My Quest To Conquer Evil

Evil Purple, that is.

There is a particular purple color used in the glass world that has affectionately, or maybe not, been nicknamed EDP which stands for ‘Evil Devitrifying Purple’.  This nickname came about due to its tendency to devitrify. I’m not sure why this happens, all I know is that the glass tends to sort of etch itself or turn frosty or chalky looking, depending on how much devit you get.

If applied to beads with other colors it can also cast it’s evil devit onto it’s neighbors. Here is what it looks like in rod form. The tip of this rod has been heated up and melted.

Needless to say, it is a difficult color to work with and there is a love/hate relationship between many lampwork artists and EDP. Some lampwork artist’s refuse to work with it at all. Others have embraced it, and all its quirks to the point of actually making the devitrification work for them in wonderful ways.

It’s a stubborn color, but I am a stubborn person. I paid $60.00 for the first pound of EDP I ever purchased and I vowed not to let it beat me. I used it in every bead I made until I “got it.”

Here I will share with you some of the beads I made during my EDP journey from the earlier beads to my most current beads. All of the beads I will show you are made with EDP as the main “ingredient”.

My current relationship with EDP is pure love. It has gone from the most infuriating and frustrating colors I’ve ever used, to my most beloved and most frequently used color.  I’ve used EDP in probably 95% of my beads in the last year, and I’ll tell you why.

First of all, as the photos will attest, it is one of the most diverse colors around. It’s color range is incredible.  Colors can range from a soft matte pink, to orchid, to dark purple and even running to shades in rich salmons, browns and yellows, all depending on how you work it.

Melting your EDP into beads isn’t the only way you can use it.
You can also use it to fume your beads, giving them a matte finish, or to make them look etched or frosted. I especially love what it does to dark ivory. All of these beads have been fumed with EDP to give them a matte finish and the appearance of real stones.  Not only does it make them look like stone, but it even feels like stone. Fuming with EDP gives you a much different look and feel than etching.

I’ve created several sets and focals of organic stone-like beads and my customers have always been surprised by how they look and feel.

I prefer this method to etching for an organic stone-like finish. Give it a try, you might like it too. Just pull yourself some stringer from you EDP rod, stick the tip in your flame and flash your finished bead in and out through the upper part of the flame that develops above the EDP.

My greatest EDP eureka moment came much later by accident, and resulted in the creation of some of my most popular style of beads. My Starburst and Nebula style beads.

The new technique allowed me to get a nice range of colors at once, colors I hadn’t been able to get before, plus the bonus of giving me a reaction that gives me a look similar to the silver glasses on the market, but without the high cost of the silver glasses. So, with such a beautifully diverse color, what’s not to love? Well, again, it’s a difficult color to work with, but patience and lots and lots of practice definitely pays off.

Here is a set using several techniques with the EDP including fuming the coral spacers with it.

Do I love EDP? Yes, yes I do.

Debra Jennings is a glass bead maker who blogs from her studio in Squaw Valley, CA.  Learn more about her by reading her personal blog and see her work on her web site.