Leadlights
SERVICES
History
I'm a Sydney lad, born in 1952 in Stanmore, raised in Bexley and grew up with the Georges River running through my back yard. The suburb of Georges Hall was at that time situated in th midst of or bounded by the "Green Belt", a buffer zone of bushland. Many a weekend foray took me and my mates through the bush alongside the river, up onto Black Charlie's Hill or out toward Lansdowne. The suburb hasn't moved, but the green belt has long vanished.
After graduating with the Interior Design Diploma (Credit) in 1974 I spent three and a half years as graphic artist for Taronga Zoo, which overlooks Sydney harbour, a very nice place to be. My boss, Barbera Purse, was a terrific person to work under, and she taught me a great deal of typography and layout, and also manouvering and surviving within a very petty political buearocracy. I was also given a lot of freedom within the job and was able to take advantage of the wonderful opportunities of drawing animals live.
While there I was quite fortunate to work alongside several other Sydney artists, including the late Frank Beck and Kevin Hardacre.
This was followed in 1978 by three years training under Stephen Moor in his studio at Strathfield. Stephen migrated to Australia from Hungary at the close of WW2. His life and work is discussed in Jenny Zimmer's book "Stained Glass in Australia". Here I learnt all the techniques of stained glass including restoration and allied methods such as Applique (cold laminate) and Dalle de Verre, known here as 'concrete glass', since it was originally cast in a matrix of reinforced concrete. Stephen's technique was to cast the glass blocks in epoxy resin mixed with vermiculite.
Moor was considered one of the foremost practitioners of his time, with stained glass commissions throughout Australia, and I was very privileged to have the opportunity of working under him. His contemporaries in Sydney included David Saunders, Phillip Handel, Kevin Little and Martin Van Der Toorn. The bulk of Moor's work is figurative, in a very expressive, Germanic style. Practically every commission was a painted and fired work. There were many instances where he was also commissioned to design the altar and furnishings, sanctuary lamp, sculpural decoration and sometimes vestments. Stephen Moor died peacefully in July, 2003, aged 87. A fellow German, Wolfgang Jansen, who took over my position when I left Moor's studio in 1982, is working on a biography of Stephen Moor.
Hamilton Design Glass Specialises In:
Ecclesiastic
Glass Painting
Residentail
One-Off Artworks
Restoration
Service Categories
Stained Glass
|
|
 |
