Actually, I hope not, I think there was some skill over luck with making these!
‘Raku’ is a glass made by Reichenbach, under the name ‘Iris Orange’. It got nicknamed Raku in reference to ceramics I believe, though I don’t know too much about that (I should probably look it up). Anyway, this glass, and its sister glass colours by Reichenbach (Magic, Multicolour) are what was used to make this set, along with a bit of Gaffer’s Chalcedony. Each bead is made from a rod of one colour. Most of the rods start off as a sort of muddy brown, but by playing with different temperatures and temperature changes, you can get crystals of various colours to grow, making the finished bead show lots of different colours spreading through it. I’m about to go and swot up on the striking cycle so I can understand the chemistry of the process a bit better, but I am really happy with what I achieved with these colours, it has taken a lot of practice!
I hope you like them!
Helen*
