Test Results :: Elphaba Unique #2

1 - Plain, 2 - Plain (reduced), 3 - w/ Silver leaf, 4 - w/ Silver leaf (reduced & encased), 5 - w/ TerraNova2 frit, 6 - w/ Silver glass frit (reduced) [Gaia, Kronos, Elektra, Aion, Black Nebula, Triton], 7 - w/ Copper Green, 8 - w/ Tuxedo, 9 - w/ Opal Yellow, 10 - w/ Ivory, 11 - w/ White

General Impressions
CiM Elphaba Unique #2 is a gorgeous, green opaque with a blue tint. It's been pretty sought-after since Frantz ran out of it sometime last year, but I was lucky enough to come across some at Nortel Manufacturing in Ontario when I was there on non-glass-related business last July. If you ever have a chance to visit Nortel, DO IT! Although there's probably not much chance that any of this colour is still kicking around, it's awesome to go in and see the torches be born, and they've got lots of great glass and tools.

Elphaba Unique #2 is a relatively stiff opaque colour, and the consistency of it is really nice to work with. It's got the same consistency as Mermaid, Lipstick, Thai Orchid and many of the other CiM Colours - stiff and pasty and a dream to work with. Also like many of the other CiM opaques, Elphaba Unique #2 is streaky.  I wish that it was a regular colour... the regular Elphaba doesn't appeal to me nearly so much.

This picture doesn't have any Elphaba Unique #2 in it. The bead on the left is Mermaid and Copper Green, and the bead on the right is Petroleum Green and Mermaid. The reason I am showing it here is to illustrate how much richer of a green Elphaba Unique #2 is when compared to Petroleum Green, and how much greener than Mermaid the Elphaba Unique #2 is.

Reduction
Reducing Elphaba #2 on its own has no discernible effect on the colour. (Bead #2)

Reactions

Silver pretty much just sits on top of this colour and shines. In the bead on the left, it's broken up into many tiny dots. In the bead on the right, the silver has been reduced and then encased and has formed itself into a shiny, smooth blanket that is somewhat reflective.  The edges of the silver are blue-ish.

It's interesting to me how silver can SEEM to break up and scatter on the surface when you melt it in, but then once you reduce it and/or encase it, it's obvious that it was right there all along, and not really dispersed at all.

Elphaba Unique #2 isn't a fabulous base for silver glass, but it's not awful, either. I overstruck the bead on the left a little, but I got some decent blues and purples out of the TerraNova2 frit on top of it, and the way the silver glass frit blend yellowed the Elphaba Unique #2 is sort of interesting.

Elphaba Unique #2 dots and lines on top of Copper Green end up looking as though they are recessed into the bead.  Copper Green spreads on top of Elphaba Unique #2 since the Elphaba Unique is a denser colour.

When used with Tuxedo, Elphaba Unique #2 gets swallowed. This bead was half Tuxedo and half Elphaba Unique #2, but the Tuxedo bled right into the Elphaba Unique #2, and you can barely even see that the right half of the bead started out green. The Elphaba Unique #2, on top of the Tuxedo, has separated into two different greens with the inside of the dots and lines being darker than the edges.

Elphaba Unique #2 lines on top of Opal Yellow develop a thin, dark green line in the middle. The Opal Yellow really struck to a strong yellow when used with Elphaba Unique #2, and the lines and dots of Opal Yellow have an interesting mottled look to them.

  

Ivory goes a little feathery overtop of the Elphaba Unique #2, and Elphaba Unique #2 bleeds into Ivory a little. This probably isn't the best combination for fine stringerwork.

White spreads on top of Elphaba Unique #2, and you can see a faint green halo around the Elphaba Unique #2 dots and lines on top of White where it has bled pretty evenly and diffusely into the white as the super-soft White swallowed it a little.

Here are some fun beads with Elphaba Unique #2.