Rough Cut Studio shows rare technique

Claire Bell works on her engraving of an artichoke. Photo/Stuart Munro

Connections abound in Claire Bell's Rough Cut Studio.

Ms Bell moved to Whanganui in October and set up her large-scale glass engraving studio at her Castlecliff home. She is following in the footsteps of prominent artist John Hutton who pioneered the rare technique of mural engraving on glass.

And here's the first connection: Mr Hutton was raised in Whanganui and attended Wanganui Collegiate School. He worked for a short time as a lawyer then abandoned it to move to England and become an artist.

Mr Hutton's unique method of engraving used a grinding wheel attached to a flexible drive. His large-scale work can be seen in Coventry Cathedral, the Shakespeare Centre, New Zealand House in London and many other buildings. He also produced smaller works, some of which are in the Sarjeant Gallery collection. Mr Hutton died in 1978.

So what was the attraction of glass engraving for Ms Bell?

"I didn't start out doing this," Ms Bell said.

"I had been through Elam [School of Fine Arts] and had done painting, then I got a job in a glass studio in Auckland in 2010."

Her interest in glass grew and she started blowing glass. She knew about Mr Hutton's work and, after reading more about him, wanted to learn his technique. The only problem was he had taught only one person who was still living.

Another connection: That person is Jennifer Conway and a colleague of Ms Bell's happened to know where she lived in England.

Connection alert: Jenny Conway is a neighbour of Ms Bell's grandmother in Manningtree, Essex, and Ms Bell was staying there at the time.

"So I went and knocked on Jenny's door and asked if she would be interested in talking to me. We had a cup of tea and gradually I became friends with her.

Then Jenny introduced me to [Mr Hutton's wife] Marigold who is still living in their home, The Studio Barn."

Connection overload: Ms Bell visited Marigold - and there in the house were two of a set of windows Ms Bell had seen in an industrial building in Ipswich when she was a child.

"When I was about 11 years old, my father cleared out furniture and things from buildings that were to be demolished. I was helping my father clear out the Fisons building after school. In the entrance hall there were three or four glass panels. I remember staring at them and wondering what they were."

Those glass panels were Mr Hutton's depictions of three Roman goddesses of agriculture. After they were removed from the building, the Huttons took the ones that were not broken and installed them in their home.

Since that initial visit, Ms Bell has remained in contact with Marigold and Jenny. She visited them again last year when she received a grant from Creative New Zealand to learn Mr Hutton's glass engraving techniques from Jenny. Marigold and Jenny supported Ms Bell's successful application for a 2018 research residency at Corning Museum of Glass in New York.

Ms Bell described her studio equipment as "basic". She uses a small engraver "like a dentist's drill" and a larger engraving machine as well as a glazier's machine for smoothing the edges of the glass.

"It's a really unusual technique - cutting glass with diamonds you don't get the same look. With my equipment you're able to do more tonally; it's more like drawing. John and Jenny did black paper drawings first but I draw straight on the glass with a Sharpie.

"It's a very steep learning curve and I'm still learning. This year I want to do more freestanding work and maybe make installations because you don't get the same effect when you box-frame the glass. I'm also going to have a go at making engraved mirrors."

Ms Bell is now preparing for the 2018 Artists Open Studios in March.