Craft Scotland is the national development agency supporting makers and promoting craft. In this guest piece, they give us an insight into their varied summer workshop programmes.
As more and more people are looking to roll up their sleeves and try their hand at mosaics, ceramics, textile making, wood carving - there is a real resurgence in craft workshop right now.
Tapping into this trend, Craft Scotland hosted a programme of maker-led workshops within the unique setting of their Summer Show. As the national development agency for craft, Craft Scotland supports makers and champions high-quality contemporary craft and help people learn about and appreciate craft, and hands-on workshops led by makers are a perfect way to do this.
On until Sunday 26 August, you can discover contemporary from 37 Scotland-based makers at the Craft Scotland Summer Show 2018 on the second floor of White Stuff. Visitors can explore a curated selection of handmade objects and get hands-on with their workshop programme, unleashing their inner creativity under the careful guidance of knowledgeable makers. Participants could try their hand at carving their own ring out of jeweller’s wax, illustrating ceramics to carving their own wooden spoon.
Research has shown that craft is essential to wellbeing. Craft workshops are the perfect antidote to our busy modern life, letting you unwind and get creative. Learning directly from a practicing maker also allows visitors to understand the principles of craft and their enthusiasm for their discipline is infectious.
Based in Fife, maker Jude Gove has been running workshops for years and enjoys being “able to teach people the skills I’ve learned for myself and see the satisfaction and enjoyment they get out of it, reminds me how lucky I am to be making a living from being a maker.”
Jude creates handmade leather accessories in exquisite colour combinations and high-quality materials. At the Summer Show, Jude guided visitors through cutting and hand sewing techniques. By selecting soft leather and pure wool felt in contrasting colours, visitors hand sewed their very own coin purse.
As well as workshops being a way to share skills, Jude also views them as an opportunity to break-up the solace of making: “working from a home studio can be quite lonely at times, so meeting new people and socialising at workshops is really enjoyable. I think making is about more than just being creative, it’s also about getting together and sharing ideas over a cup of tea and a slice of cake!” There’s still time to book Jude Gove’s last workshop on Saturday 25 August 2018 at 1.30pm.
Helen Miles studied the art of mosaics with master craftsmen in Greece and specialises in using marble and stone. As well as hosting workshops at the Summer Show, she runs a week-long summer residential course in Greece and a weekly evening course at her studio at Out of the Blue Abbeymount on Easter Road in Edinburgh. What does she think the benefits are of workshop participants being taught by practicing makers?
“There are multiple benefits for makers - they get to learn not only the specific skills taught in the workshops but also to hear about the life and experience of someone immersed in their particular craft. The conversations flow and expand into all sorts of areas during the workshop and the wide applications and possibilities of the craft can be explored and discussed in a relaxed atmosphere”.
Helen guided participants through the direct mesh method, basic cutting methods and adhesion methods for mosaics. For Helen, workshops allow her to meet “people from all sorts of backgrounds many of whom have had no creative experience and show them that making mosaics is profoundly satisfying, very accessible and a useful skill with lots of possibilities.” As a mosaic artist who has a reputation for finely executed pieces inspired by ancient mosaics with a contemporary feel, Helen loves to “see the participants’ work develop and observing their satisfaction and sense of achievement with their completed mosaic”.
New to hosting workshops, textile designer Flora Collingwood-Norris liked being able to share her skills “I really enjoy seeing people focussed on learning something new, and their satisfaction when they’ve created something”. Founder of her eponymous label Collingwood-Norris, Flora designs and makes colourful luxury knitwear, using traditional skills and manufacturing techniques to create accessories for men and women.
Flora guided participants through creative visible mending with colourful thread. Learning the basics of darning, swiss darning and decorative embroidery stitches, they revived their old knitwear. When asked about the benefits back to makers, Flora noted their “positive impact, as [workshops] feed new ideas, and spark creativity”.
The August Summer Show workshop programme followed on from their success at London Craft Week in March 2018 where they hosted engaging maker-led workshops within Heal’s flagship store in Tottenham Court Rd. Craft Scotland also hosted workshops in partnership with Young Scot to inspire the next generation of makers. Young people between ages 14 to 25 took part in workshops in spoon-carving with Object Company and paper cutting with Lucy Roscoe at the Summer Show.
Visit the Summer Show between Friday 3 to Sunday 26 August 2018 and discover quality contemporary craft. Open daily, free entry. White Stuff, Second Floor, 89 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 3ES. Mon to Wed, Fri and Sat: 10am - 6pm; Thursday: 10am - 7pm; Sunday: 11am – 5pm.
