Studio Profile

Hey there and hello!

This is just a tad embarrassing because it puts us in the spotlight.

And what we really want to talk about is kiln-fired stained glass painting, not us!

But now you’ve asked.

And you’ve certainly a right to know.

And if we didn’t answer the question – “Just who are you?” – well, maybe you might reckon we had something to hide.

So on the understanding this is just a way of being open and starting up a conversation, we’ll stand up and say a bit about ourselves.

First up, there are two of us here. That’s Stephen on the left and David on the right: so, Stephen Byrne and David Williams.

The studio’s name is … “Williams & Byrne”.

The Maker's Mark of Williams & Byrne

And here’s our maker’s mark because as you know, glass painters don’t usually sign their work.

Instead they make a distinctive mark.

Here’s ours on the left.

So that’s what we put somewhere on every window we make. (The Sherlock Holmes amongst you will soon see how it’s an abstraction from the Williams & Byrne logo. Cunning, eh?)

Now the studio is gorgeous.

Or rather, the studios are gorgeous, because there are two of them, set on opposing sides of a landscaped courtyard.

They used to be barns.

Now they’re spacious light-filled studios, surrounded by pastures and farmland, and overlooked by the hazy purple hills of Shropshire.

We think Shropshire’s heaven on earth.

Not that we are biased.

If you imagine England at its most idyllic, you’ll see Shropshire.

Heaven, yes!

And here’s the road to the studio:

A part of England which is Heaven on earth ...

The worst traffic jam is when the cows are taken to be milked at 12.15 each day …

Maybe you’ll come and see this for yourself one day – it’s quite a sight. (And not just a sight.)

Now we’ve been here for six years now, rising higher every year. So now we don’t compete for the design and painting work we do. Ever.

Like just recently a tycoon asked us to design and paint 16 stained glass skylights for his dining room ceiling.

He didn’t ask anyone else.

End of story.

Or rather, start of story, because it’s a heck of a lot of work … but every success creates its own problems, and we’d rather have the problems of success than anything else!

Not least, it gives us more to share with you.

Like the story of how we won this tycoon’s trust (which you can read here).

And now let’s get down to some vital statistics …

David Williams

David Williams

Born in 1954, married to a painter (a good source of brushes), three grown-up children (one a paleontologist who makes Indiana Jones look like a cissy).

Precocious. Boy, yes! – Went to art college while still at school (this also got him off Games and Latin). Then just “decided” he was going to work with John Piper. Things didn’t quite work out like that …

Instead he straight away got an 8-year apprenticeship with Patrick Reyntiens who as it happens (amongst many other projects) was busy reinterpreting Piper’s designs for Coventry Cathedral and the such-like.

David followed his exhilarating time with Patrick at another well-known studio, Hardman’s of Birmingham, founded by Hardman and Pugin in 1838. Thus 15 years as Chief Designer and Studio Manager. Which brought him into contact with the most amazing glass from just about every era.

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.

For this reason, in 2004, David left his influential position at Hardman’s and joined forces with Stephen to create a different kind of studio.

Crazy, eh!

Ah – but calculated risks are what make life fun!

Stephen Byrne

Stephen Byrne

Born in 1959, married to a musician and book reviewer (a good source of … books!), with a six-year old daughter, Nell (name chosen on the basis that “Nell Byrne” sounds like someone who’ll be able to throw a good punch if ever this is needed).

Brought low by the realization, aged 15, that he would never make it as a concert hall violinist, so instead threw himself into academic study.

Result: a doctorate from Oxford University and a barren soul – think Casaubon in Middlemarch – a cast of mind only slightly mollified by 12 years’ buccaneering as a trouble-shooter in the City of London.

And you get to a point where you have to say, Enough!, when you can do nothing else except leave and look for a different way of living.

Stephen discovered his answer through an apprenticeship at Hardman’s where of course he met David. Now an apprenticeship at the tender age of 40 may seem lowly, but it really doesn’t matter starting again if at last you’re going where you want.

This is one reason amongst many why teaching and exploring ideas with other glass painters (novice and professional) are fundamental to the daily rhythm at Williams & Byrne …

The glass painter’s method is a method which answers many questions.

And that’s enough about us. Except to say that David is an artist and Stephen is a copyist.

The craft of stained glass has separate niches for different kinds of skill provided they are done well and with respect.

Now please be nice people and busy yourself with all the techniques and ideas you’ll find here.

They are what this site is all about.

And how you use them – that … is the really exciting thing!

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