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Our Flowers of Hope Artist's Reception will held at Art Presence in Jacksonville this year! All of the panels will be on display September 23rd-25th with the Artist's Reception on Saturday the 24th. Thank you to Art Presence for their support! |
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News From Spectrum Glass!
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September 22, 2016 Dear Spectrum Glass Customer, At long last we have some wonderful and exciting news to share with you about Spectrum Glass products! We have finalized the sale of Spectrum Glass and our System 96 brands, equipment, and formulas to world-renowned glass manufacturer Oceanside Glasstile (OGT) in Carlsbad, CA. A long-time Spectrum customer, Oceanside Glasstile manufactures high-end cast glass tile for residential, commercial and pool applications. For almost twenty-five years OGT has led their segment of the art glass industry with innovation and design. Upon receiving the announcement about Spectrum's closing, the opportunity to become the new manufacturer of Spectrum Glass products was evident - not only for the benefit of securing material for their own product lines, but a chance to serve the global art glass industry as a whole. Read More at Spectrum Glass Online |
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On May 11th Spectrum Glass announced that they are stopping production of all art glass at the end of June.
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As they are one of the largest art glass manufacturers in the United States this is troubling to say the least.
We rely heavily on Spectrum glass. It accounts for about 85% of our glass inventory, including System 96 for fusing. Uroboros has stepped up and agreed to continue producing the System 96 line. They have been partners with Spectrum 96 from the beginning and already make a considerable amount of their colors. This is the latest from Uroboros this morning on what they can and can't do. More on Uroboros |
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There's a lot of talk going on about Bullseye's and Uroboros' glass production in Portland
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I've been keeping an eye on this situation as it has unfolded because, as with most stories, there is a lot of misinformation out there. I wanted to get some real facts about how this is all going to affect us in the long run.
First, Bullseye glass is not an issue for us because we only use Spectrum and Uroboros glass. Spectrum glass is not experiencing any problems. Uroboros makes some 96 glass for Spectrum and all of the 96 frit. While both Bullseye and Uroboros are compliant with their DEQ permits, arsenic, cadmium and chromium have been found in moss samples in adjacent areas. Uroboros has not used arsenic for over 20 years, but still uses cadmium and chromium in many of their colors such as yellow, orange and red. These factories are in industrial zones so there are other manufacturing plants in the area that could also be contributing to these metals. Both companies have voluntarily suspended production of all their arsenic, cadmium and chromium colors until this situation can be resolved. This includes yellow, orange, red, brown, green and black glass. I am fairly confident that Uroboros will come to a resolution. For more information on Uroboros check out this link from the owner Eric Lovell. More information from Uroboros The pricing on all of the Spectrum 96 glass will remain the same and there is no problem and no price increase at this time with any of the Spectrum 96 reds, yellows and oranges. What is affected is glass frit, which we tend to use a lot of! All of the 96 frit, stringers, noodles, rods and confetti is made by Uroboros. Not only has the price increased on these colors by almost 35%, there is a restriction on the amount I can purchase: one unit per color/size per order. I have ordered all the 4lb jars that were available through our distributor. I'm not sure if they'll be getting anymore in or not for awhile. As my wonderful rep told me, "Things are changing by the minute around here!" I have spent a lot of time thinking about how I can lessen the effect on our workshops and classes. I have been putting off increasing the price of our Flowers of Hope panels anyway, because I want them to remain affordable. But as people have gained experience with using frit, they are using, in some cases, a lot more. Glass prices tend to go up every year due to shipping and energy costs. With this price increase on frit I have no other choice than to raise the price. Starting March 1st Flowers of Hope with access to all frit + scrap glass $15 Flowers of Hope with scrap glass only $12 Try Fusing with access to all frit + scrap glass $20 Try Fusing with scrap glass only $17 For those of you concerned about the safety of firing your kiln, the temperatures required to make glass batch (2400 degrees) is considerably higher than what your kiln reaches (1450 degrees). There has always been a recommendation to wear a respirator while working with glass powders and that is one reason I don't use powders in class or sell them. If you are concerned about inhalation there is no harm in wearing a N95 respirator. I always recommend them for cleaning up fired shelf paper, powdered frits and for people who pound their own frit. We have them for sale for $3.95. I will keep you posted as I learn more about this situation. Thank you for your understanding and your support! |
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Need a Kiln? Rent one of ours!
Bring in your fused work and we will fire it for you! |
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Projects small enough to fit on a 7" shelf: $5.00 One or more projects on a 13" round shelf: $8.00 Fuse + Slump on 13" shelf: $12.00 Projects on a 20" shelf: $11.00 Fused + Slump on a 20" shelf: $14.00 Long Bubble Squeeze add $3.00 |
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Thank you for visiting our website. |
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Last update -- Friday, September 23rd, 2016 |