Makers On A Mission
Scotland’s top craftmakers are US-bound
This November Craft Scotland, the national body set up to champion the work of Scottish and Scottish-based craftmakers, is taking 25 of its top members to exhibit at the 35th annual Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show as part of its guest country programme. Held in the Philadelphia Convention Centre, the show is one of the USA’s top events of its kind, last year attracting over 18,000 visitors.
As well as showing some of the best craftwork produced in Scotland today, Craft Scotland will also be launching its new US website, where craft-lovers can get information on Scottish crafts available in America as well as US makers working in Scotland. Here Peggy Larcom highlights the 25 craftmakers heading for Philly.
Strathaven-based Karen Akester creates glass sculptures by making clay and wax casts before adding texture and warmth to the otherwise smooth surface. Inspired by aging photographs and museum garments, her figures have an enigmatic fragility. www.karenakester.com
Observing the patterns and structures of urban environments is the starting point for innovative jewellery by Stacey Bentley. She first paints enamel panels and then extrapolates them into abstract sculptural forms that she endows with the colour and texture of industrial liquid enamels. www.staceybentley.com
A graduate of Glasgow School of Art, ceramicist Myer Halliday uses porcelain, stoneware and paper clays to create delicate vessels with line-based patterns through a range of techniques, including throwing, slip-casting and hand-building. www.myerhalliday.co.uk
After many hours of hand-dying fabric, weaving, cutting, sewing and embroidering, Glasgow-based textile artist Jilli Blackwood reaches the magical moment when a work is finished. Her wallhangings and clothing are characterised by bold colour combinations. www.jilliblackwood.com
James Donald designs wearable textiles by drawing and photograph manipulation before creating them using a treble cloth construction incorporating a linen warp and a soft Scottish lamb’s wool warp. His most recent line was inspired by the landscape of the Shetlands and Uists. www.pickone.co.uk
The Signature Collection of jewellery by Carla Edwards translates details of plants and natural forms into softened geometric forms accented with gold and aluminum leaf or oxidised silver wire. She uses mainly resin for the range of colour, pattern, translucency, form and finish she can achieve with it. www.carlaedwards.co.uk
Jeweller/silversmith Eileen Gatt visually interprets ancient stories and customs to give her pieces an air of mystery and intrigue. Predominantly working in silver, she also incorporates 18c gold and semi-precious stones to highlight design elements. www.eileengatt.co.uk
Textile artist Elizabeth Gaffney merges ancient and modern techniques influenced by her travels in Mongolia. She uses fibre from local sheep as a base material that she then processes and dyes to form into flowing garments. Available from www.heartfeltbyliz.com
Edinburgh-based ceramicist Lorna Fraser creates functional and decorative porcelain sculptures which convey the vulnerability and sensuality of plants in a garden. Emphasising the effects of light and shadow, her pieces seem to pulse with life. www.lornafraser.co.uk
Tom Gibson creates distinctive wooden vessels using green Scottish hardwoods such as oak, ash and elm from driftwood or trees already felled by disease or storm damage. His work is often accented with semi-precious stones, silver or copper. www.thomashopkinsgibson.com
From his studio/workshop in Aberfeldy furniture designer/maker Angus Ross works mainly to commission to create “beautiful work that will be a pleasure to use for years”, be it a sculpture, reception desk, bench or cabinet. www.angusross.co.uk
The shoreline of Orkney provides the inspiration for sculptural jewellery by Grace Girvan. Characterised by soft greys, weathered blues and milky greens, her silver and enamel necklaces, earrings and brooches evoke the shapes and colours of pebbles and driftwood. www.gracegirvanjewellery.blogspot.com
The work of glass artist Jeff Zimmer takes two forms: scenes within miniature, theatre-like structures and vast spaces confined in small boxes. He creates these 3D spaces using glass paints, enamels and strains, hand-painted and fired in a kiln on multiple layers which, when assembled, shift in relation to the movement of the viewer. www.jeffxzimmer.com
For Ayrshire silversmith Marion Kane silverware is not about highly polished, precious objects. Using a selection of old worn hammers and roll printing on metal constructed from sheet silver, she creates rough, subtle surfaces to encourage tactile exploration and daily use. www.marionsilversmith.com
Fife-based jewellery artist Sally Grant uses photography to capture patterns and textures which through photo-etching she then translates onto precious metals. Enamel then brings a vibrancy of colour to each piece. www.sallygrant.co.uk
Through her new body of work, textile artist, designer and printmaker Claire Heminsley reflects upon “things that change other things” in a world of constant flux. By stitching, screenprinting, digital printing and laser-cutting mixed media components, she brings an illustrative quality and layered motif to her work. www.incahoots.org.uk
Gilly Langton combines sterling silver and coloured elastic to make bangles, necklaces, earrings, rings, cufflinks, brooches and kilt pins characterised by lean modernist lines, fine craftsmanship and subtle detailing. www.gillylangton.co.uk
Jeweller Hannah Louise Lamb uses skills rooted in traditional fabrication techniques and quality workmanship, focusing in particular on intricate handpiercing and cut-outs. Her designs combine silver with material such as silk felt and precious and semi-precious stones. www.hannahlouiselamb.co.uk
Scottish designer Sally-Ann Provan creates modern millinery and accessories with subtle vintage echoes. Using traditional techniques, she designs and hand-makes distinctive pieces with a timeless, feminine elegance transcending trend and age. www.sallyannprovan.co.uk
Her surroundings on the Isle of Skye have greatly influenced the work of ceramicist Patricia Shone, who endows each piece with a unique mass and shape as dense and worn as a windswept mountain or as smooth and light as a pebble. www.patriciashone.co.uk
From her Edinburgh studio Fiona McIntosh designs and produces a range of fashion accessories made of lamb’s wool, silk and cashmere which are hand-dyed and silkscreenprinted. The current collection on her Tessuti label is inspired by 1950s and 1960s imagery. www.tessutiscotland.co.uk
Glasgow-based Fraser Ross uses mixed media to construct lighting fixtures which reflect the natural forms and delicate balance of the environment. Intelligent and playful, they open our imaginations and make us smile. www.fraser-ross.com
Ian Dunlop and Ashley Jessiman, working together as SodaKitsch, make high quality traditional bags and accessories with a contemporary twist. Inspired by classic designs, such as the doctor’s bag or school satchel, they use ecofriendly screenprinting to add another layer of design. www.sodakitsch.com
Edinburgh-based Grainne Morton forms narratives through her jewellery. Using found objects, she creates collages which inspire colourful and spontaneous visual stories. www.grainnemorton.co.uk
Ceramicist Hannah McAndrew uses red earthenware decorated with coloured slips and a rich honey glaze to makes pots with purpose. Both functional and beautiful, their designs are influenced by Eastern European folk art and natural forms. www.hannahmcandrew.co.uk
