Artist Description by Mike Shelbo

GA Jackpot has large flakes of sparkle giving this transparent deep money green an intense shimmer and wide spectrum of reflective color. When you stripe, coil, mash, layer and twist or swirl this color you can actually see the effect in the look of the sparkle. An example would be the tight satin like pattern that is formed when compressing the rod while spinning. Think of each sparkle flake as a small flat chip that can either be stacked on top of one another or laid side by side, each manipulation changing the “look” or finish.  You can achieve a larger flake or sparkle when the rod is applied and worked in flat without much manipulation.

This color is great for every application including solid work, with or without encasement.  Hollow forms will yield a beautiful array of effects depending on the thickness in color layer.  When blown thin or stretched down into a thin stringer or veil, Jackpot will be transparent yet still lend a lot of sparkle to the finished look.  Do not use an extremely high mix of propane when Jackpot is being worked for long periods of time in the flame without encasement, the result would be a slight grey just on top of your brilliant base color.  At any time, a thin layer of clear over Jackpot will often "brighten" it up a bit and the encasement always helps amplify the sparkle while leaving your surface clean and crisp.  Jackpot can be encased in thick clear for marbles and sculptures.  Layer under other more transparent colors such as GA Double Passion and GA Brilliant Blue for wonderful results.

Portland Gray, 9992 was developed to fill a hole in the borosilicate palette.  Glass Alchemy introduced the first opaque gray and we chose neutral # 5 on the gray scale as a starting point.  Available in all five frit grades.

Artist Description by Mike Shelbo

“Starry Night is similar in sparkle flake, size and structure to Paparazzi and Sapphire, but has the added addition of just the right amount of silver to bring a fume like veil over the surface of your sparkle finish.  When working Starry Night you must keep the surface in mind as the silver will push out in a ghost blue transparent cloudiness. You can remove the cloudiness with an intense spot heat, or let it build up to a slightly cream colored fume. Either way, there are loads of sparkles and possibilities for swirling silver into your pieces.  I found I liked putting a thick layer of Starry Night over a clear tube, melting it smooth, encasing it with 6mm clear rod and then melting that to either stretch down, or blow out thin.  It traps the silver fume and gives a different look to the sparkle than when it is un-encased.” – Mike Shelbo

Artist Description by Mike Shelbo

“With large flakes of sparkle, this transparent deep brilliant blue has an intense shimmer and wide spectrum of reflective color.  If you stripe, coil, mash, layer and twist or swirl this color you can actually see the effect in the look of the sparkle. An example would be the tight satin like pattern that is formed when compressing the rod while spinning one direction without encasement into a marble. When the rod is applied and worked without much manipulation, it will show much larger flakes of sparkle. Think of each sparkle flake as a small flat chip that can either be stacked on top of one another or laid side by side, each manipulation changes the “look” or finish.  This color is great for every application including solid, with or without encasement, and hollow forms with varying thickness in color.  When blown thin or stretched down into a thin stringer or veil, Sapphire will be very transparent yet still lend sparkle to the finished look.  Do not use an extremely high mix of propane when Sapphire is being worked for long periods of time in the flame without encasement, the result will be a slight grey just on top of your brilliant blue base color.” – Mike Shelbo

Artist Description by Mike Shelbo

“I have been waiting for this sparkle for a long time. It really completes the sparkle palette for earth tones. Tiger’s Eye has such large sparkle flakes that when you catch it in different light it seems as though you see every color of the rainbow reflecting like a prism.  At the same time, you can also see gold and silver flakes. The base color helps a lot with this effect.  Similar to Beryl but a bit more vibrant, this transparent color works quite the same.  It handles every type of working situation, although you want to avoid long exposure to a heavy propane flame.  It can be worked solid or blown, thick or thin. I prefer dense layers of Tiger’s Eye so you can really see the range of spectrum within the sparkle.” – Mike Shelbo

This is a fantastic color that has a wide range of possibilities.  Try striking the silver, the copper, or both!  Available in five frit grades.

A dark, soulful, opaque blue, Lapis, 5195 is a necessary addition to every studio and is available in five frit grades. 

This color was designed to be a deep, rich, dark opaque brown.  Available in five frit grades. 

The purple will become darker and darker the longer it is worked and if your piece goes into the kiln and you still want a darker color, then strike at 1100 F for 15-20 minutes extra.  You can always change the look of the top layer of Passion Extreme by blasting a sharp and hot flame onto the surface, immediately cutting through the silver build up and reversing the strike of the "skin" of the color.  From there it's just in how you expose it to the flame or kiln that will determine the outcome of this wonderful color.  Passion Extreme holds up well in blown and solid applications, and thin stringers hold color well.  When sandwiched under clear more light blue fumey effects are showcased over the base color.  I really like using this color with GA Raven and on top of GA Sno White in a veiled cane.

This transparent color can strike and shift in color simultaneously because of the perfect mix of ingredients similar to those found in Triple Passion.  Striking a bit slower than its Triple counterpart, you can see more yellows, ambers, oranges and pinks.  The amount of silver in the color allows you to have a surface buildup of wispy and cloudy bursts of light blues and cream colors that can be controlled by the amount of propane in your torch flame setting.  When worked very hot, you are left with an intense pink or magenta color. Your Double Passion will transmit light of different colors depending on how much the base color strikes and how much silver you let rest on the surface.  This color works well in blown or solid application, with or without encasement.