Summer Dichroic

Hello! I realize it's been a while since I've posted here.  I've been away on a bike and barge vacation in Holland.  What a simply lovely country, clean and beautiful.  The people were so pleasant, and I was amazed at their ingenuity.  Their management of water using their windmills is truly amazing.

So, now I'm back, and my hands were itching to play with some clay.  It's been a while since I've worked with the dichroic-look in polymer.  The pieces I made last were in fall and winter shades. They looked rich and deep, but I'm in a "yea, summer!" mood, so decided to try making lighter color shades.  I had to experiment a little bit to get the colors light.  Not only did I want the original sheets to have light colors, I also needed to consider what might happen in the baking process, since so many colors shift with heat, often to deeper hues.

To get the light colors, I put little pools of 70% rubbing alcohol in the shallow cups of a plastic paint mixing tray.  I then added just one drop of various alcohol ink colors in each section.  After mixing, I used a paint brush to pick up the color and spread it on the dichroic sheet base.  I had to add a little more ink to some colors, and dilute a couple of others, and finally got the shades I was hoping to get.
I'm pleased with these initial results. Hope your screen shows the new, lighter shades.