By Yolanda Wessels
Lawton Roberts, an artist from Hermanus, crafts the most extraordinary items such as breathtakingly beautiful mirror frames and wall clocks from shells, be they mussels or abalone.
Being a creative child, he has explored several projects but has found his niche with the designs of frames and clocks. He had art as a school subject and being a practical person, he always had the gift to make something beautiful.
A lover of nature and since establishing himself in Hermanus in 1992 he has been on quite an adventure. From managing the holiday resort, Lakeview Chalets, to the discovery of a beautiful shiny abalone shell on the beach in 2010. As they say, the rest is history!
“When I held that colourful shiny shell in my hands, I felt it simply was too unique just to weather away. Shells are organic and no two are the same. I wanted to create something with it that hadn’t been done before. That was the beginning of my creative undertaking and a new adventure.” With his background in art and woodwork, he grabbed this challenge with both hands. Lawton says it is an extremely timely process, no wonder no one is doing it!
He crafted his first mosaic mirror frame (with 2033 little mosaic tiles), a few friends saw it and were immediately interested – and the business took flight. “I source my shells from local commercial abalone farms. To start the process, I make four cuts on the shell, then another four and so the process continues to get perfect squares from the shell. Crafting an average mirror frame amounts to 30,000 cuts. A project can easily amount to 8-12 hours per day and take 6 weeks to complete.”
Lawton explores other types of shells, such as black mussels.
The making of huge wall clocks started when he was invited to the Homemakers Expo and take part in a competition – a special challenge as the shell has very few flat surfaces and has to be cut perfectly.
Lawton makes his own mirror frames, but the clocks are made by a local firm, My Design.
Lawton’s designs are not commercially available and are only made on order.
His designs are often exported.
Lawton’s timeless creations continue to grow, characterised by personal touch and unique styling.
