Lobolita

The mirror crack’d from side to side
The curse has come upon me, cried
The Lady of Shalott
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson
-(or, if you prefer, Agatha Christie)

I initially titled this post “compatibility issues,” but I really hate the current usage of the word “issues” in that sort of context. I fall into it from time to time, because I hear it so often, but I hate it. Whenever a person says “I have issues,” I always think of the woman in the Bible who had issues for twelve years, and wonder what bodily fluid they’re referring to.

So compatibility problems. Yesterday’s torching session was extremely successful, from a design and productivity standpoint. I made 10 lovely, tiny spacers:

And three more complicated beads, also quite lovely. I was particularly proud of the lotus-style bead in the center:

But alas, see the cracks? All of my beads so far have been made with a practice set of glass I got from Sundance Art Glass, theoretically 30 random rods of Effetre. Not this clear–not only did it not burn or scum, the hallmark of Effetre clear, once cooled, it obviously has a non-compatible coefficient of expansion (COE). Physics being fairly immutable in the glass-melting game, CRACK.

Farewell, pretty beads. I will try to make you again sometime.