readers.  I know you're out there.  Let me know what you think.  It's your turn to teach me.

Meanwhile, I have found that I like this glass for my frog's lily pad.  Which you can see here.

I have just returned from my week's long trip, so tomorrow I'll be back to my regular postings.  


6 comments:

  1. Marcy, I'm not good with silver glass either. I do like your bead. I love the layers of colors. I've heard about this glass, and I'd like to try it, so when you get the link, I'll head over there. Thanks for the information!

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  2. If the glass was made by Brad Shute, his Etsy shop is www.strikingcolor.etsy.com

    I have a lot of fun playing with his glass and those beads draw alot of compliments :)

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  3. Thank you Kelley, that's exactly who I was looking for. And if you have any hints, or a blog post to link to, please let us know.

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  4. I did a blog post on his glass at http://kelleysbeads.blogspot.com/2008/12/torch-jewelry-gno-or-rather-gni.html

    I have the best luck when either striking it AT LEAST 4-5 times, but normally more. Or by encasing it in clear (wait till the glow is gone from the silver glass before encasing) which tends to bring out some excellent blues & purples. That difference in temperature between the cooler silver glass and the molten hot clear seems to produce great reactions!

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  5. I took Doug Remschneider's silver class at B&B last year and he had a whole technical lecture about why silver does what it does. I use his techniques for straight silver (non-striking color) which is to simply reduce it.

    Silver needs oxygen and when you turn the oxy down (reducing flame), the silver comes to the surface where there is more oxygen in the air.

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  6. I become very frustrated and have yet to produce any silver glass I like. Thank you for the tips.

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Hey, thanks for commenting. Visit my etsy shop, seller name: StudioMarcy