German Shop

Black & White

Black & White

 

Black & White

Months ago we came up with the idea of making a newsletter featuring black and white. And the more we worked with b&w, the more interesting the topic became. Now we could fill more than one newsletter with the possibilities of black and white glass, but don’t worry, we tried to pack the best into this one newsletter you are reading right now.

Black is the color of coal, ebony and of outer space. It is the darkest color, the result of the  complete absorption of light and therefor the absence of any color.

Black glass is always a dark, transparent color, which is so highly saturated that it seems opaque. That’s why black is usually very dark violet (effetre, Ornela) or very dark blue (Vetrofonds, Reichenbach Deep Black, effetre black dense).

White is the color of fresh milk and snow. It is the color the human eye sees when it looks at light which contains all the wavelengths of the visible spectrum, at full brightness and without absorption.

 

Glass art in person:

blended works, but all in black & white!

This time we asked for pictures of your black and white works on Facebook, and this is what we got – an amazing mix of great ideas:

 

Thanks for all the pictures we got from you!

Deep Black versus Black Intense

Deep Black (Reichenbach L9203) is, as the name speaks for itself, really black. Darker than the night, darker than black coffee, deep black.
No matter how you use it, as frit or powder, Deep Black is black and stays black, even pulled out very thin (powdertwisties). It is perfect for random dot patterns for e.g. cows, cats and other animals, for twisting (no discoloring to blue or violet) and of course the frit and powder can be pulled out to stringers to make very thin lines. We recommend the powdertwisty specially for whiskers or magical patterns.

Tip for powdertwisties:
Roll a very hot blob into Deep Black glass powder until the blob is saturated with powder. The powder should be all over the blob. Then melt in and twist. The stripes will become very thin – don’t pull too hard! – and will stay deep black.

Hint: If youencase the powdertwisty with clear glass (like a lamella bead), even Deep Black would exceded its limit, the stripes would become too thin and finally get blue

 

Black Intense (effetre T066) is also black, but compared to Deep Black it makes a very special effect if used in a special way: it creates a web-effect, also called “Black-Lace”.
If you use it with great heat, it evolves this amazing organic pattern, that makes every bead a unique piece. Two things are important:

  • The right base: e.g. anice and many other pastel colors, ivory, copper green, light and silver pink opaque, etc work very nice with Balck Intense.
  • The right handling: apply it as usual and then really heat up the Black Intense, then let it cool down, “roast” it again – repeat this until the effect developes.

Hint: Black Intense is contained in the Vetromagic blends Grand Canyon, Ebony & Ivory and Black Tiger. Enjoy!