Sacred Heart Peoria, Il
We are father and son, David and Steven Cowan. Together we have over seventy years of experience working in the field of stained glass. We pride ourselves on using all those years experience and knowledge to create the very best in commissioned stained glass, employing traditional skills, and using the finest quality materials. We follow the traditional philosophy that the quality of the final product is of the utmost importance.
David Cowan began an apprenticeship with John Hardman & Co. (Birmingham, England) in 1965, under the tutelage of two Master Glass Painters. The apprenticeship covered all aspects of stained glass, specializing in flesh painting on glass. After ten years he became Head of the Glass Painting Department, staying with the company until it’s closure in 2008. David has extensive knowledge and experience of the restoration of traditional Victorian windows and is an Associate Member of the British Society of Master Glass Painters.
Steven Cowan left university in 2000 with a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. But, having always had a love and a flair for stained glass through his father took on a position assisting his father in the painting department at John Hardman & Co. after just one year in the field of engineering. During eight years at John Hardman & Co. Steven was able to learn all aspects of stained glass and master the, now rare, traditional skills used in creating new windows and preserving and restoring existing windows.
Steven has had the honour of being invited, on mulitple occassions, to attend both The Stained Glass Association of America’s and The American Glass Guild’s annual conferences to teach glass painting, give lectures, and sit on expert panels.
At the start of 2009 David and Steven formed Master Glass Artists Ltd. and continue to use all the experience and knowledge they have gained to produce stained glass windows of the highest quality.
Master Glass Artists has been involved in numerous commissions for traditional and contemporary stained glass in the UK and further afield, with our work being visible on every inhabited continent of the world, including; cathedrals and churches in USA, Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, and South Africa, wedding chapels and museums in Japan, and private residences across South America.