When and how did you start your own workshop?
When I was still studying, many people asked me to fix something: a window or a door panel for example. So I started my company before I graduated, when I was only 21. I then turned the former room of my brother, in my parents’ house, into a workshop.
What was the first work you made?
A door cabinet, for an old closet that a client had inherited from his deceased mother. My first bespoke work was a leaded light that was installed above the entrance to my father’s wine shop, a stained glass with grapes against a sunset.
©wove_be
What are your main sources of inspiration?
I take a lot of inspiration from nature, for example from the structure of crystals. The work of my heroes, like Dalí, also often serves as a basis for my own creations. But I get inspired by my clients as well: the books they read, the music they listen to and their hobbies.
Could your craft be considered in danger?
Absolutely, there are not nearly enough capable stained glass restorers. There are however a lot of “enthusiasts” out there, who pose a real threat to our heritage. I often have to spend a lot of time undoing bad restoration work on windows, before I can properly fix them.