emergents MAKERS currently runs the Making Progress and Made to Measure programmes, which are open to all makers based in the Highlands and Islands at any level from new graduate to well established makers.
We support makers and designers who work professionally, either full or part time, and create work principally conceived and designed by the individual. We do not support makers whose work is constructed from kits or assembled from bought in components.
Find out more about these schemes and how to apply here: http://emergents.co.uk/crafts/crafts-services/mentoring/
MAKING PROGRESS MAKERS 2013-14
Please see below information about the five Highlands & Islands Designer Makers who are currently taking part in the Making Progress scheme this year. We will be updating this page with information about the makers and the programme as it develops.
CATRIONA MACALLISTER
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.catrionamacallister.co.uk
Graduating from Heriot-Watt University School of Textiles & Design with a BA (Hons) degree in Fashion Design for Industry during 2012, Catriona MacAllister set up her label in 2013. Internships at Christopher Kane and Zandra Rhodes, gave her valuable experience and knowledge to pursue her ambition of setting up her business shortly after graduating.
Key to Catriona MacAllister’s collections are that of a clean and polished cut with an emphasis on line and the feminine form, merged with select and exquisite detailing. The labels aesthetic “specialises in sharp tailoring and a sophisticated cut. Focusing on ready-to-wear and accessories which incorporate elements of traditional tailoring made to a high quality.”
Preferring to work with delicate fabrics such as silk organzas, crepe de chines, georgettes & tulles, all off set with cottons and wools, Catriona’s work captures intricate detailing through the use of print, embellishment, hand and machine embroidery, a core element to her designs.
A nominee for the Graduate of the Year Award at the Scottish Fashion Awards 2012, Catriona has recently been awarded funding from The Prince’s Trust to enable her to continue growing her label to a wider audience during the first few years of her business.
Part of:
- PRINCE’S TRUST
- NOTJUSTALABEL: www.notjustalabel.com/catriona_macallister
- PERRY NELVILL: http://perrynelvill.com/category/designers/catriona-mcallister/
- YOURBRANDSPACE.COM: www.yourbrandspace.com/products/by-brand/catriona-macallister/womenswear
- SILKFRED: www.silkfred.com/boutiques/catriona-macallister
Find on:
- FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/catrionamacallisterclark
- TWITTER: @CatrionaMClark
- PINTEREST: http://pinterest.com/catrionamclark/
- INSTAGRAM: @catrionamacallister
FRANCES WOODHEAD, TIREE GLASS
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.tireeglass.co.uk
I work full-time as glass artist after training in Environmental Science and working this area for 20 years. I got into glass through a love of rubbish – or at least the reuse of materials in order to save embodied energy and so contribute to planet care. After training in London I worked in Cambridge and during this time stained glass became a hobby. In 1997 I moved to New Zealand where had some interesting jobs working with communities to improve environmental quality.
In New Zealand I bought my own kiln and continued making glass and began running workshops. My first studio in New Zealand was in the house. I worked part time and sold my work through galleries. In 2009 I re-met a man I went out with when I was 20 and moved to Tiree to marry him!
Tiree has been a great place to have a business. I am now A few seasons into having my own studio in a fabulous converted ruin next to the house. Making and selling direct works well. The year is very seasonal with good visitor numbers from Easter through to the end of October. Regular visitors to Tiree come from all over and there is a steady stream of one off visitors looking for a remote experience who are happy to discover me at the end of a long track.
JAYNE STEPHEN
www.jaynejayne.com
blog jayne.jaynejayne.com
and on Pinterest & Flickr
about me:
I love making things.
I create simply constructed wearable pieces. I work as much as possible with rescued fabric and take inspiration from nature – line, shape, repitition, texture, growth, decay. Most recently I have been working with leather, soft and durable yet easy to manipulate and wear.
A collection in leather with a limited colour palette was designed for the new IMAG Foyer Gallery. It was also stocked at Concrete Wardrobe, Edinburgh and Hung, Inverness.
I am a textiles graduate from Glasgow School of Art (91).
While studying I experimented with printing glue, cutting & fraying fabrics, working with layers and how different light affected their appearance. I love fabrics and how they stimulate the senses, evoke memories and tell a life story.
Major achievements include winning first prize in the Decorators section of the Liberty/Clothes Show Competition, a commission for Lochaber Health Centre and more recently HI-Arts Maker of the Month (November ’11) and reaching the final 10 in the British Airways Great Britons Art Competition.
I have worked as a waitress, sign maker, charity shop assistant, kids art class assistant & art dept. runner. But I mostly enjoyed various costume/wardrobe work in film, TV and theatre, meeting very interesting people in amazing places.
With funding assistance from HI-Arts under the Artists & Craft Makers Award Scheme (made available by Creative Scotland and HIE ) I undertook a weekend Playing in Silver course at Bridge House Arts in Ullapool with Merlin Planterose. I’m also testing my patience trying to digitise some of my designs. I hope to incorporate silver, polymer clay and laser-cut wood & acrylic into my work.
KATE TWEDDLE
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.katetweddle.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/katetweddle/
Kate Tweddle graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in 2009 before moving to South Korea for a year. It is from here that the inspiration for her current collection stems – the beautiful and intriguing characters of the Korean alphabet.
Creating her jewellery from her own workshop in the Highlands, Kate uses silver and semi-precious stones - her work is sold through a number of galleries in Britain as well as online via her website. Kate has been chosen by HI-Arts Craft Development to receive two Creative Scotland grants, allowing her to travel to Italy and Germany to study a specialised jewellery technique and source new materials.
Kate says, “Designing and making is my passion, each piece of jewellery created is a wearable artwork. I love to play with the juxtaposition of linear silver structures and delicate granules - geometric meets organic.”
Here’s an update from Kate - July 2013: Kate Tweddle Jewellery News
KONSTANTINA PATERAKI
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/k.d.Pateraki
I design and hand crafted, one of a kind, bespoke jewellery. I work with traditional techniques (repousse, piercing with silver and copper) in combination with inexpensive materials that I can find in my surrounding environment (heather flowers,lichen) so I can capture the feeling/colour of everyday into my jewellery.
I started this journey by choosing to work with my hands, therefore instead of choosing an academic university, I chose the Handmade Silversmithing College in Athens where I lived and studied.
In addition to my studies, I worked with an Armenian goldsmith, who taught me the craft of classic jewellery making. From the skills I developed there, I came to realize that commercial jewellery making was not for me.
I love to make jewellery with traditional techniques like piercing, repousse, mokume, etching, electroplating etc. but the magic for me doesn’t lie in perfect faceted cut stones and gold. It lies in the marriage of those techniques with the inexpensive materials, that I can find in my surrounding environment. I love to capture a drop of the colour of a day or a season and their sensation, so I can create something that makes me smile and hopefully others too.
I also studied with the Gemological Association of Great Britain, where I learned about and became fascinated with, how the conditions deep in the earth, lead to the very bespoke and unique result of inclusions and colours of gemstones.
While I was attending electroplating seminars, I was introduced to the variety of colours, which can be achieved using copper or brass, by imitating the alchemy of nature. I am taking my first steps using these techniques of colouring metal.
In Athens I had the chance to teach at an Art Center and share my knowledge with the students for five years. I learned there, how the knowledge of one element can be translated through the creativity of different minds to produce beautiful pieces.
I was also influenced by other artists/craftsmen that were teaching at the art centre, and this led to incorporating into my work, other techniques, such as painting and drawing, wood and linoleum carving for printing and wood carving.
I now live and work on the North coast of the Highlands, in a village called Skerray. I loved Scotland at my first sight and I am now very happy to be able to make special jewellery for the special people that live here.
Dawn Smith
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/DawnSmithJewellery
I am a returner to craft. I graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1994 with a degree in Jewellery but drifted off in other directions, never making use of my skills. I have had lots of different jobs, Croupier, Charity Shop Manager, Stained Glass Restorer, Teaching Assistant. Over the years I have always made crafty things and a few years ago I dug out my old collection of tools and started making jewellery again, mostly presents, which led to some commissions which led to me thinking that maybe the time is now right to start making jewellery as a business.
I like to create simple wearable pieces using traditional jewellery making techniques. Mostly working in silver I also use copper and gold accents in my creations. I like to recycle so use eco-silver when I can. My inspiration comes from architecture and nature, the arch that appears in lots of my work comes from my college days when I was inspired by the enormous arched windows of the glasshouses in the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. I did a lot of my drawing there, sitting in the humid atmosphere with the fragrant plants all around me. Looking through old sketchbooks inspired me to start where I’d left off all those years ago.
Jill MacLennan
Email: [email protected]
Twitter:@JMcRaeDesigns
Instagram: instagram.com/jmcraedesigns
After graduating from Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen last July I moved to London to work for the fashion house Erdem. I spent a year in London working at Erdem and gained valuable experience in learning how an established brand works.
I am now returning to Scotland to focus my attention on my business J.McRae. With help from the Princes Trust I set up a business designing and manufacturing hand dyed silk satin, velvet and crepe clutch bags and scarves. I also produce tweed and tartan clutch bags.
I am looking forward to being part of Making Progress. Over the next few months I aim to set up a website, expand the range of products and stockists.
Below are details of the mentors for Making Progress & Made to Measure 2013.
Kirsteen Stewart
www.kirsteenstewart.com/ www.studioshoporkney.com
Based in a studio and shop in Orkney & selling worldwide, Kirsteen Stewart designs a range of accessories and clothing made in collaboration with UK & international fairtrade makers.
Gilly Langton
www.gillylangton.co.uk
Gilly Langton is a contemporary jewellery designer; she runs her business from the remote Highland village of Plockton on the West Coast of Scotland. Since starting her business in 1997, Gilly has been creating her bold sterling silver and elastic jewellery -selling and exhibiting in galleries, museums and fairs all over the world.
Melanie Muir
www.melaniemuir.com
Melanie Muir is a contemporary jewellery designer working in polymer. My designs feature organic patterns and bold colours on necklaces, pendants, earrings and a variety of cuff bracelets. Every hand crafted piece is unique and unrepeatable.
Patricia Niemann
www.patbat.com
Patricia Niemann is a qualified goldsmith and designer for gemstones, jewellery and studio glass. Patricia’s artistic work has to do with the human body and body adornment in the sense of ‘body sculpture’. She is fascinated and inspired by human fears, anthropology, mortuary archaeology and the transitory in general. Attitude and humour feature heavily. Other influences are performance, theatre and the dramatic nature of Caithness.
Laura West
www.laurawest.com
Laura West is a classically trained award winning bookbinder specialising in traditional and contemporary hand-sewn books. All the books produced by the Bindery are bound individually by hand whether as single commissions or for a limited edition. Laura lives and works on the Isle of Skye.