Taxco Glass

Oh, my, I am in LOVE!

Generally, I stay away from the expensive (i.e. $80-$100 / lb) silver-colored glass. That's primarily for two reasons. One, it's expensive! Not only is it expensive, but it has not up until now been reliable. Just think about Terra--that miracle glass that was so prized, struck easily, and was beautiful. The next batch was awful and did nothing. A second reason is that if I want my glass pieces to look like boro, I'll either make faux-boro or I will ... work with boro. Boro colors are expensive, but nothing compared to the 104COE silver glasses.

But sometimes you want to combine the boro look or a metallic look with tried-and-true Effetre colors. That's when the silver glasses come in--expensive Bullseye lustre glasses, R4 or Double Helix glasses, or Trautman colors. And of those, my favorite so far is Trautman'sTaxco glass.

Taxco is pronounced "Tasshko," for the town in Mexico most closely associated with silver and turquoise. This glass reduces to a brilliant silvergreenblue metallic shimmer, as you can see in the zebra-striped bead I made here with Moretti ivory and Taxco. Some silver glasses are fussy. The moon has to be in the right place, you have to have your tongue in your cheek at just the right angle, and you have to have precise flame chemistry that will vary depending on humidity and your astrological sign. Taxco plays nice. Take all the oxygen out, and it turns a lustrous iridescent colour. Leave some in, and you get shimmery blues and pinks.

I think I am going to be playing with this glass a LOT. As I said, I am in love!