Test Results :: Orchid

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), 7 - w/ Tuxedo, 8 - w/ Copper Green, 9 - w/ Opal Yellow, 10 - w/ Ivory, 11 - w/ White

Do these test beads remind you of anything?  If not, they should, because at first glance, they are very, very similar to the test results I got with Faded Rose that were posted a short while back.  However, there are some key differences, which I will point out as we go here.

With unencased silver leaf added to the surface of an Orchid bead, the result is an interesting mottled colour that ranges from orange to green in the surface colour.  The silver itself wisps up on top of the Orchid.  When this reaction is reduced and then encased, the Orchid re-pinks and the silver presents as a snowy, cloudy layer with lavender clouds on its edges.

I had moderate success with my TerraNova2 frit with this colour, and the reducing silver glass frit blend that I used looks pretty darned interesting on top of Orchid.  With TerraNova2, the base of my Orchid bead stayed pink, but with the reducing silver glass, my Orchid turned orangey-yellow.  These results are similar to what I experienced with Faded Rose.

There is no reaction to speak of between Orchid and Tuxedo (note there is no silvery line when using Orchid on Tuxedo) but on top of Orchid, Tuxedo thins out a little and looks more translucent than I'm used to seeing it.  Again, these results are similar to what I experienced with Faded Rose, except for the translucency of the Tuxedo, which has only happened on top of Orchid.

The relationship between Orchid and Copper Green seems kind've complicated.  Where I used Copper Green over Orchid, it seems to have empinkened the Orchid quite a lot, and has created a very, very faint transparent film which emanates from the Copper Green. In the centre of the bead where the two colours meet, there is an odd ivory patch that looks like all of the colour has been sucked out of the Copper Green.  And then where the Orchid is over the Copper Green, the Copper Green seems really conflicted, ranging from a patina-coated army green to a raging turquoise.  This is worth experimenting with, since it'd be nice to know the reason for so much variation.  Here is where the Faded Rose and Orchid test results start to differ, since this is not the same reaction I got with Faded Rose and Copper Green at all.

Opal Yellow, like Copper Green, makes Orchid look pinker.  On top of Opal Yellow, Orchid looks like a pretty dusty rose colour, but under Opal Yellow, it looks more bubblegummy.  On top of Orchid, Opal Yellow lines look like they have a subtle, faintly darker line around them.  Faded Rose did not behave this way with Opal Yellow at all -- in fact, the results here are so different, I will need to invent completely separate mental categories for these two Milky Way colours.

Ivory on top of Orchid goes sort of wonky, spreading a bit and developing a transparent, crack-like line in the middle of dots and stringer lines.  On the Ivory side of the bead here, the Ivory has curdled and formed what almost looks like a translucent crack around the bead.  The Orchid is not very visible on top of Ivory.  Faded Rose did not do this with Ivory, so if you are looking for this reaction, it's Orchid you'll want.

The reaction between White and Orchid is quite similar to the reaction between Ivory and Orchid, only it's more subtle.  The transparent, crack-like lines/dots in the stringer work are less pronounced, and there is no evidence of curdling on the left-hand side of the bead.

Here is a fun bead made with Orchid.  I used a lot of Orchid in twisties as well, and as the base colour for a couple of bicones.  Sadly, I can no longer remember exactly which twisties or bicones, so all we are left with is this bead.

Test Results :: Faded Rose

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), 7 - w/ Tuxedo, 8 - w/ Copper Green, 9 - w/ Opal Yellow, 10 - w/ Ivory, 11 - w/ White

Faded Rose is the first of a few Lauscha Milky Way colours that I tried last fall and quite liked. I have no idea how to keep these Milky Way colours opalescent, but that doesn't matter very much since I'm getting interesting results with them the opaque way.

Like Thüringen Herb, Faded Rose has an interesting relationship with silver and silver glass, and is beautifully reactive. The colour of it seems to range from a light, pinky peach to a darker, more purplish pink, depending on how much it is struck and the colour(s) it is used with. It also can acquire some yellow tones, as I'll discuss below.

The reaction between Faded Rose and silver leaf is not anything like what I got when I did my testing of Thüringen Herb. On top of Faded Rose, silver leaf webs and beads up in interesting, lace-like patterns. Reduced and under clear, this lace-like pattern with its dots and whorls is still very much in evidence, although softer.  The colour of the Faded Rose under silver leaf is a murkier, dark tan-rose. When the reaction is encased, it looks more like a soft pink.

With TerraNova2 frit, the colour of the Faded Rose is not much changed, although it is clear that one side of the bead has struck more here than the other. The right side of the bead is a little pinker, and I think it got a little more heat. In the bead on the right, you can see that reducing silver glass frit is very interesting on top of Faded Rose, and that the combination of the silver and the reduction has blushed the Faded Rose to an odd yellowish-orange colour.

There is no reaction to speak of between Tuxedo and Faded Rose, but the Faded Rose looks more purple when it is used with Tuxedo.

Like with Tuxedo, Faded Rose has a more purply-pink hue when it is used with Copper Green. There is also a very fun reaction between the Faded Rose and the Copper Green, which is a light turquoise outline that occurs between the two colours. Copper Green does not seem to sheen up when used with Faded Rose, either, which is happy.

On top of Faded Rose, Opal Yellow dots go sort of soft in the middle, and look like the centres of them have collapsed. The stringer lines get a faint, clear line down their centres as well. When Faded Rose is used over Opal Yellow, it curdles the surface, with an Opal Yellow halo rising up to surround the Faded Rose dots and stringer lines.

There is not a lot of reaction to speak of between Ivory and Faded Rose, which is nice, because a lot of pinks do not get along with Ivory at all. On top of Faded Rose, the Ivory lines and dots are nice and crisp. On top of Ivory, Faded Rose kind've gets lost and the Ivory goes a little funny and translucent in patches.

On top of Faded Rose, White separates and develops a clear line down its centre. Faded Rose is not very strong on top of White.

Faded Rose (and all of the other Milky Way colours I've tried, too) make a really gorgeous base colour for organics. This bicone has a base of Faded Rose. I made a nicer one, too, but broke it getting it off the mandrel.

Test Results :: Ocean

1 - Plain, 2 - Plain (reduced), 3 - w/ Silver Leaf, 4 - w/ Silver Leaf (reduced & encased), 5 - w/ Silver Glass Frit Blend (reduced),  6 - w/ TerraNova2 Frit, 7 - w/ Copper Green, 8 - w/ Opal Yellow, 9 - w/ Ivory, 10 - w/ White, 11 - As a Floral (over White) 

General Impressions
Reichenbach Ocean (RL1012B) seems to be a veiled cane. I am theorizing that it is a core of Clear encased in a rich, dense transparent Blue, and then encased in Clear again. It's easy to see why I think that the whole cane is clear-cased when you look at a rod of Ocean, but the theory that it is clear-cored as well comes from a fun effect I observed in some of the beads I've made with it.

This 'fun effect' happens when you use it without mucking up the end of the rod and squishing it all together -- i.e. getting the whole end hot but not so molten that it gathers and folds in on itself. It's fun to draw ribbon-like stripes of it around a bead that is encased, and then encase over it to magnify. It looks like transparent blue ribbons, each with a darker blue outline. It's the darker blue outline that has me convinced that the rods are cored with clear. This colour makes me want to make veiled cane out of all of my densely saturated transparent colours, so I guess we'll be seeing some of that on this blog in the future.

I read somewhere (but have no idea where it might have been) that both Ocean and Antique Green are variations on the Reichenbach Soft Crystal, which I have not yet used because I also read (again, not sure exactly where) that the Soft Crystal has some compatibility issues with other 104 glass, but I am happy to report that I have not had any cracking issues at all with Ocean.

Ocean seems, when you look at the rods, like it might have some mica flecks or sparklies in it, but there is no evidence of this in any of my finished beads. My favourite beads so far with this colour all use Ocean fairly sparingly, over White or in an encased focal surrounded by Clear.

Reactions
I haven't done any of my colour tests with Clear -- Reichenbach or any other, so I can't say with any certainty whether the reactions noted here are unique to Ocean or if they might also be reactions you'd get with Reichenbach Soft Crystal and/or other Clears. Someone with some extra time on their hands could try it and let us know :)

Silver leaf goes sort of filmy and leaves greyish brown smears when melted into Ocean. When it is reduced and encased, the film becomes shinier and more interesting-looking, but doesn't really do much in the way of fun things.

I didn't really expect much from Ocean with silver glass, but both my reduction frit blend and my TerraNova2 frit seem to love this colour. I got nice colour from the TerraNova2, and the reduction frit looks nice on it as well. One of the things I like about this testing is that the glass always surprises me.

Ocean leeches the colour out of Copper Green and keeps it from doing that dark grey-green metallic thing that Copper Green so loves to do. You can see in the middle of this bead and around the dots and lines on the left-hand side how around the Ocean, the colour in the Copper Green sort of flees from the Ocean like it's afraid to get wet. On top of Ocean, the Copper Green separates so that it is lighter around the edges and darker in the middle.

Ocean doesn't really react with Opal Yellow at all, but I love how the stringer dots and lines have a dark blue edge. This is because of the nature of Ocean, not because of a reaction, but it's still pretty neat.

On top of Ivory, the blue in Ocean turns brown in a similar fashion to what happens with other blues and greens like Light Teal and Light Aqua except in a less uniform way. On top of Ocean, Ivory seems to flee to the middle of the dots and lines in a similar way to what happened with the Copper Green.

 

In a floral over white, you can really see the streaky results of using Ocean as stringer. The effect is messy, but still interesting. White thins a bit on the outside of the dots and lines, similar to what happened with Ivory only less strongly. There is no noticeable reaction when Ocean is used over White.

I've had quite a bit of fun with Ocean so far. Here's a little Ocean eye-candy.

Test Results :: Flamingo

1 - Plain, 2 - Reduced, 3 - w/ Silver Leaf, 4 - w/ Silver Leaf (reduced & encased), 5 - w/ TerraNova2 Frit, 6 - w/ Silver Glass Frit Blend (reduced), 7 - w/ Tuxedo, 8 - w/ Copper Green, 9 - w/ Opal Yellow, 10 - w/ Ivory, 11 - w/ White

General Impressions
Reichenbach Flamingo (RL6218) is beautiful, interesting and I think somewhat challenging to use. It's going to take me some time to really figure out how I want to deal with this colour. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of Effetre Sedona, which I have not tested properly yet, only without the devitrification.  Flamingo has its own issues though, as you will see.

In the rod, Flamingo is brown. I spent quite a bit of time staring at it and wondering about it before finally adding it to my palette, and had a long (and probably tedious) conversation with Holly about how unflamingo-like it seemed before I ever melted any.

Depending on what you use it with, it ranges from a dark dusty rose (i.e. Bead #10) to a dark pink with orange overtones (Bead #1) and then down the darkness scale to more medium tones of those colours and the colours in between. It changes colour with silver, not always for the better, and it is really, really reactive. It gets mucky like Rubino Oro if you overheat it (or have a little too much propane -- not sure here). Also like Rubino Oro and many of the Italian pinks, it doesn't play nice with Ivory AT ALL.  More on this in a minute.

Something went wrong (not sure what  yet) when I encased Flamingo with the new Double Helix Terra2, added some Double Helix CE352 and then encased it with Aether. There are compatibility cracks all through the bead. Either the Flamingo doesn't much like being deeply encased, it doesn't much like being combined with a lot of silver glass, or something less obvious is going on. This made me particularly sad because I got such great colour out of the Terra2 and the CE352, but it was sort of lopsided anyway, so maybe this is for the best.  *sigh*

I hope I don't have to lose too many beads before I figure out what the problem is. I'm leaning toward the deep encasement explanation for now, because this colour is very similar in other respects to the Italian pinks, which also don't really take kindly to being encased.

Overall, though, I am pretty intrigued. I'm hoping the weather holds up this weekend so that I can get some torch time in and play with it some more.

Reduction

One of the coolest, weirdest things about Flamingo is that when you reduce it, it goes a shiny dark pink. This reduction film is exactly like the reduction film you get on a silver glass like Triton, apart from the fact that it is pink. I've never seen a colour do this before, so I am totally in awe of it. The whole thing was sort of marred by the fact that for some unknown reason, the whole bead reduced except for a thin line down the middle. Not sure why that happened, really, or if it will happen again.

Reactions

Putting silver leaf on Flamingo was sort of a different experience. First of all, the silver made a really decided beeline for the middle of the bead, and second of all, it totally turned the bead a strange shade of orange. When I reduced and encased the silver in the bead on the right, the result is really interesting -- kind've mottled and lacy and weird. I used Effetre Clear for this test.

Silver Glass really likes Flamingo, so I'm hoping that it doesn't turn out that Flamingo is a silver-glass-hating colour.

I didn't get great colour out of my TerraNova2 frit, but it didn't completely tank either. The pink in the bead of the left is a beautiful colour that unlike in most of the other beads, is actually reminiscent of flamingos. Nothing looked flamingo-like when it went into the kiln, so I spent the seven hours waiting for my annealing cycle to finish up worrying that because there are no flamingos in Germany, the people at Reichenbach had named it without ever looking at one.  Sorry about that :)

In the bead on the right, the silver glass frit has vivid halos around each piece, which is cool all by itself. Even cooler, but not so visible in the picture because it didn't photograph very well, the Flamingo reduced right along with the silver glass and the whole surface of the bead is mirrored, some places with pink and some places with greens and blues. So neat.

There is no bleeding between Flamingo and Tuxedo, but the Flamingo does have a decidedly more yellowish hue on the right-hand side of this bead. Also, where the Flamingo is over the Tuxedo, it looks much paler than in the other beads, is semi-transparent and has developed a translucent line/dot in the middle of the stringerwork designs.

Flamingo is totally cool with Copper Green. The reactions here are so crazy they are not easy to describe accurately.

On the Copper Green side of the bead, the Flamingo has separated over the Copper Green so that it is yellow on the outside and pink in the middle. You can see some dark bits on the Flamingo where I overheated it, possibly with too much propane in my flame.

On the Flamingo side of the bead, the Copper Green has also separated, light and shiny on the outside of the reaction and dark in the middle, but in addition, a thin yellowish line has formed around it so that there are three layers of reactive effect.

Flamingo makes Opal Yellow angry. The Opal Yellow on the Flamingo side of the bead blackened a little in the middle of the dots and lines, turning almost sooty. I did not expect this since Opal Yellow never, ever does things like this. It also curdled and separated.

On the Opal Yellow side of the bead, the Flamingo totally spread out and went orangey and there is some blackening both in AND around those lines.

I'm not sure what to make of this really... I think I need to try it again with a cooler flame to really be sure what's going on here, but it's pretty interesting (if a little ugly).

Flamingo made Opal Yellow angry, but that was nothing compared to the black rage it caused in the Ivory. On the Ivory side of this bead, the Flamingo dots and lines look almost frayed. They're greyed out and the edges are jagged and the whole effect looks a little like dirty watercolours.

On the Flamingo side of the bead, the Ivory dots and lines have a dark outline that is wider than the Ivory that was allowed to survive the reaction.

The oddest thing about these two glasses together, though, has to be the weirdness in the middle.  The reaction is black and jagged, and it looks almost motion-blurred towards the Flamingo side, but it also seems to be emanating pink and purple smog.  I know there's a use for this reaction, I just need to figure out what that might be.

And finally, White separates and gets translucent in the middle when it's put on top of Flamingo. Flamingo looks slightly translucent and a touch more orange when you put it over white, and spreads a bit. You can even see in one place where the centre of a large area of Flamingo seems to have tried to BE white. There is some sooting of the Flamingo here as well.

I made a few beads with Flamingo, some of which I've already shown with other test results, but here they are again. More to come as I give Flamingo a few more workouts.