In these pieces, the opalescent plum glass has been combined with a second type of speciality glass called irid. Irid is short for iridescent and is a coating added to one surface of sheet glass. Unlike opalescent glass, which has a consistent surface for the full length of one side, irid sheets vary in appearance from edge to edge and from sheet to sheet.
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| Scrap earrings using plum opalescent, purple iridescent and transparent clear - pre-firing. |
The earrings above are made with three layers. The bottom layer is the plum opalescent glass, the smaller rectangle in the middle is plum irid, and the top cap is thin clear. In the previous test piece, the plum opalescent turned a little bluer purple and revealed some surface sheen not present in the pre-fired glass.
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| Scrap earrings using plum opalescent, purple iridescent and transparent clear - post-firing. |
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It was pleased to see that even covered by the clear cap of glass, the opalescent glass was consistent in the heat-induced changes and the irid's metallic surface properties have been heat-activated and are not suppressed by the addition of the transparent cap.
Notice, also, that the right-angle corners are much less harsh after firing since all layers of glass now have rounded corners.
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