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Home News Meet the Makers | COMPASS: Emerging Maker Programme 2021

Meet the Makers | COMPASS: Emerging Maker Programme 2021

A photograph of a tea and coffee set on a wooden table, by a window. On the foreground there is a french press and two beige mug on a marble plate, the french press is wrapped in a quilt warmer by Woolgathering. Behind, there is a teapot covered by a quilt warmer by Woolgathering. There is plenty of sunlight and plants at the window.

Craft Scotland is delighted to welcome not one but two talented cohorts to our COMPASS: Emerging Maker Programme. 

From jewellery designer/makers to textile and ceramic artists, discover the seven makers selected for the 2021 programme. Due to the pandemic, our 2020 programme has also been extended. Meet the participating makers below. 

Our COMPASS: Emerging Maker Programme focuses on nurturing talent and equipping individual makers with the skills they need to create a successful, resilient creative and business practice. 

The programme takes a practical approach to nurturing a creative business through the early stages of development with webinars, immersive residentials, 1:1 surgeries and mentoring. 

COMPASS is supported by the William Grant Foundation and Creative Scotland.

 

“Participating in COMPASS has given me the confidence to build a craft practice that best serves my values and my customer base. Having the exposure to different makers, different business models,  and different disciplines has widened my thoughts to how I sustainably and successfully run my own brand.“ 

- Fiona Hall, Camban Studio / Participant

 

A photograph of maker Cara Guthrie at work on the wheel in her studio. She is wearing an overall covered in clay and working on an item. The studio has white walls and floors, and there are ceramics objects out of focus on the left hand side.

Maker Journeys in Focus Workshop Series
11am, Tuesdays 9 and 23 March, and 6 April 2021 (3 sessions)

Hear from five Scotland-based designer/makers about their own experiences of navigating the creative business landscape with this COMPASS webinar series. 

Speakers include textile designer Laura Spring, silversmith Bryony Knox, jeweller Heather McDermott, and ceramic artists Frances Priest and Cara Guthrie (pictured).

Workshop series ticket price: £25

One ticket gives you access to all three online sessions.

Book before Tues 8 March

"As a relative newcomer to Scotland, I'm excited to take part in a community of makers as well as benefit from some expert guidance on how to pursue a professional craft practice." 

- Emily Smit-Dicks, Woolgathering / Participant

Meet the Makers 2021

A photograph of a golden necklace by Gillian Finlay, displayed on a solid black background. Gillian Finlay

From her Edinburgh studio, Gillian Finlay makes fine handcrafted jewellery. She creates an intricate arrangement of repeated wire elements which are fashioned into tactile and rhythmic forms.

Instagram: @gillianfinlayjewellery
A photograph of three stacked beige ceramics bowls by Hazel Frost. They are displayed against a beige wall and on a white piece of paper and wooden table. Hazel Frost

Hazel Frost's inspiration is rooted in the exploration of the geological processes that create the clay material, and the slow movement of the earth's crust, creating balanced vessels for her ceramic homeware range.

Instagram: @hazelfrostceramics
A photograph of a ceramics plate by Jennifer Alford. The object is white with black, grey, brown and yellow abstract drawing on, and it is displayed against a solid white background. Jennifer Alford

When Jennifer Alford discovered clay, there was an immediate affinity with the material. The immediacy of the wheel, the calming, meditative process of hand-building, provided a creative language that she had been searching for. 

Instagram: @jenniferalfordceramics
A photograph of a model in a red jumpsuit against a bright blue background. They are wearing a long silver necklace by Sally Cuthbert. Sally Cuthbert

Littlehouse Jewellery was established in 2017 by Sally Cuthbert. Designing the heirlooms of the future, Sally is fascinated by how shapes sit beside each other, how they repeat, and can create new patterns.

Sally Cuthbert on the Craft Directory
A photograph of a pair of silver butterflies with blue precious stone details by Sarah Rodgers. The background is black and grey and the objects are displayed on a reflective surface and are mirrored horizontally. Sarah Rodgers

Dumfries & Galloway’s idyllic scenery is a major influence on Sarah Rodger's jewellery designs. Sarah focuses on structural organic forms created predominantly in gold and silver wires, and cast components.

Instagram: @rojhedesign
A photograph of a quilt by Woolgathering. It is displayed on a wooden ladder against a white wall, and is made of beige, white and yellow fabric. Woolgathering

Canadian textile artist/maker, Emily Smit-Dicks creates useful, meaningful, one-of-a-kind homewares using improvisational patchwork and quilting from reclaimed textiles.

Instagram: @woolgathering.uk
A photograph of a model wearing a jumpsuit with fabric designed by Zephir Liddell. The model is standing their back to a mirror in a dance studio, making the front and back of the jumpsuit visible. The jumpsuit is bright orange with a printed yoke and sleeves. The print is blue with abstract black lines.

Zephyr Liddell

Zephyr Liddell’s textile pieces investigate a symbiotic relationship between materials and the body, screen print and digital craft techniques. 

Instagram: @zephyrliddell

 

Meet the Makers 2020

A photograph of a model holding a silver necklace by Ailsa Ritchie. The model is wearing white and only their hands and chin are visible. The necklace has a long silver chain and a pendant that is a silver beetle with blue details. Ailsa Ritchie

Ailsa Ritchie combines traditional powder enamel alongside industrial enamel techniques to transfer her fluid drawing style directly onto the metal. Her jewellery is inspired by a childhood fascination with insects, specifically beetles.

Ailsa Ritchie on the Craft Directory
A photograph of a textiles wall hanging by Camban Studio. It is white, with brown and white square details on the right, and floral brown details across. It is displayed on a white wall and next to a strip of white wool. Camban Studio

Fiona Hall of Camban Studio loves the slow made, hand crafted, explorative and creatively meaningful processes involved in textile making. 

Camban Studio on the Craft Directory
A photograph of a silver and enamel bowl by Emma Louise Wilson. It is displayed on a white background. The outside of the bowl is silver and the inside is blue enamel. Emma Louise Wilson

Emma Louise Wilson first creates photographs and watercolours of the huge Scottish skies, mountains and hills. These artworks then inform her making process and enamel work, creating fine silver and enamel jewellery and hand-raised copper or fine silver and enamel bowls.

Emma Louise Wilson on the Craft Directory
A close-up photograph of a textiles design by Eve Campbell. It has a pink background with purple line motifs, and features a solid yellow shape and white shapes with orange details. Eve Campbell

From her textile and ceramic studio in Tighnabruaich on the West Coast of Scotland, Eve Campbell creates surface patterns designed to bring the Scottish nature as an abstract form to people's lives.

Eve Campbell on the Craft Directory
A photograph of two wooden, rush seated chairs desisned by Honours Furniture. They are displayed against a textured white wall, one is fully visible and the other is only half in the frame. Honors Furniture

Considering the function of a piece of furniture, how it adds to the space it fills, is as important to Honor Dalrymple as how its aesthetic affects those who surround it.

Instagram: @honorswork
A photograph of a display of colourful books by Juju Books. They are displayed in a grid laying flat on a light blue background. The book in the middle is bright orange, and around it are beige, dark grey and light blue books. They all have visible hand stitched bing and horizontal brown line with gold writing at their top and bottom. Juju Books

Juju Books was founded in Glasgow in 2017 by bookbinder, illustrator and all-round paper enthusiast Gillian Stewart. As well as a working bindery, Gillian's studio is also a place to share skills and knowledge.

Juju Books on the Craft Directory
A photograph of four pair of earrings by Roslyn Leitch. They are displayed against a white marbled background, and are different colours, clockwise top to bottom: pink, light grey and yellow, grey and blue, and blue. Roslyn Leitch

Linoleum, the sustainable antibacterial material made from natural raw ingredients, has familial roots for Roslyn Leitch. With shapes influenced also by architecture and mechanics, she creates original jewellery using both precious metals and linoleum.

Roslyn Leitch on the Craft Directory

Photography credits

Image 1: Woolgathering / Photography by the artist
Image 2: Cara Guthrie / Photography by Sandra Franco
Image 3: Gillian Finlay / Photography by Stacey Bentley
Image 4: Hazel Frost / Photographer unknown
Image 5: Jennifer Alford / Photographer unknown
Image 6: Sally Cuthbert / Photography by the artist
Image 7: Sarah Rodgers / Photography by Dan Baillie
Image 8: Woolgathering / Photography by the artist
Image 9: Zephyr Liddell / Photography by Genevieve Reeves
Image 10: Ailsa Ritchie / Photography by Silvia Sani 
Image 11: Camban Studio / Photographer unknown
Image 12: Emma Louise Wilson / Photography by the artist
Image 13: Eve Campbell / Photographer unknown
Image 14: Honors Furniture / Photography by Murray Orr
Image 15: Juju Books / Photography by the artist
Image 16: Roslyn Leitch / Photography by the artist

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