John Petts (artist)

Petts was born in the Hornsey area of north London but, despite a childhood illness limiting his education, an interest in art and Saturday morning lessons at the Hornsey School of Art led to him becoming a full-time student there in 1930. In 1935 Petts married the artist Brenda Chamberlain in London and the couple set up home near Llanllechid in north Wales, where they held two joint exhibitions of their art and supported themselves by creating and selling greeting cards and doing some part-time teaching in Bangor. He served in Europe and the Middle East during 1944 before transferring to the Royal Army Educational Corps. In later life Petts lived and worked in Abergavenny. ==Stained-glass==

Taking a post as a lecturer in design and crafts at the Carmarthen School of Art in 1957 allowed him to concentrate on working in stained-glass. In 1970, the designs for the window were donated to the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. In 2013, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the bombing, Petts's original designs were displayed at the National Library of Wales. In September 2018, it was reported that the church was concerned that Alabama's stormy weather would destroy the window and appealed to the public to raise funds to preserve it. Other windows Petts also created stained glass windows at the Brighton and Hove Reform Synagogue in southern England and for several churches and chapels in Wales including the Tree of Life window for St Peter's Church, Carmarthen. ==Further reading==