12/05/2025
For the last 25 years, I've plied my trade here within the walls of Sunrise Stained Glass, mainly working on restoration projects on the workbench, and through the summer seasons, often joined our road crew on installations and storm glazing on jobsites all over Southwestern Ontario.
I started off in the basement in 2000 when the three partners, Roger Chapman, Chris Ball and Paul Krueger graciously offered me a job when I was in the area visiting my then-girlfriend and thinking "wouldn't it be cool to go on an adventure to Canada?! " After all, I had worked a summer in Boston for Serpentino Stained Glass and spent the last two years working at Renaissance Glassworks in McMurray PA. Surely a studio in Canada would find some open bench space for a recent university graduate with an art degree, looking for adventure in another country!
Over time, I worked my way up out of the basement of Sunrise and all the way to the top floor! Fast forward 25 years, that girlfriend Angela became my wife, and we have two kids and a home in Ridgetown.
Over these last 25 years, I've been fortunate to work with some great people and complete amazing conservation projects from St. Peters Basilica in London, to the Church of our Lady Immaculate, Guelph; once we were done restoring Guelph, the Pope declared it a Basilica. (Remind me to tell you about the time I got to grant Saint hood to a group of people in the Basilica windows.) With Sunrise, I was able to restore landmarks like the St. Thomas Court house dome, Queens University and The Royal Military College in Kingston, St Joseph's Catholic in Chatham. Projects from Windsor to Kingston and Lake Erie to Sudbury. Honestly, when I look at a map of southern Ontario, it's hard to find a town that I haven't been associated with a glass job in. It's been a great run. And it has been an honor, thus far, having the opportunity to contribute to the conservation and restoration of Canada's stained glass heritage.
I have been pretty quiet on social media about the work I've contributed with Sunrise over the years. I never wanted to step on toes or come across as disloyal. Well, now seems like a great time to show off some of the things I have been up to this past Quarter Century! Admittedly, I am not great with self-promotion through socials. But over the coming year, I will try posting more of the restoration projects I have been involved in, along with anything new that may hit my workbench at Frazee Glassworks in Ridgetown. I invite you to follow me along for the ride. Adam
