ACTIVITY
The artistic glazier Jonatan Díaz, owner and founder in 1997 of Vitromar Vidrieras Artísticas, specialises in the design and manufacture of stained glass. He masters both the lead-came and copper-foil techniques.
Although the trade’s methods have changed little since the Middle Ages, for certain commissions Jonatan… has introduced innovations, such as the use of new materials allowing him to make larger panels and thus to avoid having to divide up their frames. He has also improved the technique for inserting stained glass into double glazing and has achieved greater accuracy both in sketch designs and in window-making through the use of computer-aided drawing and printing of cutting templates, especially in intricate geometric designs where accuracy is needed to achieve symmetry.
This also allows him to be at the leading edge of design while maintaining traditional processes for cutting, assembling and soldering each workpiece.
TRAINING
Jonatan Díaz is self-taught. At the age of 14, captivated by the coloured light filtered by medieval stained-glass windows, he set about exploring the craft, to the point of being able to open his own workshop – Vitromar – in which he continues to work… today.
He has acquired further knowledge on the use of silver stain, grisaille and enamels in courses with the master glazier Rudi Bellemans, with whom he has also engaged in some collaborations.
TEACHING
Jonatan has trained his own employees in his workshop over periods of some three years.
SELECTED WORK
Most of the work done by Vitromar is commissioned for private homes. These projects are located largely in southern Spain, though they are to be found over the whole country. He has also done projects in France, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Russia, the US and… Azerbaijan.
His public work includes:
– Restoration of 12 stained-glass windows for the government office in Huelva province
– Set of stained-glass windows for the Zafarraya cultural centre (Granada province)
– Stained-glass window for the Town Hall of Nules (Castellón province)
