the OGT story
Oceanside Glass & Tile® is the manufacturer of the Oceanside Compatible® family of fusible glass products.
Our product line offers an expansive range of fusible sheet glass and coordinating glass accessories (Frit, Noodles, Stringers, and Rods), as well as blowing Nuggets® and dense color bar for blowing. Our product lines include many extraordinary glasses for a wide range of artistic endeavors, including: stained glass, mosaic arts, kiln forming, and glass blowing. Our products are a steadfast material of choice for architects, designers, and makers of fine lighting, giftware, glass tile, cabinets, and decorative accessories.
Whether you’re a beginner or skilled professional, we look forward to supporting you on your art glass journey and welcome you to the Oceanside family!
Founders Boyce Lundstrom, Sean Gildea, Don Pettey, and Jon Stokesbary.
Chapter I – Our Oceanside Roots
Our story begins in the year 1992. Three artists and a young entrepreneur created a game-changing trifecta – Tile, Glass and Sustainability. Forging into uncharted waters to develop handcrafted tile with recycled bottle glass, Oceanside Glasstile was born. Styles change, colors trend, and the Team still embarks every new day to turn your recycled bottle glass into marvelous mosaics.
Four amigos paddled into the uncertain waves that only dreamers can ride. An experimental business centered on craft and sustainability with a healthy dose of California beach mojo, this humble backyard operation grew its roots in Oceanside. These glass makers broadened their horizons of artistic expression inspired by travel, nature and modern design. With customers who shared their vision for a renaissance of art tile, they helped pioneer a new era. The adventure was catalyzed by a boundless spirit of innovation as Oceanside made waves across the design and building industry.
Quickly outgrowing the shop on Cleveland St. in Oceanside, we expanded to a funky factory down Coast Highway in Carlsbad. The old barrio WWII era buildings were perfect for a glass production line. With homegrown equipment and a salvaged conveyor oven (Lehr), the founders could feel the swell picking up. The housing economy, product desirability and design trends all lined up to produce a perfect storm that propelled the team from a small shop to a more sophisticated enterprise. In 2001 with a continued commitment to innovate, the company bought a much larger building in Carlsbad and outfitted a new manufacturing facility with state of the art equipment.
As the market matured and Oceanside wasn’t the only surfer attempting to ride these powerful waves, we faced some important long-term decisions. After 12 plus years of intense work creating a solid product category in our industry, we embraced the opportunity to dominate the high-end glass market and again built a larger factory across the border in Baja California.
Chapter II – Spreading Our Wings Into the Art Glass Market
The lessons of change and agility were not lost on us as the economy stood still during the radical recession that disrupted so many lives and businesses. We remained true to our vision of tile, art and glass despite pressure from all sides. In 2016, the world of art glass appeared to be the verge of collapse. Renown manufacturers Spectrum Glass® and Uroboros Glass® announce closure resulting in devastation to the art glass community (including Oceanside Glass & Tile who utilized their glass in many product lines). So with fearless creativity and a hunger to keep art glass alive Oceanside Glass & Tile® made a phone call that would change the history of art glass forever …
With serendipity only a Magic 8-Ball might be able to predict, Oceanside Glass & Tile now makes glass for the world its founders pioneered. For the glass blowers, fusers, stained and mosaic artists; for the hobbyists and master craftspeople alike; for the creators, the imaginers, and those who make life a little more colorful. In sometimes unpredictable ways, we all come back to our roots.
In 2017, we purchased the formulas and glass making equipment from Spectrum Glass Company and Uroboros Glass Studios and incorporated those operations into our existing world class art glass tile manufacturing facility in Tijuana, MX. This important acquisition allowed us to continue creating many of the incredibly popular products these two art glass industry leaders developed, including their collaborative tested compatible System 96® fusible product line. System 96 has been rebranded under the Oceanside Compatible™ name and offers an expanded line of sheet glass and accessories.
The Continuous Ribbon (link to info below) process and knowledge we acquired from Spectrum Glass Company allows us to continue producing the smoothest fusible art glass on the market. It also preserved several coveted legacy Spectrum products, such as OpalArt™, Artique®, Baroque™, Waterglass®, Spirit™, and limited Edition Fusers’ Reserve. Many of the items Spectrum produced as stained glass non-fusible items are now produced as Oceanside Compatible fusible sheets. In 2019 we began shipping the resurrected the extremely popular product for glass blowers, Oceanside Compatible Studio Nuggets® and all compatible Accessory products (Frit, Stringers, Noodles, & Rods), in addition to Rack Pack value packs.
Read more about the Continuous Ribbon Process.
And we’re not done yet…
So stay tuned and stay informed by enrolling in our emailed newsletter for updates.
Oceanside Glass & Tile®