Discover Scottish Craft Talent

As Craft Week Scotland returns with a programme celebrating a wealth of craft talent across the nation, we select a few exciting makers to keep an eye on

Advertorial | 21 Oct 2021
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Regular readers will know how much we like to celebrate local craft and design talent, so it will come as no surprise to learn that we are eagerly awaiting the return of a real life Craft Week Scotland. Running from  Monday 25 October until Sunday 31  October , this year's programme encourages discovery of new makers, craft experiences and places to buy craft, highlighting the nation’s talented and vibrant craft community. Craft Week Scotland 2021 includes a hand-picked selection of craft courses, events, exhibitions and talks – in-person taster events in crafts from pottery to jewellery-making are a particular cause for celebration this year.

Craft Week Scotland celebrates contemporary makers from across the country, highlighting the wealth and breadth of talent creating sustainable, ethical products in communities from Orkney to the Borders. Here are a few emerging makers who’ve caught our eye in 2021. 

Edinburgh-based ceramicist Borja Moronta is a trained architect. He started working with clay as a form of physical therapy, taking evening classes at Edinburgh Ceramics Workshop before joining their incubator programme and setting up his own studio in 2020. He makes work following simple, calm natural forms with a soft tonal palette. 

Ethical materials and supply chain are a focus for Glasgow-based jeweller Isla Cruickshank aka and.ILC. She melds her technical training in jewellery and silversmithing from GSA with a commitment to material exploration, working with food remnants including eggshell and natural dyes to craft delicate pieces set in brass.

After graduating in Textile Design from GSA, Eve Campbell set up a small print studio in Tighnabruaich on the West Coast. She creates printed wallhangings and ceramic tiles, creating surface pattern drawing inspiration from Scottish nature and architecture.

Catherine Sinclair produces her COVE textiles in Kylesku, one of the most remote and beautiful places in Scotland / Planet Earth. One of her designs is called The Skinny, which we are obviously in favour of. Her knitted textiles draw inspiration from her spectacular surroundings and the ever-changing weather.

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Woodworker Jack Sheahan makes furniture using traditional woodworking techniques, inspired by Japanese philosophies of making and Scandinavian aesthetics. Based in Edinburgh, he is heavily influenced by the process of making, which he documents on a separate Instagram account @sheahanmaking.

Alison Thyra Grubb’s eye-catching iridescent ceramic homewares and jewellery are produced in her studio in Aberdeenshire. She uses a combination of handmaking and digital technology to develop her work, 3D printing her moulds before hand-casting and finishing with metallic lustre glazes.

Fellow Aberdonian Emma Louise Wilson is a jewellery designer who works in silver and enamel. She draws inspiration from the landscape and natural plant forms, producing watercolour paintings which she then uses to develop her 3D designs, jewellery and bowls with delicate vitreous enamel decoration.

Craft Week Scotland, Mon 25-Sun 31 Oct. Find the full programme at craftscotland.org