Laura Hart

Glass fuser

©Laura Hart

Laura Hart ©Vessel Gallery

©Laura Hart

Creating beauty by breaking the rules

Laura's intricate glass sculptures may take months to make
She makes unique and limited edition butterflies and orchids
Her work has been exhibited at the Corning Museum of Glass in the US

As a child growing up in the British Midlands, Laura Hart’s parents would take her to watch the artisans at work in British glassmaking centre Stourbridge, so she feels it was “inevitable” that she would one day return to glass. But it took her some time. She had a brief career as an actress from the age of 16, but soon left the stage and began working in video production. She later designed sculptures for concept artists and it was for one of these artistic projects that she went to observe glass artists at work, “and that was that, I was totally hooked!” She now works out of her studio in Suffolk, making finely detailed glass recreations of several species and varieties of orchids, and anatomically meticulous sculptures of rare and endangered butterflies and moths.

Interview

Laura Hart ©Vessel Gallery

©Laura Hart

When did you get into glassmaking?: I bought my first kiln in 2011. I cleared out the garage, kicked the car out and in went the kiln. It was a trial and error process, and I gradually discovered my own techniques. I get totally obsessed by it, and work seven days a week. I’m a hundred percent immersed in glassmaking now.
How does your varied professional experience help you?: I studied 3D modelling and animation for about four years, and a lot of this went into my designing for concept artists. I now design my glass moulds using a 3D programme, because I can simulate glass flow, which gives me a higher success rate and saves an awful lot of time and money.
Why do you focus on orchids and butterflies?: I’ve always been a bit of an orchid fanatic. At one point I had 67 orchids in my conservatory! They are a remarkable genus of plants, the ultimate example of Darwin’s ‘adapt and survive’ theory of evolution. With the butterflies and moths, I create only unique sculptures and installations, emphasising their precarious fragility.
What do you love most about being a glassmaker?: I think there’s always something new to learn. Sometimes by making mistakes and experimenting you come across things that you never would have if you’d followed all the rules. I’m a great one for breaking as many rules as possible to see what happens!

Laura Hart is a master artisan: she began her career in 2009 and she started teaching in 2012