Tongue Pink...Is it pretty?

[lynn's lampwork]

I'm looking for a nice pink and have been using Dark Pink #256. Is Tongue Pink lighter or darker than Dark Pink? And, another other advice for pinks?

Thanks!

[kimberly]

Tongue pink is more of a light brick or pinkish terracotta. I love it but a lot of people don't. Back in a second with a photo..............

[Lynn Larson]

Tounge pink is pretty if you can convince it to strike. It's kind of a dark dusty rose.

[xiola blue]

I made a test bead with tongue pink and cooled it in the blankets. It was pale and lovely and I thought it would make a great shell color. So I made the shell and put it in the kiln and got a shell that looks like a tongue in color. I like it, but I wasn't expecting such a difference. This is how we learn..ha ha.

[kimberly]

Okay. The top half, the middle and the very bottom of this bead is Tongue Pink. It is hard to strike, as lynn mentioned. I love it for organics and with other colors. It is reactive to silver and some of the reduction frits.

[Tanya]

Kimberly - your beads have the most graceful shapes and lovely colors...

I worked with this color a lot a while back when I was looking for pale, non-reactive, alternatives to white. This isn't it since I can always get Tongue Pink to strike (translate...I can't keep it from striking) so long as it has raised decoration on it. That is, if I make a plain bead out of TP (oh dear...well I simply cannot go on typing Tongue Pink) and melt it smooth it looks almost white. If I then add decoration -dots or trails or whatever - and partially melt it in, the TP will go very dusky pink - actually a very nice color, much more intense than dark rose (which isn't even a little bit intense) and not at all like the color of MY tonque. The color is always darkest near the raised decorations - like the effect at the top of Kimberly's bead. This can be very effective using TP on top of TP. If I then melt the decoration in all the way, the TP returns to almost white. I can't recall ever trying it with silver.

[xiola blue]

I cannot recall what frit I used with my tongue pink shell, but would the frit have caused the glass to go so dark? I am going to get it out and try some other techniques with it. Tanya, I hope I get some results like you describe. and if I got the pinks Kim gets I would think I had died and gone to heaven! xiola

[Lara]

Wow, KIM!!!!!!! I don't think I have seen that one in person, if I had, I may have had to buy it.

[kimberly]

Wow, KIM!!!!!!! I don't think I have seen that one in person, if I had, I may have had to buy it.

It's new. Just made it the other night! I really liked it!

[kimberly]

I cannot recall what frit I used with my tongue pink shell, but would the frit have caused the glass to go so dark? I am going to get it out and try some other techniques with it. Tanya, I hope I get some results like you describe. and if I got the pinks Kim gets I would think I had died and gone to heaven! xiola

Depending on the frit you used, the answer is yes. I have it go dark with Raku and with Iris Gold and some of the other "reduction" frits which I can't remember right now..

[alexm]

The secret to getting tongue pink (and many other colors) to strike is to get the bead cool enough. Since the color of hot glass is a good indicator of temperature, you can use this to your advantage in determining when your bead is cool enough for a reliable strike. Hold your bead under your work surface (or other darkened area) until you no longer see any glow in the dark. You want to do this because even when you no longer see any glow in the light, the bead is still too hot. You want the glow gone in the dark. Ok, so when the glow is gone in the dark, you will reintroduce the bead into the back of your flame. Just give it a quick roll or two in the back of the flame. You will see it change color. Take it out of the flame immediately and put it in the kiln.

This works for other hard-to-strike colors like powder pink as well. Be aware that some colors will strike to a different color hot than when it is cool. For example, powder pink will strike from a creamy white to a tan color. When cooled, the tan color will change to pink. Those who don't have any experience with powder pink will go on trying to strike it to pink in the flame, never realizing that they want the tan color and that it will not be pink when the glass is hot.