Anna Santolaria

Can Pinyonaire Vitralls

Stained glass maker

©Miquel Silveria

Light reflections at home and abroad

Anna won the Richard H. Driehaus Preservation Award for metal and glass work in 2019
She has made interventions on Uppsala, York and Naumburg cathedrals among others
She is the author of Glazing on White-Washed Tables, 2013

Anna Santolaria masters the delicate and fragile art of glass-stained window conservation and contemporary creations among scaffoldings. She opened Vitralls Can Pinyonaire, her own atelier in Girona, in 2014. She had just returned from England where she graduated with an MA in Stained Glass Conservation and Heritage Management from the University of York. Anna has since been dedicated not only to conserving endangered architectural glass pieces in Spain and abroad, but also to advocacy of this craft’s preservation. Working mainly for ecclesiastical and municipal institutions, Anna has collaborated with stained-glass conservators in England, Germany and Sweden. Far from the rigour of conservation, she also creates and collaborates in contemporary stained-glass design projects where she finds the freedom to experiment with the versatility of refracted light – which is what she has always admired in architecture.

Interview

©Miquel Silveria

©Miquel Silveria

How would you define your craft as a reflection of self?: I consider myself an object physician, empathetic towards the tolls of age. I guess taking care of other’s frailty is my family’s trait. My father is a traumatologist, two of my sisters work in nursing and geriatric care, while my mother, also a physician, researches ancestry and genealogy.
What was your best experience in your formative years?: Soon after graduating in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona, I had the opportunity to study and work abroad. This enriching experience helped me understand that the world is not one. There are multiple views on work and method. My approach to a work piece in Spain is totally different in England, where the immersion and responsibility is absolute.
Is there something about your craft that most people are unaware of?: The selection of glass is fundamental. Blown glass, a craft in itself, permits a wider range of organic, prismatic effects, but is more costly. I also assure the traceability of my intervention, avoiding replacement in glass and lead where structure is still preserved. This is novel conservation criteria.
What special abilities does your craft call for?: Patience. Taking the necessary time to concentrate on thoroughness and observance is everything. I even have a microscope at the atelier. The challenge is to translate that work time accordingly into a budget and quote.

Anna Santolaria is a master artisan: she began her career in 2008 and she started teaching in 2014