Artist Spotlight ~ Mary Ann Celinder of Celinder's Glass Design

Meet Mary Ann Celinder of Celinder's Glass Design

Mary Ann Celinder is a glass artist in Huntington Beach, CA.
Most of her work is residential stained and leaded glass windows
with an emphasis on entry systems.
She’s been creating windows since the mid 70’s.

Mary Ann's fascination with glass began as a child sneaking peaks at the rose window in church. At sixteen, she began to paint on glass, but pursuing a love of literature, received her B.A. in English from Cal State Fullerton in 1976. Art classes were always in the schedule and in her senior year, a course in stained glass changed her direction.

"I used No Days Glaze in the sky and border.
The panel was built in 3 sections for an overall 6’ x 6’.
The No Days also went into the joining came at the job site."

"I was hooked as soon as I completed my first window. I knew this would be my life's work. I feel very lucky to make a living doing something I love." The next several years were spent studying glass and design by taking additional art classes.

Exterior view of the eagle transom.

Mary Ann worked for two local studios. One did restoration work for auction houses. This was a valuable lesson in learning why a window fails. Between commissions, she worked at another studio, but her desire to create her own designs pushed her to open her own studio.

"Beveled diamonds in a turret."

Most of her studio's work is in private homes and restaurants throughout South California. 

"The home is on a windblown Chino Hills rise.
Subject to lots of weather, we didn’t want to take any chances with the elements.
So we used No Days Glaze to create a weatherproof seal between the
diamond bevels and the lead came."

There are six leaded glass panels in total.

"The No Days Pre-Glazed Came made the
four lighting inserts very stiff.
(Someday those light bulbs will need changing!)
We also wanted to keep the (food) prep area free from putty debris."
Overall size: 105” x 42”.

"The interior designer wanted the look of wrought iron with the textures of leaded glass.
By cutting the lead heart out with a Dremel blade, I curled the lead as desired.
The lead is secured (to the glass) with No Days Glaze. Heated on both sides, it held well."

"With the large center panel, No Days Glaze was great for holding the borders to the glass.
It will keep the panels together so they won’t spread apart or leak."

"There are reinforcement bars in the skylights,
but using the No Days Glaze made the panels stiff while handling,
and we’re not worried about them sagging."

"No Days Glaze made installation easy because it
reinforced the panels and prevented them from sagging or bending."

The project is in a home movie theater in Beverly Hills.

"The (mosaic) stairs were laid in thin set.... what a back breaker!
Three steps was all that could be handled in a day."

"I wised up on the top landing and bought a wonder board and No Days Mosaic Adhesive film.
The 3’ x 3’ section was worked at a comfortable table height, then dropped into place.
That’ll be the plan next time we do a stairwell for the whole project!"

Celinder’s Glass Design is affiliated with the Stained Glass Association of America. Mary Ann is a founding member of the International Guild of Glass Artists and serves on the Guild’s Advisory Board. She is also a member of the Huntington Beach Art League and BNI, a business networking group.

Mary Ann Celinder
Celinder's Glass Design
21341 Fleet Lane
Huntington Beach, Ca 92646 

Studio 714 962 8361

www.customleadedglass.com