Artist Profiles

Just a short distance away from Ludlow racecourse and over the River Corve lies the quiet village of Stanton Lacy. Right by the church, in converted farm buildings, David Williams and Stephen Byrne design, paint, restore... in fact they do everything with stained glass – including teaching the techniques.

David Williams

David Williams is a fine-arts graduate. He initially worked has a printmaker, but in his words, he "accumulated prints and accumulated debt". After a visit to Liverpool Cathedral, he decided that stained glass was what he had to do. He wrote to many studios before he was taken on as an apprentice in the studio of the world-famous stained glass artist Patrick Reyntiens, where he worked for eight years.

Stephen Byrne's career path was a little more unusual.

Until six months before his 40th birthday, Stephen was a business analyst in the City of London, but he was coming to the conclusion that the pin-striped suit wasn't to feature in his future. He handed in his notice and began training in stained glass techniques.

Now, Williams and Byrne like to share their knowledge. Three or four times a year, they run courses at their Stanton Lacy studio. You can learn more about stained glass and painting on glass whether you are a beginner or you have some experience.

If you go to a stained glass course at Stanton Lacy you will be in good company.  Yasuhiro Muraoka, a highly respected  glass painter from a famous studio in Kobe, Japan recently brought ten students for a two-day course with David and Stephen.

Japanese students in Stanton Lacy

Hiro, as he is known, speaks good English, as does his assistant Yoko, but before the class arrived, Stephen Byrne didn't know about the language skills of the students. He said his talents for mime and practical demonstration would be put to the test.