2017 promises to be an exciting year for us and our customers as Oceanside Glasstile (OGT) confirms that they will be taking over production of Uroboros glass, as well as Spectrum Glass. These are the two companies that produce all of the COE96 fusing glass we stock - fantastic ranges that allow us, our students and customers to be limitless in imagination and design.
The provision of System 96 glass is very important to us. It is our favourite fusing glass to teach with due to it being a soft, flat glass that is easy for beginners to cut. It remains a favourite with more intermediate and professional-level artists due to its vibrancy and fantastic range of colours and patterns.
Our company director, James Paget, said: “It’s a huge relief and very exciting news that we can still offer System 96 fusing glass, Uroboros and the Spectrum range to our customers and students. I look forward to working closely with Oceanside this year and beyond. I am sure there will be exciting developments for glass art ahead!”
Spectrum Glass and Uroboros Glass were scheduled for closure last year for various reasons (links at the bottom if you’d like to find out more) meaning the future of these world-renowned ranges was in real danger, and we acquired as much stock as possible before production ended. We are thrilled that OGT are already in production of Spectrum Glass and will be in production of Uroboros Glass and Frit in the next few months, meaning that we hope to be getting the new glass into stock within a few months! We currently have lots of System 96 (COE 96) and Spectrum in stock and expect that the transition will be smooth.
We’re also comforted to know that OGT are taking their environmental responsibilities and commitment to the quality of the glass ranges very seriously. The company’s production facilities are in Mexico, but they have confirmed that they will use the same production techniques and bag-house emission control practices that Spectrum has used for over 20 years – meeting American safety legislation. They have also taken on key staff from Spectrum and Uroboros including engineers and chemists to ensure that the company legacies and passion live on and top quality glass continues to be produced.
One of our course tutors, Catherine Dunstan, said: “I’m thrilled that we will all still have access to this glass. I, like many glass artists, have felt my creativity stifled by the prospect of losing the System 96 glass range and now that I know we will all have access to the colours we need a huge weight has been lifted.”
Our resident fusing expert, Simon Alderson, said: “I’m excited to see how OGT will develop Spectrum’s educational programme and what new materials and projects we could introduce on our courses and masterclasses.”
We will continue to keep you updated with news from OGT! You can also keep up via the links below and our Facebook Community Page.
Oceanside Glasstile is a global glass tile production comany based in California that has been developing and growing for 25 years.
*COE = Co-efficiency of Expansion (a measure of how glass moves in the kiln) To learn more about the science of glass fusing and how to utilise its properties in your designs try one of our intermediate glass fusing courses!