We always hear that life is a journey, and I think glass-making is, too. Throughout my career making glass, some of the best inspirations and ideas have come to me unexpectedly and far from the path I thought I was on. Here at Glass Alchemy, we try to continually bring something new to the table, while maintaining the highest quality so that you will find our glass not only beautiful, but great to work with. Doing that often means looking at things differently, taking a new approach, listening to artists’ ideas, or simply taking the time to consider possibilities.

When it comes to cadmium, I had plenty of time to think last year as Glass Alchemy paused production while working with the State of Oregon on new industry guidelines. This period was a very difficult time for us and the entire industry.  Making glass is what we are passionate about and having to put production of certain colors on the sideline was hard. But the opportunity to be a voice in helping regulators make good decisions for the community, the environment and for glass makers and artists, was an experience we really appreciated. The break from cadmium production also gave me time to dig deeper into the chemistry of this chemical and really explore where we could take the glass.

All of this exploration, study and consideration has resulted in our new Neo-Cad™ line of colors!! We started off months ago thinking about our traditional Crayon colors but ended up in a whole new place, and I think you will like where we landed!! These are not your dad’s (or my dad’s!) old recipes. The Neo-Cad™ colors are a continuation of Glass Alchemy’s commitment to producing glass as an art form, rather than as a commodity that is imported and/or compromised in quality.

You can check out the Neo-Cad section of our website to see what we have been working on. We are going to be hitting it hard with Crayon colors that are better than ever, along with new translucent and transparent cads. I want to send a big thanks to all of you for the tremendous positive feedback on OJ and Ketchup - they are ready to move out of the Test Lab section!!

Keep your eye on the Neo-Cad™ section of our website; you will be stoked on what we have lined up for you!!

Peace - Thomas