Orkney has always been a place I hold dear and when we were planning a Makers’ Day that would bring together craftspeople from different areas of the Highlands and Islands I could think of nowhere better to hold it.

At the beginning of August I travelled to Stroud on the edge of the Cotswolds to meet with the Director of the highly regarded Stroud International Textile Festival, Lizzi Walton as well as members of several groups in the area.

I always look forward to visiting Collect – ‘the international art fair for contemporary objects’- in London. For the past 5 years it has been held at the V&A and at the beginning of the year, around the end of January.

In November 2008, I was fortunate enough to travel across Arizona visiting cultural organisations throughout that great State. The project was part of a research sabbatical supported by HI~Arts and the Scottish Arts Council.

In the depth of winter, we planned a Makers Day with An Tobar on Mull.

When I was a girl growing up in Arisaig, a friend of my mothers came to stay. Norma Morgan was an artist from NYC who was on a sabbatical to the UK as she was fascinated by moors and mountains and wanted to spend time painting in the Highlands. As you can imagine, she was an exotic visitor and caused quite a stir in our wee Highland village!

After being overwhelmed by SOFA on Wednesday evening it was great to return yesterday and actually meet some of the makers and talk to people involved. We still came to the conclusion that the European and Japanese work stands out and when I discussed this with Americans later they said they reckon it is because we have much more support for our makers – the Arts and Crafts Councils, Art schools and generally much more respect for Craft as an art form.

Before I went on my travels, my son took it upon himself to organise my MP3 player – alphabetically, by genre and with a special section of music for New York! The one song that keeps playing through my head so far is Leonard Cohen’s ‘First we take Manhattan’… So – we are doing just that!

After all the preparation and planning we have finally arrived in New York after an early start, straightforward flight and taxi to the hotel. ‘We’ are a group of twelve Craft curators/officers who are here to be immersed in the American craft scene, carry out individual research and promote what we do to professionals and makers in the USA.

One of the many great plus points about my job as Craft Development Coordinator for the HI-Arts is that I get out and about throughout the Highlands and Islands to meet many inspiring and positive people.