What is Dichroic Glass?
Dichroic glass has a beauty and intensity of color that immediately caused Andrea to fall in love with it. Shimmering hot pinks, cobalt blues and liquid golds are brought together with more subtle colors to form astonishing jewelry and decorative tiles.
This jewelry has to be seen to be appreciated as pictures can only capture the colors at any one moment. The best thing about dichroic glass is the way it changes colors and hues as it moves in the light.
Dichroic glass, also called fusion glass, is glass treated with various metal oxides to make it appear to have many colors. Developed for use in the American space program, dichroic glass is now popular as a jewelry and art material. The name comes from a Greek word meaning “two colors.”
In the 20th century, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began experimenting with treated glass to make astronaut face-plates that would block harmful spectrums of light. The developed process created dichroic glass, which uses fine layers of metal oxides to fracture and separate lightwaves. The resulting substance is used on a variety of objects, such as satellite mirrors and scientific instruments. It is also found on commercial products such as mirrors and camcorder lenses.
Glass artists are now adopting this technology for the arts and are producing gorgeously colorful pieces of art that enrich our lives and bring us joy.