15 for 15 : Celebrating Scottish Craft

Image: Christopher Dresser / photography courtesy of the V&A

Christopher Dresser (1834 – 1904)

Hugely influential to the Scottish contemporary craft community, Christopher Dresser was born in Glasgow in 1834. "It was Christopher Dresser’s toast rack that first caught my eye - angular, clean cut and simply beautiful, its silhouette is reminiscent of a series of alpine peaks. And with its simplicity and sharp lines, it looks cool and modernist but in fact dates from 1878” – Susanna Beaumont, Design Exhibition Scotland.

At age 13, Christopher attended the Government School of Design, a precursor of today’s Royal College of Art, at Somerset House in London. From this early date his design work expanded to include carpets, ceramics, furniture, glass, graphics, metalwork, including silver and electroplate, and printed textiles and woven objects. In the 1876, he travelled to Japan, one of the first European designers to do so and this clearly influenced his designs, particularly his ceramic work. He also wrote the book Japan: Its Architecture, Art, and Art Manufactures.

In the 1880s, he was commissioned by the Glasgow glassworks workshop, James Couper and Sons, to design a series of glass vessels. Named ‘clutha’ an old word for the River Clyde, these curvaceously-shaped jugs and vases, often in soft greens, are beautiful.

He wrote several books on design and ornament, including The Art of Decorative Design (1862), The Development of Ornamental Art in the International Exhibition (1862), and Principles of Design (1873) which have influenced makers over the decades.

You can learn more about Christopher's work with the V&A London.

Image: Helen Miles / Photographer unknown

Helen Miles

Born in Glasgow, Helen Miles worked in America and the Middle East before moving to Thessaloniki in Greece in 2003, a UNESCO city famous for its concentration of Byzantine churches. It was while living there that she began to study mosaics which later led to a full-time profession as a mosaic artist. She later became interested in Roman mosaics and now makes contemporary pieces for interior and exterior spaces.

Based at Out of the Blue Abbeymount Studios in Edinburgh, Helen mainly uses Winckelmans unglazed porcelain and vitreous glass tiles for her commissions but loves to experiment with found and foraged materials including stone, single use plastics and hardware. Her aim is to preserve the simplicity and directness of early mosaics while producing works which suit the way we live now.

Helen has had a far-reaching influence in the craft community through her in-person and online teaching. Helen hosts weekend workshops at Abbeymount Studios and runs an annual summer residential mosaic workshop in Classic and Contemporary Mosaics at a hotel in Pelion, Greece. Her first book Mosaics: Ancient Techniques to Contemporary Art was published in March 2023.

Learn more about Helen’s practice.

Image: Dorothy Hogg / Photographer Stewart Attwood.

Dorothy Hogg MBE (1945-2022)

Dorothy Hogg is internationally recognised as one of the most important designer-jewellers of the last fifty years. Her work and teaching has had profound influence on the Scottish contemporary craft community. Dorothy studied at both Glasgow School of Art and the Royal College of Art and was Head of Jewellery and Silversmithing at Edinburgh College of Art from 1985 until 2007. In 2001 she was awarded an MBE for services to jewellery and silversmithing, and in 2005 won the Brilliantly Birmingham Jewellery Award for the jeweller who has made the greatest contribution to the world of designer-maker jewellery. Dorothy Hogg sadly passed away on 4 April 2022; her legacy will be remembered.

The Scottish Goldsmith’s Trust have released a new podcast series The Tree Project highlighting the impact of the Dorothy and her influential time at the Edinburgh College of Art. They interviewed alumni who studied under Dorothy between 1989 and 2008, and interviewees were selected by Dorothy herself alongside Curator Amanda Game including Beanie Major, Anna Gordon, Andrew Lamb, Misun Won and Cóilín Ó Dubhghaill.

You can view Dorothy’s work at numerous public museum collections including Aberdeen Art Gallery and the Making and Creating gallery at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. You can also explore Dorothy’s work at The Scottish Gallery.

Image: Dawn Youll / Photographer unknown

Dawn Youll

Dawn Youll has made an outstanding contribution to studio ceramics since 1999. Based in Glasgow, Dawn’s studied at The Glasgow School of Art (1996-99). Her work is clean and precise, and tabletop size. Candy coloured forms juxtaposen to communicate on many levels, nuanced with humour and pathos through their narratives. Dawn’s tableaux’s are layered with meanings and possible interpretations, her skills and dexterity manifesting the complexity of her concerns through plaster modelling, mould-making, slip-casting and glazing. Though you can pull out references in her work (Richard Slee, Campsieware ornaments) her work is unique, classic in its construction but specific to its time.

Dawn has been awarded the Jerwood Prize Winner (2009), Arts Foundation Fellow (2011), selected by the Scottish Arts Council and Crafts Council UK to represent the UK at the Ceramics New Generation exhibition in Paris (2010), works held in private and public collections throughout the world, notably the V&A, London.

In tandem with her studio ceramics practice, Dawn has held various positions in Scotland and the UK. On graduating from GSA (1999) she taught plastering at John Wheatley College. She has worked at Ealing Studios (Thunderbirds) and currently in Cumbernauld (Outlander) specialising in plaster-based production. She was Craft Officer with Cove Park, supporting Scottish craft practitioners. But it is not just geography that links Dawn to Scotland. Whilst the sentiments in her work are not exclusively Scottish, they reflect upon the environments she inhabits. Dawn Youll's 'National Trust' presents images of strongly graphic character or profile as three-dimensional forms. The silhouette-like rearing horse has been derived from a book illustration, while its accompanying traffic cone has been reduced to its essential formal and symbolic value.

Learn more about Dawn’s practice with Making the Creative Process Visible - Full Films: Dawn Youll MA Ceramics, Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Image: Lois Walpole / Photography via loiswalpole.com

Lois Walpole

Lois Walpole was born in London and graduated from Central Saint Martin's School of Art in London with a B.A.(Hons.) in Sculpture in 1975 and obtained City and Guilds qualifications in Basket Making from the London College of Furniture in 1982. In 2003, she completed a Doctorate in the Design Products department at the Royal College of Art in London.

Since 1982, Lois has dedicated her full-time efforts to her roles as an artist and basket maker. Throughout this period, she has actively participated in and curated both national and international exhibitions, undertaken commissioned projects, contributed to design for production, engaged in teaching activities, and authored written works.

Trained in sculpture, basket making and product design, Lois innovatively uses recycled plastic and her work celebrates resourcefulness in her art. Her impactful work, blending traditional craft with discarded materials, earned her a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Worshipful Company of Basketmakers in 2021. Despite dividing her time between Shetland and France, Lois proudly identifies as Scottish, emphasizing her coastal-inspired, sustainable craft.

Learn more about Lois’ practice.

Image: Andrew Lamb /  Photogtaphy by Graham Clark

Andrew Lamb

Andrew Lamb, with a 23-year career in jewelry making, showcases a commitment to his craft through beautifully crafted pieces that cleverly blend function and allure. Using precious metals to mimic woven textiles or iridescent bird feathers, he transforms metal into a medium for technical brilliance and subtle design. Inspired by optical phenomena and the mesmerizing effects of optical art, Andrew creates pieces that appear to shift and change as the eye moves across them. He constructs sculptural jewelry using fine lengths of 18ct gold, silver, platinum, and titanium wires.

Andrew graduated from the Edinburgh College of Art in 2000 and completed at Master’s at the Royal College of Art in 2004, and now exhibits and sells his award-winning jewellery worldwide, with work featuring in prestigious public collections in the UK and abroad. He teaches part time at Glasgow School of Art, inspiring the next generation of jewellers and silversmiths.

Learn more about Andrew's work on his website.

Image: Malcolm Appleby / Photography via The Scottish Gallery.

Malcom Appleby MBE

Malcolm Appleby, born in 1946, is a celebrated silversmith and metal engraver who has made a significant contribution to Scottish contemporary craft. His passion lies in the ancient craft of engraving, a skill that forms the core of his design and artistry, influencing the evolution of his other creative abilities. Based in Scotland since 1969, Malcom’s work showcases imaginative use of line and form, where even gold is considered just another material.

Associated with The Scottish Gallery since the 1970s, Malcom’s diverse work brings joy to many. In 2016, the gallery marked his seventieth birthday, celebrating over fifty years of creative excellence. His dedication to engraving and continuous experimentation earned him an MBE in 2014 for his outstanding contribution to the arts. Public collections featuring Malcom’s work include prestigious institutions such as the Scottish Design Collection at V&A Dundee, V&A London, The Goldsmiths’ Company, the British Museum, and more.

With a studio in Grandtully, Aberfeldy, Malcolm's career is marked by a commitment to promoting engraving and fostering opportunities for young engravers and silversmiths. He regularly hosts residencies for silversmiths who have a piece in the The Goldsmiths’ Company collection to experiment and enhance their engraving and silversmithing skills. Engraving remains central to his design, allowing him to transform humble materials into unique and captivating pieces.

In 2022, Malcolm was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award, Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council.

Learn more about Malcoms work via The Scottish Gallery