Profile
We are David Williams and Stephen Byrne of Williams & Byrne, a stained glass design and painting studio based in the United Kingdom.
Our speciality is bespoke stained glass design in any style and exquisite kiln-fired stained glass painting.
We are the authors of Glass Painting Techniques & Secrets from an English Stained Glass Studio – a technique-packed downloadable e-book which shows you how to paint all your tracing and shading (using water and oil), front and back of the glass, in a single firing.
We’ve published several articles.
The Press is always interested in our lives and work: see “What the Press Says” on your right. How many stained glass studios make it into the Financial Times of London?
And how many stained glass designers get to grapple with the BBC’s Naked Scientist?
We believe in always working to the highest standard that we can, each time aiming higher.
We also believe in always sharing what we know with anyone who’s willing to try and try again until they achieve that special level which is uniquely theirs.
Here’s how we came to this point in our lives and our work.
David Williams
David Williams
Straight from art college, David took an 8-year apprenticeship with Patrick Reyntiens – he had decided early on in his life that stained glass painting was what he was going to do with his life.
He followed this long apprenticeship with 15 years as Chief Designer and Studio Manager at John Hardman’s, the stained glass studio founded by Hardman and Pugin in 1838.
Now, it’s all very well doing what other people ask you to do.
But there comes a point in each of our lives when we simply must do things for ourselves and because we freely choose to do them for no other reason that this allows us the best use of all our talents.
So, in 2004, David left Hardman’s and joined forces with Stephen to create a studio of their own.
Stephen Byrne
Stephen Byrne
Stephen, for his part, did things less directly than David.
But the same rule applies: there came a time – after getting a doctorate and working in the City of London for 12 years - when he could do nothing else but leave what he was doing and look for an apprenticeship in stained glass.
He found one at John Hardman’s, which was of course where he met David.
Whilst an apprenticeship at the tender age of 40 may seem lowly, it really doesn’t matter starting again if at last you’re going in the direction that you want.
After 4 years at Hardman’s, and a lot of planning – it’s not enough to make things beautifully, because each one of us must find and like the people who will want to buy what we do best – David and Stephen created Williams & Byrne in March 2004.
The road to the Williams & Byrne stained glass studio
Then, in August 2008, with so much work on the go at any one time, they opened a second studio.
The extra space also means that Williams & Byrne now runs post-graduate design and glass painting courses where people can work together with David and Stephen or work alone as best suits their individual requirements.
The Stories So Far …
Choose from …
The Stained Glass Designer and The Naked Scientist
