I’m Jen Cantwell, I’m on the Hi-Arts Making Progress programme, I’m a mid career maker with my practice Sporran Nation, I also work across mediums in a more experimental way and for the making progress programme I’m working with knit and sound technology, with a virtual element added in. Aided + abetted by my partner, […]

This month,  having recently been taken on board by Screen HI to make films about the artists showcased in the HI-Arts Making Progress mentoring scheme, I’ve been really keen to get stuck into the project and am very enthusiastic about learning all about the process involved (and, of course, meeting lots of new people along […]

I really enjoyed reading nick’s report, thank you. I have been working away and have done nearly 40 ropes so far,I am planning to make 101 and to have one large display in the gallery. I have now also got a title for the exhibition – ‘ Tied to nature’  Rope, string and thread made from […]

As you walk into the main hall at the Stockholm furniture fair you are instantly overwhelmed by the scale of the furniture manufacturing industry in Scandinavia. This is not because of the size of the hall or the number of products on show but the fact that most of the companies and the designers there […]

On Wednesday I spent the day in Edinburgh with a group of colleagues discussing, amongst other issues, curating craft exhibitions. Amongst all the doom and gloom of funding cuts and the difficulties of making exhibition happen in the current climate it is easy to lose sight of how important the curation of high quality craft […]

In this post I will relate about my recent trip down to the Scottish Central Belt – and some progress in the “karbunkel” department (please note the “k”s – this is on purpose: such my “boils” reference the Germanic and the Medieval). This one might take you a little longer to read …

hi all good to have meeting on monday enclose picture of my studio wall with combinations of plants, peat and experimental structures – creating forms which engage with the plants… I am interested in the balance and contrast between: – the natural order of the plants and the manmade order we create

The first blog by Highland maker Patricia Niemann about Caithness lichens as current inspiration for jewellery.

Mentoring to Market visit to Craft Central.

The weekend of the 24th of July was the Big Tent Festival, which took place in Fife, and I decided to take up the offer of lift down from Ullapool from my father in order to attend. This Festival is a great one for crafts as it is all about being sustainable, so the emphasis on making things […]