Harpley's business, Eric's Art of Glass, showcases functional and decorative glass art. He also makes metal garden art combined with slumped glass.

For Harpley, the passion started when he went to a glass blowing workshop at Poatina, and experienced the art practice of warm glass work.

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"I gravitated towards that," he said.

That was six years ago for the artist. What started as a stress reliever and enjoyment of all the different colours and what could be done with glass, turned into a business.

"I managed to convince my wife to let me buy a kiln, and then I did a number of beginners workshops and things with a glass artist down in Hobart," he said.

"From there, I've just sort of been experimenting."

Harpley works from a studio shed on his property whenever he has the free time.

"Sometimes I come out to the studio and lose track of time," he said.

Harpley has showcased his work at markets and craft fairs, and recently had a stall at both the physical and online versions of Agfest 2021.

"The craft markets whether it be Latrobe, Deloraine, Agfest or any of the other smaller markets, it's always interesting meeting other artists and what they do, and making contacts," he said.

He said the glass artists he knew did all different things so although the processes were the same, his ideas were different.

Visit Eric's Art of Glass on Facebook for more.