Dragon's Blood, 1939

Artist Description by Mike Shelbo

This is a color I have been waiting to get my hands on for some time.  It is a self striking deep ruby that does not over strike or liver.  Dragon's Blood can be used in all applications such as surface work, inside out, solid or hollow sculpture and can be diluted to different consistencies for a brighter ruby finish.  An example of this is that the goblin head bead is coiled Dragon's Blood and while still transparent enough to let light transmit through, it strikes to the perfect deep ruby that is dark enough to seem opaque.  When experimenting with Dragon's Blood I covered a point of one inch heavy wall clear tube with it and blew it out thin to achieve a lighter, brighter, perfect ruby.  When sandwiched between clear layers and blown out you can see the color goes a long way and with the self striking quality of the glass, you are able to see what you can expect from different ratios of color to clear.