AMILTON D E S I G N G L A S S The artwork of Jeffrey Hamilton

A New Window for Merewether Anglican

XX Mon. YYYY

I'm still a bit exhausted but that's probably as much to do with the cold I have as with the installation at Merewether, which I didn't finish until about 8.30pm Thursday 11th. Merewerther is a beachside suburb of Newcastle, about 2hrs drive north of Sydney. So even getting up at 6am to be at the studio by 7 and on the road by about 8.15 still meant I was cementing the rebate in the dark- and that was without much of a lunch break.

I was very grateful to Chris Welwood for his assistance on the job; chopping glass out of cement render is nobody's idea of fun and this one was as hard as they come. Whoever installed the spotswood when the Prayer Room extension was added to St Augustine's Church did not understand the concept of making a soft, sandy mortar that is easily excavated in later years.

Chris used to run his own business, Aurora Stained Glass in Narellan, near Campbelltown, for quite some years. He produced a lot of fine work together with his partner Julie but found eventually that the business was unsustainable. It was great to have someone on hand who knew how to handle leadlights, even though he had not done a masonry installation before.

I was very grateful to David of Our Town Glass and Glazing in nearby Dudley for his consultation on fitting the overglazing. He was able to point out a few deficiencies in my planned approach. When I get back onsite during the coming week we'll be able to provide effective and discreet protective glazing for the windows.

UPDATE 2013:
three of the five windows are now installed into the Prayer Space at St Augustine's; Our Town Glass & Glazing has closed, and David has retired.