Centenary of ANZAC WindowPrint Page

A soldier now stands solemnly alongside biblical figures on the stained glass windows of Lismore's St Andrew's Anglican Church. The image is part of a window created by artist Bill Klease to mark the ANZAC centenary.

Mr Klease was commissioned to take on the piece two years ago. "It's a different theme to what I'm used to," he said. "But I wanted to create a representation of the various monuments you'll see in towns across Australia where there's usually a cast bronze solider standing up on a pillar of some sort. So, I've placed that up at the top, trying to make it look like a bronze soldier, not a real one. Underneath that I've got images of wattle and the idea being the ANZAC story has morphed into a story about the forming of Australia's personality."

Mr Klease has become one of Australia's most renowned stained glass artists and has created windows for churches across Queensland and five other pieces at St Andrew's in Lismore.

"I was wanting to put leaded glass windows in my house, so I went off to TAFE and did a course finding out how to make leadlights," he said. I had been fascinated with transparency in painting and I thought there was art to be made here. I got tired of leading coloured glass together and I wanted to know how you painted on glass like in church windows. I read a lot of books, bought a kiln and started trying things out."

The window was installed at St Andrew's earlier this year but was boarded up until the day before ANZAC Day when it was unveiled at a special commemorative service.
ABC Local, 27 April 2015.