Untitled 28

Laura choim ruro oceanie kabambi i as por for hor bracełet insprad by ancien! Ebuscan art.

Anyttiiog natura) la subioc: tor oso.

In this pioce. rwo rows ot boad-bezeled spikos are embelli6h9d with reai beetle wmgs.

bcadwork nc« to inuges that Mt jarring and ttp&emng," she wy*. “For wampie, I have usod prostbetic eyes and m.uc-Sikc wcapnnry form*. Ilie mix <A hcaury 3nd viokncc socms to bc SOOCCw/ul in at lr-.nr gmin# people (o stop and chink:”

Laura srarted a "curtosicy cabioet" bcforc she knew it was a Yictonan-era traditiou. 1 ler first piece, a gift front ber husband, was an authenne Humań prrrsthrrie glass eyeball Irocn tlie 1>3G». As the cyc is prcvałcnt in Mirre.ilisin and Art Notlfcoo, Laura loved it a:ad !saś lietsrloncd something oł an eyeball fctisłi.

Lycballs nfren appear in her work, subtly or ovmly. Cushioned in het intricate beadwork, the cyes aro lawrtling hut stirring. but słic’> not jtist into cycHalls. Anythmj; front lUlure is up fur grabi. Laura colkcts skntis, featbers, hugs hutrerflics — śhf secs heauey in etery natura] śhapc.

An evolving acsthctlc

Afrer college. Laura followed a rricctd to MysttC, Coiui., and dcvklesi to siat in the srawdc town. “I likc tbc isolation,'" she tay». “It * cool for detctoptng yrnir style it you're compSctdy icmnie.“

She fornu-d her own company. Jusc Let Me Beud. and nuintatns a working sluuio :n Mysttc. She did prodwettoo for a winie, sclling to tmtscum sbops, bat now nutinly wrires and design*.

Fouj yrats ago, l-rsira nudę the IXi!?!u nccklocc durmg a phasc of embeilishing »ea sltapes. Her aesłhetic now is based on clcancr li iks a ud architccturai iorm.s.

“What happeos is that I work in tlie eonc for a while, and then it’ll Itr a step up to a new dimcnsion. It s nor a gradual thing — it's a hrand new dimeasion," she says. “My work now is vcty sioicrmcd, very !)eco." One reccnr Art Decomspircd design is a bracelct that imitates the base of the Eiffel Tower or a setling for a dumond.

Laura irat cls a goixl part of cvery ycar and spendt a lot of that rimc teaching. 1 ler road show schedulc is packcd. Plus, becausc her mother is Wcfeh, l aura !oves to spend stx weeks a year in <ireał Bricain. She was thrtlled lflst Movemher to visi» Australia for the fiist time.

68 &wiSAo-jttor. l nww.Seflcta^oButtor-wa