Glas & Glas

Edition Three Feature
Words by: Nora Ofelia Springael 
Location: Oud-Turnhout, Belgium 
Photo Credit: ©Nele Daems Photography @neledaems.photo 

I’m a glazier in heart and soul. A passionate craftswoman – that too. I have a mind that never stands still, I am a hard worker and I see beauty in everything. Even if something seems banal or mundane at first sight, I can easily discover beauty in it. Everything is beautiful; it just depends on how you look at it. 

I rolled into the craft of glass art completely by chance. After a year of studying biomedical sciences in Ghent, Belgium, I realised that I had to go in a totally different direction, and I ventured down a more artistic route. I took a theoretical entrance exam to study restoration at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp and ended up in front of a jury panel. What kind of restoration I was going to do, I had no idea yet. Until someone from the panel suggested: “Ah, you’re from Mol, then you’re definitely going to start in the direction of glass?” (Glaverbel in Mol was one of the largest glass companies in Belgium at the time.) I agreed and that was that. 

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