Asad Hajeebhoy

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theglassmakersclub@gmail.com

Founder and artist, Asad Hajeebhoy opened Glasscrafters, an exclusive stained glass studio, using his 30 year experience of working in the art of stained glass in Mumbai, Sultanate of Oman, Dubai, Israel, The Glass Menagerie Jan 28-Feb2 2023 and Bangalore. Even as a college student in 1979, Asad knew he loved to work with his hands – to create, to understand the workings of materials and machines and to build his own products or enable others to maintain theirs. He began to work with wood as a hobby and sold his handcrafted wood products to pay for his college education. Soon he taught himself the mechanics of cameras, radios, and electronic gadgets. His passion for pushing the frontiers of his knowledge and a chance meeting with Vinayak Patel, led him to a stained glass teacher in Mumbai. One of his first commissioned projects was for the residence of famous actors Neetu Singh and Rishi Kapoor. He approached a large interior design firm in Muscat, Dekor owned by the Khimji Ramdas Group of companies and set up a stained glassstudio for them. Fascinated by the concept of kibbutzin Israel, Asad undertook a summer apprenticeship at a stained glass studio near Jerusalem.

Moving onto glass mosaics at Glasscrafters, her father’s studio, Saira Zoya developed a love for abstract forms. In the last two years, she has been working full-time creating products using mosaic and fused glass techniques, pushing the boundaries with glass, wood, and paint. Her interest in multi media has taught her that her art is an expression of her feelings, moods, and experiences. It is the playful versatility of colour and light that gives her pleasure in her creations.

My fascination with glass set me on a path of self-learning and discovery of the ancient art of stained glass along with an elderly friend when I was in Class 12. It was a time when tools and materials were not available in India, so I sourced and modified local tools, machines, and materials, or made them myself. Only the stained glass sheets are still imported. With my daughter Saira Zoya, I create stained glass panels for doors, windows, domes and skylights; Tiffany style lampshades; stained glass mosaic; fused glass and bent glass products. GlassCrafters have been commissioned to do work for homes, offices, hotels, pubs, churches, temples and mausoleums in India and abroad, as well as invited to do the restoration of old stained glass windows. I have a keen interest in upcycling stained glass off-cuts to create fused glass and mosaic objets d’art. I have diverse interests that include photography, trekking, biking on my 53-year old Jawa motorcycle, music, counselling, teaching and being a Rotarian.