Test Results :: Desert Pink

1 & 2 - Plain and Reduced (Darn it, I can't remember which one was which, although I suspect that the darker one is the one I reduced), 3 - w/ Silver Leaf, 4 - w/ Silver Leaf (reduced & encased), 5 - w/ TerraNova2 Frit, 6 - w/ Silver Glass Frit (reduced), 7 - w/ Copper Green, 8 - w/ Tuxedo, 9 - w/ Opal Yellow, 10 - w/ Ivory, 11 - w/ White

General Impressions
CiM Desert Pink turns a funky radioactive yellow-green colour when molten. This really has no bearing on the colour test, since that obviously goes away, but I think it's worth mentioning if only because Desert Pink is the first glass I've used that does that when it's really hot.

The consistency of Desert Pink is a little different from that of the majority of CiM Opaques, in that it is a little more 'gelatinous', for lack of a better word. The consistency of Desert Pink is fairly similar to the consistency of Khaki, although the reactions are completely different. Desert Pink is very reactive with silver, which I really like. Depending on what colour you use it with, and how much you strike it, it ranges from a soft, powder pink to a slightly darker version of itself with purple overtones.

Pinks keep surprising me.  I never expect to like them, because I am decidedly NOT a pink person... but the reactions with pinks are so interesting that I'm acquiring a taste. I'm finding it difficult, however, to leave them looking like the pink they start out as. That wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

Reduction
Honestly, I can't be sure whether or not reducing Desert Pink does anything. I made two spacers, and one of them is reduced, but I unfortunately don't remember which one I reduced. Sort of embarrassing, really.  But reducing Desert Pink MIGHT darken the colour of it a little. I tend to try to make the bead I'm reducing a little smaller than the one I'm not when I make the spacer tests.

Of course, it's also possible that it's just striking the Desert Pink that makes it darker. Either way, the only thing that I can be sure of is that it can be made darker by doing -something-. Maybe I'll figure it out and come back and update this.

Reactions

Desert Pink fumes a caramel colour when you put Silver Leaf on it, and the Silver stays on the surface and discolours slightly, not unlike the way it did with Effetre Mud Slide.

In the bead on the right, which I reduced and then encased with Effetre Clear, a lot of the fuming has dissipated, and the silver has turned a really interesting pink/blue shiny colour that is very cool indeed. You can also see how, under the silver, the Desert Pink has taken on a more mauve appearance.

I don't much like the way silver glass takes to Desert Pink, but I have a sneaking suspicion that if I encased it, I'd like it more. OK, it's more than a suspicion. I'm including a couple of beads at the end of this post that make it clear why I am certain that I like it more after encasing the silver/silver glass.

Desert Pink does very interesting things to Copper Green when it's put on top of it. I like the messy turquoise that results from this combination.

On the other side, you can see that Copper Green spreads a little on Desert Pink, and you can see in the centre of the bead that there's been a little bleeding where the Copper Green snuck into the Desert Pink side of the bead a little bit. These two things don't thrill me quite as much, but overall, I am intrigued about how these two colours react together and plan to do a bit more experimentation.

If Copper Green bleeds with Desert Pink a little, Tuxedo surely does it a lot. The Tuxedo has taken over fully half of the Desert Pink-designated area of this bead, and coated it so that it looks like a faintly inky purple. The Desert Pink looks almost translucent over the Tuxedo, but it's totally not even a translucent colour. The lentils I did with the silver and silver glass have Clear cores, and you can't see through them at all.

On the right side of the bead with Opal Yellow, Desert Pink looks like a mauver version (is mauver a word?  Oh well, I guess it is now...) of itself, and the Opal Yellow has separated on top of it so that it is lighter on the edges and darker in the middle. The left side of the bead isn't as interesting, so I'm ignoring it.

 

Ivory and White both spread on Desert Pink, but there's no real reaction here to note.

Here are some fun beads made with Desert Pink. As usual, I've so completely camouflaged the base colour (Desert Pink) that you can't really identify it. But it's there, and without it, these beads just wouldn't be the same.