Most of the glass used in James Michael's studio comes from one of two sources.
The crystal, or batch, is a modified formula from the late Dominic Labino. This glass is made from the raw elements of sand, soda ash, limestone, feldspar, lithium carbonate, sodium nitrate, zinc oxide, barium carbonate, flourspar, and antimony. These elements along with a few others are blended in just the right combination to produce a compound referred to as batch.
The batch is melted in the studio at a temperature above 2200 degrees
Fahrenheit. Once melted and fined (a process to remove the bubbles from the molten glass), it is ready to work.
The colors in James Michael artwork are mostly Kugler, from Germany. He has found that these colors are the best for the mediums he uses.
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