A dream in glass

By Nilika de Silva 

A sunrise or a setting sun, a bird, a tree, even the portrait of a man can be created on glass. The possibilities are vast. 

Till recently leaded glass had to be imported, but in the last one and a half years, since Dwayne started working, it has become an industry in Sri Lanka. 

There has been a need for this, because today Dwayne finds a big demand. "We see ourselves as having branches in other countries as well, in the future," he said.

"From the age of six I went to Mudliyar Amarasekera for lessons," said Dwayne who went on to improve his knowledge in Europe. "You have to go because every year new techniques come up and updating is essential."

Dwayne's company, Architectural Leaded Glass Co. won the award in the Product Excellence Category at Architect 2000, organized by the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects. 

"It was funny because we were competing with big names. Even though we were a small company we won it on our product alone," explains Kishani, Dwayne's wife.

"Dwayne's mother Rita has been his guiding light. She was thrilled when we won this award," Kishani said, with Dwayne chipping in, "This craft is something she learnt over a period of time. She handed the knowledge and the technique down to me." 

But this is a very specialised industry. All those involved have to be artistic when working with hand-made, mouth-blown glass brought from abroad. Since it is a craft, the 'know- how' is shared only among a very few.

"I tell the customers to be creative, and we jointly come up with a design," said Dwayne, stressing that when creating architectural leaded glass, attention has to be paid to the colours of the floor, the drapes and other details. Sometimes the client designs the doors and the rest of the architecture to fit the glass.

Dwayne said, "The client can't visualise what it's going to be like, so we design it on the computer and show him the sketch. At this stage the computer helps a lot, because if the customer is not happy with the effect, we can substitute different types of glass and show him the choices available.

"There have been instances when the most suitable glass was not available and we actually brought it from abroad. Needless to say the client was thrilled with the final outcome.

"Architectural leaded glass has a great deal of scope in Sri Lanka. Front doors, stairwells, windows, skylights, domes and for stained glass. 

"From design to delivery it takes about two months to manufacture the glass, but all the work is worthwhile when we see the customer's face."

Although leaded glass is better known, brass can be used in place of lead, if the client wants it, Dwayne says. And what next? His ambition is to create Tiffany lamps. 

Architectural Leaded Glass Co. is based at No 6, 4th Cross Lane, Ratmalana. Tel. 635519.

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