Reviews for Stained Glassic

I was given a day at one of Jamal's leading workshops as a birthday gift and had a really wonderful time. Jamal's own skill as an artist and craftsman is absolutely first rate and some of the high-end commissions he has fulfilled are breathtaking. It is to his credit that he manages to simplify the essentials into a single day in which we learned enough about glass cutting and leading to walk away with our own finished piece. I'm now seriously tempted to follow up with one of his glass painting workshops one of these days. Most highly recommended!

I am very glad that I decided to come to Jamal’s workshop for a 4-Day intensive stained glass course. I needed to use up my holiday in 2019 and decided on learning a craft in this time. Myself and my mother came across this course and I went with it!

I have always found the stained glass in buildings one of my most favourite aspects of it, so learning in the flesh the process of their crafting was fabulous. We received a bit of a history of both stained glass making and also of Jamal’s working time at the Hardman studios. Both of these factors was a great introduction to our time!

We had to bring a design to make on the course, I had made one but also had created a tile design a while back from inspiration in the Jackfield Tile Museum in Ironbridge in the Arts and Crafts Morris style which he spotted and recommended doing as my first piece. I am very glad he did as it brought to life a concept I had made! It was a very effective design and also challenging!
We learnt various things on the course ranging from cutting of the coloured pieces of glass to fit into the blocked out ‘panes’, to ensuring these were the correct size for leading. We also learnt using browns and blacks painting to both shade and block out some of the painted designs on our works. Mine had lots of naturalistic shapes including leaves and a squash on it where I successfully made it shaded so it looked 3D which I was amazed at by the guidance of Jamal. We also finally did the leading of the piece, which the other two had done previously on a 1-day course and practiced at home with own pieces between times. Jamal was very useful in guiding me on this, so I completed getting my 21 glass pieces together with few issues including successfully teaching me soldering and cementing techniques which I hadn’t done before either ever in my life.

It was fabulous also to see Jamal’s work as inspiration including a commissioned piece for someone’s private collection of Sikh devotional items. It was a beautiful sight in the flesh!

I am currently working on some designs of pieces to create before I venture into buying kit to make it with, I think it may become an addictive pastime!

I would like to thank both Jamal and his wife Somia for making us welcome in their home alongside the rest of their family including on the weekend with plenty of cups of tea!

As I typed to Jamal after the course “Tumhara duniya ek rangeela duniya hai! Bohat shukran ke liye meri duniya bohat rang bana, aur nahin andhera!” meaning “Your world is very colourful. Lots of thanks for making my world more colourful and not dark!” This has been fabulous in a difficult year for me, a good hopeful end to 2019 and a start of new colourful hobby for 2020!

Thank you very much Jamal and family!

Dear Jamal, I want to express my gratitude to you for allowing me to attend your stained glass painting course in Birmingahm in September of this year. It coincided with my need to travel from New Zealand to the UK, but it was actually the high-light of this particular trip.
I searched carefully well in advance for a teacher in the UK before coming for quite some time and have to say I made the right choice. As an experienced watercolourist, I found the new medium of glass painting had a number of similarities to watercolour; though I admit that I was hugely challenged by the differences in technique. However, I am so enthralled by this new medium that I have spent a good deal of time studying its historical beginnings, methods and applications - including visiting and photographing the beautiful stained glass works in many old churches in the UK. This week I received shipment of a glass kiln from the USA which though not inexpensive marks the beginning of what I know will be a long-term obsession.
You are a master artists and master teacher- so patient and so passionate about fidelity to technique and clearly dedicated to keeping alive this lovely, rich, historically significant art-form
I hope to return next year to learn some more.
Kindest regards

Graeme Bakker

My (adult) daughter and i did this course together...it was such a treat and an enriching experience for us both. Jamal made us coffee and began with a summary of his personal journey as a glass artist, giving a fascinating history of the classical stained glass and glass painting profession. I hadn't anticipated a history lesson, but on reflection, it gave us interesting historical information and a meaningful context for the process we were about to learn. Jamal is a really good teacher. He explains all the tools and techniques with plenty of help in handling the tools and materials when needed. You really get to grips with the process, it is very physical and takes some strength to score the glass. Jamal was with us every step of the way and it was great to have him all to ourselves! Our finished pieces were small and (almost) perfectly formed! This course is excellent value and a solid introduction to the technique of traditional stained glass construction. I recommend it as a beautiful way to spend time with someone special. It changes the way you see stained glass thats for sure! Thankyou Jamal.

I bought the stained glass workshop experience for my wife’s birthday and attended with her. Booking and information was very easy and clear. Jamal was very welcoming and soon made us feel relaxed and ready for the challenge ahead. He started with a short and most interesting history of stain glass making in Britain and showed us examples of his recent and current projects.
Jamal is a very organised and precise tutor. He took us through each stage with great patience and helped us achieve without ever having to take over, himself. At all times he emphasised good practice and safety, was encouraging and congratulatory.
The day flew by. We took a picnic lunch but couldn’t wait to get back to the task in hand.
We left, at the end of the day, with a small but very attractive panel and a reminder of our fascinating and rewarding time in Jamal’s studio.
I would thoroughly recommend this course to anyone who feels in anyway artistic of who loves English stained glass and would like to get a fuller appreciation of this magnificent art form.

With many thanks,
Kevin.