Rods-33
By the mid-1980’s, Paul Trautman had conceived, designed and built the world’s first commercial operation to manufacture coloured borosilicate rod glass. Northstar Glassworks set the standard for modern boro colour production, and now several small companies are using Paul’s techniques to manufacture coloured glass. They also use recipes pioneered by Paul, which expanded the boro palette from a few red and blue transparent colours, into bright opaque jewel tones and highly reactive metallic colours that shift their hue depending on the atmosphere of the flame. Paul sold Northstar in 2002, intending to return to art and his own lab. But the urge to mix colour (and requests from his fans) lured Paul back to manufacturing on a smaller scale. After perfecting his recipe for a self-striking ruby red—the now hugely popular Red Elvis—Paul started working on both a new palette, and on improving some old favorites. Now, Paul is also making soft glass. The luscious reactive effects of the silver-strike boro colours Paul initially invented are now available in the coe 104 glass used by Italian sculptors and bead makers the world over. Off-Mandrel.com is very happy to present both borosilcate and soft glass colours in the UK for the first time. Enjoy!
