A Tasmanian glass artist has achieved international recognition after her innovative artwork was acquired by London's prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum, marking a historic milestone for Australian craft art. Anne Clifton's piece "Vetrograph Rubinda" was purchased by the world's largest decorative arts and design collection in June, representing possibly the first Tasmanian craft item to enter the museum's collection in approximately 100 years.

Working from a humble shed on the outskirts of an industrial suburb in Launceston, Clifton creates glass art of international caliber in conditions reaching thousand-degree heat. The acquisition left her initially stunned with disbelief. "I'm like, 'no, I'm not good enough, it's not good enough', but that's the imposter syndrome sinking in," she explained. "After about 10 minutes I got over myself and I remembered that it's the work, it's not me."

The vase-like piece showcases Clifton's unique approach to glassmaking, which draws heavily on her background in ceramics and "subverts" traditional glass art techniques. Working inside out and upside down, she layers interior colors with multiple panes of clear glass, using chips and powders to create a ceramic-like appearance before drawing on the surface. "Vetri is Latin for glass, and graph is Greek for drawing with, or drawing on – and I've mashed them together, in a very rude fashion," she said.

Clifton describes her process as "drawing with fire" and "splashing paint around with these big shards of glass," calling it "slight anarchy in a very controlled environment." The colors in her work are inspired by the myrtle trees she passes during her daily walk to the studio, which appear brown from a distance but reveal pink new buds up close, while the blue elements evoke "the sky coming through the branches."

The Victoria and Albert Museum houses one of the world's most comprehensive glass collections, featuring works from the Italian Renaissance, the Middle East, 17th to 20th century Europe, and contemporary art glass. Senior curator of ceramics and glass Reino Liefkes was particularly impressed by Clifton's "incredible technical mastery," her "intense" colors, and overall beauty. "The aesthetics are different really from any glass that we do have," he noted. "We're not after just something beautiful – it has to be something that has not been done really before."

Clifton's journey into glass art began nearly three decades ago when she met Peter Bowles, whom she describes as "an attractive young English glassblower." The couple has worked together ever since, pushing each other to stretch their artistic boundaries. When Clifton found herself in a creative rut, Bowles encouraged her to incorporate her "first love" – ceramics – into her glass work. "We've got this fantastic knowledge about what needs to happen, so it's like choreography, it's like dancing, there's a beauty in movement," Clifton explained. "You can't blow glass by yourself, it's very humbling."

University of Tasmania art lecturer Karen Hall describes the acquisition as monumental, particularly given the historical challenges faced by glass as an artistic medium. "If we think about the labels, art and craft, they have very different histories and they have different weight and significance," she said. "You're kind of working against a history in which glass art may not be taken as seriously as other mediums, or it's siloed into specific collections that don't have the kind of reach that the VA does."

Hall believes the full significance of this achievement may not be realized for years to come. "When museums acquire objects for their collections, they aren't just doing it for the present moment, they're doing it to write the future history of a discipline, of how creativity evolves," she explained. "And so I think the full significance of this will be understood in another 10 or 20 or 50 or 100 years' time."

The achievement is already inspiring local artists in Tasmania. Amy Collins, a University of Tasmania honors student working in sculpture, glass and ceramics, says Clifton's success makes international recognition feel achievable. "Being somewhere regional, or in the small state that Tasmania is, it can feel like it is out of reach to get access to the art world which is primarily recognized as being in New York, London, Berlin," Collins said. "So, seeing someone from really just up the road from where I'm studying be recognized on the world stage is just really great."

Sharon O'Donnell, a Launceston-based ceramics and textiles artist who has taken classes with Clifton, views the acquisition as significant for women artists in the glass world. "I think that this acquisition is a step in the right direction for celebrating women artists and especially in the glass world," O'Donnell said. "Any acquisition is amazing and any sort of recognition celebrating what we do is enough of a legacy to just keep us going."