Laura Hughes' New Work For Theatre Production

Friend of the studio, playwrite John Haswell, recently approached Gaada to help him find a talented local artist to design and produce a series of illustrations for upcoming play The Rag Tree. When John described his vision, we knew exactly who to ask - artist Laura Hughes!

We first became aware of talented local artist Laura Hughes via her regular contributions of meticulous pen drawings to multiple issues of Gaada’s digital lockdown project Quarantzine.

Earlier this year, Laura signed up to Gaada’s Peer Group sessions, where we had the opportunity to learn more about her wider illustrative practice and breadth of her drawing skills.

When John Haswell approached Gaada with the brief for his project, we were delighted to be able to connect him with Laura – knowing her incredible skills in drawing would be a perfect fit. Laura’s has beautifully translated her small scale pen and ink work into large scale projected digital backdrops for the production.

In Gaada’s role as a community embedded organisation, we were happy to provide technical support to Laura during the project, from initial creative brokerage to creating high resolution digital versions of the original artwork using our workshop’s A3 flatbed scanner.

Gaada provides assistance for local artists with the support of the Shetland Charitable Trust.

The Rag Tree is premiering across digital platforms on the 31st May and was commissioned by Shetland Arts through Refresh Now - a programme of digital event which bring together Shetland grown talent for a celebration of culture this Spring. Refresh Now is funded through Creative Scotland’s Performing Venues Relief Fund and supported by Shetland Charitable Trust.

You can read more about the project here.

The Rag Tree, 2021, Laura Hughes

Nina, 2020, Laura Hughes (featured in Quarantzine Issue 3)