Final run from Glenys’ shed • In 19 active carts • 28 left
Glenys's Sunbird Lamp
Glenys's Sunbird Lamp
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Glenys's Sunbird Lamp
Cast, Painted And Lit By Hand In A Kuranda Workshop
Glenys Tarrant, 67, spent thirty years putting the goldfields churches of central Victoria back together pane by pane. She moved north at fifty-seven, and she has been casting and painting this sunbird for eight years — these are the final 368 she will ever sell.
“There’s a pair nesting under the eave of my front verandah, and they’ve been there eight years running. Right through the Wet, when the greens outside have gone flat and grey and the rain hasn’t stopped for a fortnight, he’s still out there at the heliconias holding himself dead still in the air. Eight years ago I decided I wanted that indoors.”
— Glenys Tarrant, Kuranda, Far North QueenslandDark bronze base and branch, jade green over the crown, magenta at the throat, soft yellow through the breast, and wings running blue and green into magenta before going gold at the feather edges. People walk past it, and then they come back.
The colour deepens, the blooms at the base glow from inside, and the wall behind fills with scattered warm light that shifts as you move around it. Diffusion, not a beam — the same trick a church window plays, small enough for a bedside table.
Glenys paints with transparent pigment rather than opaque colour, so the light travels through it instead of stopping at the surface. It pools a little deeper along the edge of each panel — which is why lit panels read as depth rather than flat colour.
Thirty years of restoration taught her what happens to leadlight that moves: solder works loose, came flexes, panels rattle. This one goes into a carton in Cairns and comes out of one in Perth, four thousand kilometres away. So she casts it in resin — the way a travelling object actually wants to be built.
The bronze-finish base is weighted, so the piece sits down on a sill or a bedside table instead of tipping when a sleeve catches it. It has the heft of an object in the hand, not the hollowness people expect at this price.
Every casting is painted by hand, panel by panel, so the colour settles slightly differently each time. Hold two side by side and you will see it. That variation is the reason she still paints them herself.
“Let me say the obvious thing before somebody else says it for me: this is not glass. I could have made it in glass — I know how. But a sunbird in lead came would be a clumsy, heavy thing, and the wing tips would need support lines running straight through the part you want to look at. A church window never moves; the wall holds it, and that is the bargain glass makes with you. A lamp is the opposite of still. The windows that turned up at my bench broken were almost never the ones sitting in a wall — they were the ones somebody had taken out of a wall. I was not going to spend thirty years learning that and then post people something built to come apart.”
Glenys Tarrant · leadlight and stained glass restoration, 30 years, central Victoria- One of the final 368. Cast from the moulds Glenys has left and painted before the end of the season. She will keep making them for the grandkids — but not in production runs, and not online.
- Painted by one person, one at a time. Not printed, not transfer-applied, not sprayed. Transparent pigment laid panel by panel with a fine brush.
- Thirty years of glass behind it. The dark lines between the panels, the way the light diffuses rather than beams — all of it comes straight out of restoring 1860s church windows.
- Nothing to plug in. Three AA batteries in the base, no cord, no power point. It can go out on the verandah table after dinner and come back in afterwards, which is what Glenys does with hers.
- Yours alone. Hand-painted with transparent pigment, so the colour pools differently on every single casting.
Put it where you were planning to put it, switch it on after dark, and watch what the colour does to the wall. If it is not what you pictured, send it back within 30 days for a full refund. One email, no questions. Free shipping Australia-wide.
| Material | Cast resin, hand-painted throughout with transparent pigment; weighted bronze-finish base and branch |
| Design | Sunbird hovering with both wings swept up, perched on a branch above one open bloom and one smaller bud |
| Colours | Jade green crown, magenta throat, soft yellow breast, wings in blue, green, magenta and gold, teal tail |
| Height | 25 cm / 9.85 in, base to wing tip |
| Light | Warm-tone LED inside the body — lights the piece from within |
| Switch | On / off |
| Power | 3 x AA batteries — not included |
| Finish | Transparent pigment, hand-applied — slight variation from piece to piece |
| Placement | Windowsill, bedside table, side table, bookshelf, verandah table or a dark corner |
| Care | Dust with a dry soft brush or cloth; keep out of standing water. Bring it in from the verandah overnight — it is not a weatherproof outdoor light. |
| Shipping | Free Australia-wide, packed with air cushions on every side |
| Made by | Glenys Tarrant, Kuranda, Far North Queensland — thirty years restoring stained glass, eight years making this lamp |
| Remaining stock | 368 pieces — the final run, from the moulds she has left |
Free Australian Shipping
Free Australian Shipping
Free shipping right across Australia
- Delivery time: 3–7 business days, tracked
- 30-day money-back guarantee — just email support@backroad-goods.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Email us anytime at support@backroad-goods.com. We answer Monday–Friday 9am–5pm and Saturday 10am–3pm (AEST). Whether it’s about your order, which wall to hang it on, or what has moved into it — a real person writes back.
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Of course. 30-day money-back guarantee. Hang it up, live with it a few weeks, and if it isn’t right, email support@backroad-goods.com within 30 days for a full refund. No questions, and Australian shipping is free.