Test Results :: Zachary

1 - Plain, 2 - Plain (reduced), 3 - w/ Silver Leaf, 4 - w/ Silver Leaf (reduced & encased), 5 - w/ Silver Glass Frit (reduced), 6 - w/ TerraNova2 Frit, 7 - w/ Raku, 8 & 9 - w/ Tuxedo, Copper Green, Opal Yellow, Ivory & Peace

CiM Zachary is a light blue opaque that has leanings towards indigo. Its consistency is very creamy, and it is oddly reactive, for a blue, with both silver and silver glasses.

I have to say that as far as light blue glasses go, this is one of my favourites so far. Because I work on a Minor with a small oxygen concentrator, my flame can tend to be a little reducing. This means that the Italian Light Turquoise and Light Sky Blue (Effetre, and to a lesser degree, Vetrofond) can sometimes give me a little trouble, developing red streaks and/or a grey film if I'm not careful, but Zachary doesn't really do this. Reducing Zachary doesn't have much impact on it at all. However, Zachary is a cooler colour than either of those other blues and isn't really a replacement, although it's beautiful in its own right.

Zachary is less stiff than some other Creation is Messy opaque colours, but still not as soft as what we are used to from the Italian opaques. In terms of viscosity, it falls somewhere in the middle.

I mentioned above that Zachary is 'oddly reactive' with silver and silver glasses, and here you can see what I mean by that. Most blue glass, when silver is added, doesn't discolour at all. The silver typically just webs and sits on the surface and doesn't affect the colour of the glass. Which is why I was surprised when silver leaf, melted into the surface of my Zachary bead, fumed the colour of the Zachary to a rich brown.

When the silver is reduced and encased on top of Zachary, the brown disappears and is replaced by a silvery white blanket. The silver reacts slightly with the clear glass, fuming it yellow in places.

On top of Zachary, my reducing silver glass frit has spread out. It has turned the Zachary brown around its edges and has developed a pretty, mottled shine.

I didn't get great colour out of my TerraNova2 frit on top of Zachary, but I sort of like the way this colour pops up in light blue halos and separates underneath the silver glass. I will probably experiment with this combination a little, because I'm starting to think that the striking colours require slightly different treatment depending on the base they've been used on, and it seems like there is some potential here.

Zachary separates on top of Tuxedo, developing a translucent, darker line in the centre of dots and stringer lines. When Tuxedo is used on top of Zachary, you can see that a faint separation outline forms around the Tuxedo, a millimetre or two outside of the Tuxedo. Zachary also looks more purple on top of Tuxedo than it does on top of the other colours I tested it with.

On top of Copper Green, Zachary seems to develop a faint darker blue around the edges of stringer lines and dots, but when Copper Green is used on top of Tuxedo there is no real evidence of reaction.

On top of Opal Yellow, Zachary seems to get lighter around the edges and separate slightly. Also around the edges, the two colours seem to repel each other and it looks like there is a fissure in the glass where the two colours meet. This last reaction (the fissure) seems evident whether the Zachary is used on top of the Opal Yellow or vice versa.

On top of Ivory, the separation of Zachary is even more pronounced, as is the fissure line that pops up around it. When Ivory is used on top of Zachary, it spreads out and seems to lose some of its cohesion, looking not unlike a milk mustache. This reaction is completely different to the reaction blues usually have with Ivory. There is no dark line reaction here at all. This is a welcome result, because sometimes I want to use blue and ivory together without that dark reaction line showing up.

Oddly enough, Zachary doesn't really seem to react with Peace. This is weird to me only because Peace reacts with most of the other colours I've tested it with.

Zachary was used in the base of this bead, as well as in the mushroom cap and stalk.