The thing about red glass...

...It doesn't stay red!

At the beginning of the month, I introduced January's birthstone - garnet.  Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I thought I'd continue with the red theme, but this time talk about the red glass itself.

First off, all the pinks and red glass I use is artists's stained glass, as the few apparently red glass bottles you may have seen are all actually painted - and sadly, the paint just burns off.

Red glass is surprisingly difficult to work with.  Because I melt glass using focused sunshine, the intensity of the heat is highly variable - and so is how the heat is distributed through the glass.  With darker colors (like the garnet red glass above), much of the light (and thus heat) is absorbed on the side facing the light, while the other side remains cooler.  I have to flip and turn the glass constantly to heat the drop evenly enough to form a symmetric handmade glass drop.  But the red glass still doesn't heat perfectly evenly, as it would be in a kiln.

Sometimes it changes color unexpectedly as it heats and cools - turning orange, yellow, or rusty brown, or leaving streaks of opaque or darker glass once it has cooled down. They do make some fun and interesting color mixes, but it's really hard to find good pairs!

Garnet red glass drops (made from this glass by Spectrum Glass Company) is one of the few deep reds I have found that stays true to color and also doesn't contain any lead. (Different colors of glass are made by adding certain elements. I try to stay lead-free with my glass working, and reds, pinks, and purples made without lead are hard to find!)

I was really worried when I heard last May that Spectrum was closing their doors - finding a new, consistent red glass was not something I was looking forward to! Luckily for me - and you too, if you love this deep garnet color - it turns out Spectrum stained glass will continue under new owners. Hooray! Plus, I can't wait to see what new colors they come out with!