A glassmaker who spends weeks recreating the finest details of the natural world has had three of her pieces selected for a prestigious exhibition in Holland.
Glass sculptures of a butterfly and two moths created by Cavendish’s Laura Hart have been selected for the Etienne Gallery, in Oisterwijk.
This follows her selling an installation of nine orchids at the Collect exhibition in London earlier this year.
The Etienne Gallery shows some of the finest glass in the world and Laura’s Lesser Purple Emperor butterfly, Spanish Moon moth and Attacus Atlas moth were selected for the Contemporary Glass Society’s exhibition there.
“It’s the last couple of years that I’ve been developing these species of butterflies so they’re all specific species rather than generic butterflies,” she said.
Each one takes between eight to 10 weeks to create.
Laura went over to the gallery last week to transport the glass butterfly and moths.
She says she spends seven days a week working in her glass studio at her Cavendish home.
“If you love doing it, you just don’t stop,” she said.
A lot of research and development goes on before she can start creating the incredibly detailed sculptures.
“They’re not easy to make, the sculptures are designed and I use 3D software to design the very small moulds,” she said. “A lot of background work goes in so I can produce the piece.”
Laura says she is inspired by flowers, particularly orchids, and her sculptural flower collections combine several glass fusion techniques.
“Emulating the delicate, ethereal translucency of flower petals, I recreate the living structure as it forms in nature,” she said.
“Backlighting reveals every gossamer detail through the layers in a diffused spectral glow.”
Her diverse career spans more than 30 years, from theatre and film to architectural restoration of heritage buildings.
She studied 3D modelling and animation for three years from 2004 which led to design commissions to create large-scale public sculpture for concept artists and stage sets for pop stars.
It was while incorporating glass into one the sculptures and watching glassmakers at work that she says she fell in love with the artform.
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