Fig. 1: undated photograph of Vic Burns.  Photograph courtesy Greg Burns

It was not until 1980 that Vic Burns became a student of Klaus Zimmer’s at Caulfield Institute of Technology. His first commission was eight stained glass windows for a (unamed) Thornbury church the same year, which began a 26-year career making 123 windows for 32 churches, chapels and schools. He has always worked in a home-based studio without assistants using leadlight, stained glass and dalle de verre methods of construction.

In 1986 Burns designed a stained glass window of ‘The Nativity at Uluru’ to be the cover of The Advocate Press. It received the Religious Press Association award for the Most Original Design of 1986.

Over a 26-year career, Burns completed 123 windows for 32 churches, schools and chapels associated predominantly with the Catholic faith, as well as occasional residential panels and windows.  An unusual work was the portrait of Grame Arthur, Captain of the Hawthorn Football Club in 1991, made for  rooms at Waverley Football Stadium.

Vic Burns retired in 2008; he died on 13 February 2017.

Major Works:

Christ Child with the Elders in the Temple, St. Dominic’s Catholic Church, Camberwell, Vic. 1993

Christ; Madonna (dalle de verre), Jesuit College Chapel, Kew, Vic. 1993

Mary McKillop and Caroline Chisholm; Portrait of Rev. Fr. Pedro Arrupe, St. Ignatius Catholic Church, Richmond, Vic. 1994, 1996

41 dalle de verre windows, St. Peter’s Chanel Catholic Church, Deer Park, Vic. 1997-2006

Christ’s Supper at Emmaus, St. Columb’s Anglican Church, Hawthorn, Vic. 2000

Stained glass window, Kilbreda College, Mentone, Vic. 2002

A Missionary Journey, Convent, Highgate, Perth, WA. 2002

Single dalle de verre window, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Malvern, Vic. 2006

With thanks to Dianne Morrison who interviewed Vic Burns on 1 July 2007 and Vic’s  children, Taff Richardson and Greg Burns, by email, March 2007.

Last updated 18 August 2019