An internationally acclaimed artist whose work in stained glass included the 1968 “Angel Window” at the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity in Hamilton, had an insatiable creative drive extending into painting, sculpture, murals, mosaics, drawing, calligraphy and bookbinding.

Vivienne Gardner, who traced her fascination with stained glass to collecting coloured glass fragments on the beach as a child, loved the solitude of her studio in the Paget home where she grew up.

In her 2008 book, The Stained Glass Art of Vivienne J Gardner, she wrote: “I am never happier than when I am working hard in my studio.”

Her work in glass is enshrined in churches all over Bermuda, along with homes, totalling 88 pieces.

A 2010 exhibition of her work at the Bermuda National Gallery was opened by Thomas P. Campbell, the director at the time of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Other creations include a giant stone mural in the lobby of Mount Saint Agnes Academy, which she called “my most prized piece of work by sheer size”.

Another sculpture, The Spark of Life, won a competition to be installed in King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in 1998.

Mrs Gardner was born in Rogate, a village in West Sussex, England. Her family spent summers in Italy, where they were said to be one of the last cars over the border into France at the outbreak of the Second World War.

Her father, William Gilmore, was hired by the British Imperial Censor, in part for his fluency in Italian, and the family was stationed in Bermuda in 1940 as part of the censor’s intelligence-gathering operations on the island during the war.

Young Vivienne was enrolled at the Bermuda High School for Girls, where she would later donate one of her mosaics.

In a time of rationing and shortages, she foraged for art material in the form of sweet wrappers, foil and Cellophane as well as eye-catching pieces of glass.

She viewed herself as a born artist, starting as a toddler with coloured pencils and taking first prize for a finger-painting at the Agricultural Exhibition at about age 12.

She underwent formal training with the Canadian artist and sculptor Evelyn Fay “Byllee” Lang, who came to Bermuda in 1945 and died in 1966. Ms Lang’s work included the Cathedral’s reredos or ornamental screen, using local residents as models.

In 1995, the same year that she received a lifetime achievement award from the Bermuda Arts Council, Mrs Gardner told The Royal Gazette: “Byllee was a mentor to me. It was Byllee who persuaded me to go away to art school; she really helped me a lot.”

Mrs Gardner was accepted to study fine arts and graphics at the Cooper Union Art School in New York, and also studied at the Rhode Island School of Design.

She worked briefly in the Gazette’s graphics department on returning to Bermuda after graduation — and married James “Jim” Gardner, an architect whose work included the vestry of the Anglican Cathedral. The couple had three children: John, Geoffrey and Susan.

A family statement said: “Vivienne came from an epic and continuous line of artists on her mother’s side of the family. They reach back centuries, including members of the Royal Academy in London.

“She was proud of that and of the legacy that her family continue that tradition unbroken.

“Her favourite was her beloved grandfather, William Parkinson, who, through a lifetime of diaries and fin de siècle illustrations, inspired her, perhaps more than anyone, to be defined by that drive and output of work that her creative colleagues and friends also know so well.”

In later years, Mrs Gardner was closely associated with the Plein Air Paintings group, which said it was “slowly coming to terms with the fact that Vivienne Gardner will no longer be painting beside us — somehow, we simply expected Vivienne to go on for ever”.

The group called her “a small woman who stood very tall among us” and hailed her exacting standards, adding: “Our Sunday painting sessions will never be the same without her.”

Gary Phillips, the chairman of the Bermuda National Gallery, said: “While undoubtedly best known for her stained glass windows across the island, Vivienne Gardner refused to be defined only by that medium, as evidenced by her extensive creations in sculptures, mosaics, paintings and drawings.

“We salute Vivienne, gracious and humble in every sense and a true Bermuda treasure.”

Irving Minors, the president of the Bermuda Society of Arts, called her “a truly remarkable Bermudian artist” from a generation that helped shape the island’s identity.

“Her contribution to the arts spanned many decades, and her legacy is one that all of us in Bermuda’s arts community can be proud of.”

He added: “She was an accomplished painter, sculptor and artist whose creativity continued throughout her long life.

“I was particularly pleased to learn that, as recently as May of this year, Vivienne was still actively participating in Bermuda's arts community.

“During the celebrations at City Hall for the visit of King Charles this year, she presented His Majesty with a copy of her book on stained glass.

“What a wonderful moment, and what a fitting recognition of a lifetime devoted to art.

“At the Bermuda Society of Arts, we believe that artists do more than create beautiful things. They contribute to the character, culture and identity of our island. Vivienne certainly did that and her work will remain part of Bermuda’s heritage for generations to come.”

Describing her work ethic to the Gazette in a 1998 interview, Mrs Gardner said: “I like a cat sitting about my studio as I work.

“Sometimes I listen to classical music, but not while I am creating. I cannot create or design with noise — I need solitude.”

She added: “When I do the actual mechanics of a piece, I enjoy company around me and sometimes other artists come by and work. I become more sociable.”

Vivienne June Gardner, a pillar of the island’s art community, was born on January 19, 1929. She died on November 2, 2026, aged 97