Gaia Double Helix Rod

Double Helix Gaia is dark emerald but when treated in a reduction flame can develop a metallic iridescent lustre.

Double Helix Gaia is a soft 104coe glass that can easily melt in the flame. Fine stringers are easy to pull using tweezers and gently pulled from the molten gather of glass at the end of the rod. Be sure to keep the glass in a neutral flame or you will strike the glass bringing the silver particles to the surface (even when you don’t want to!)

The stringer was used to create a feathered decoration on the surface of this large, ivory (Effetre light ivory) bead. Once the decoration was applied and melted into the surface, the bead was gently reshaped and introduced into a reduction flame to coax the metallic green and blue lustre colours to the surface.

Gaia Lentil shaped beads were created using a large lentil-shaped brass press. Carefully shaping the beads in a neutral flame, they were then pressed to create a deep, lentil shape. The surface of the beads was decorated with thin stringers pulled from Effetre light ivory glass and used to create a scroll and swirl pattern. Once this glass decoration was melted into the surface, the oxygen level of the flame was reduced and the bead flashed in and out of the flame to develop the metallic lustre finish over the surface of the bead.

They produced lovely iridescent blue/green colours.

Encased beads – these crystal-shaped beads were made entirely of Double Helix Gaia and Effetre super clear glass; the beads were made using a brass-shaped press.

The soft core of the Double Helix Gaia bead was easy to shape and was cooled and then treated in a heavy reduction flame to create a metallic surface. The beads were then encased in a thick layer of transparent glass to trap the lustre colour.

The beads were worked beneath the flame, making sure that the flame did not make contact with the surface before being covered in a layer of glass.