The inspiration for making birds originates in Laura’s childhood. She grew up in a  countryside in the west side of Croatia in a tame, quiet, picturesque village bordered with a small forest on one side and a river on the other, in a house surrounded by gardens and orchards full of fruit trees. There were always flocks of wild birds to be seen and heard chirping and singing. Her dad fed birds in the winter, fostering Laura’s love for birds and nature.

Her oldest childhood memories are of watching him feeding doves and looking at his spinner doves flying and turning mid flight. This to Laura is the epitome of freedom of movement, freedom to enjoy life, mindfulness and meditation in motion. All those feeling and are expressed intuitively in clay as it is possible to freely shape clay in any way we want and that is what Laura teaches her students.

The connection with birds continues in her adult age. Her studio has a large window overlooking fields and trees and all Laura has to do to see birds in their natural environment is look out. There are birds nesting on her balcony every spring and they are fascinating to watch, photograph and, ultimately, they become Laura’s models and provide her with endless inspiration. When Laura decided to become an independent professional ceramicist a little baby hawk positioned itself in front of her newly furbished studio and remained there, watching her for several days. Later she read that that was a good omen and a bearer of good luck. Laura feels proud of every Bird of Happiness that she created from mud and now it’s an object of desire. They are joyful to look at, tactile, created from her heart and sometimes she finds it hard to let them go to their new homes. They are entirely handmade, handglazed and fired at least twice. The 2nd time in an ancient raku firing. Each glowing amber was taken out of the kiln at thousand degrees (1832 Farenheits) with long, heavy iron tongs and placed  on dry leaves and flowers. There is fire and lots of smoke and they make each bird entirely unique, one of a kind. Birds of Happiness are stylised sculptures that capture the essence of a bird. Their mission is to share a little joy and happiness amongst humans who will want to touch them, look at something aesthetically pleasing and be reminded of nature, of freedom and of carefree childhood happiness.