An initiative than enables independent craftspeople in Perthshire to promote their work and access business support is growing as it marks its first anniversary by recruiting more creatives and giving them an online platform to reach more customers.
Perthshire Artisans was set up by specialist rural enterprise agency GrowBiz to promote Perthshire’s diverse range of creative talent, enabling local artists and makers to find new markets as well as getting business support and providing an artists’ community.
With 10 new members joining the group there are now 28 diverse creatives from across the region featured on the Perthshire Artisans website, ranging from classical painters, photographers and textile designers to glass artists, illustrators, contemporary artists, candlemakers and jewellers.
One of the new creatives to have joined recently is Perth-based jeweller Diana Law, from Diana King Jewellery. She said: “I am so happy to be a part of this new, growing community, and to have a chance to share my new designs and contemporary jewellery with a wider audience.
“Making soothes my soul, sharing makes me happy.”
Jackie Brierton, CEO at GrowBiz, explains: “Our vision for Perthshire Artisans was to bring together the region’s diverse range of creative talent, help to tell their stories, and provide a route to market.
“We are delighted to be adding a further 10 artisans to the site, which provides a focus for the creative process and the wealth of talent which is here in the very heart of Scotland.
“At a time when we need to shop local and focus on sustainability, Perthshire Artisans is a unique resource for anyone looking to enjoy a bit of creative Perthshire, wherever they are in the world.”
The carefully curated platform enables consumers to access “off the beaten track” creatives, and connect with their work, values, inspiration and processes in one online marketplace.
As facilitator Caron Ironside points out: “Perthshire Artisans is a unique platform for creatives, with equal value placed on the artisan and their practice, their incredible and original creations, and the stunning place in which they choose to live and work.”
Here, we feature five of the artists whose work can be purchased via
www.perthshire-artisans.scot
Nicola McCabe, ceramic artist
Nicola creates modern, ceramic homewares from her home studio in Muthill. Her collection, under her own brand Last Winter, features a distinct delicate and minimalist aesthetic, and includes thoughtfully designed pieces such as plant pots, candle holders, soap dishes and other small decorative ceramics that instantly enhance any home.
Heavily influenced by the landscape surrounding her studio at home in Perthshire, Nicola draws on the mountains and the natural changing colours and light she witnesses throughout the year. She uses a variety of different ceramic techniques to illustrate and decorate each of her pieces by hand.
Roberta Pederzoli, jeweller
Roberta is an award-winning jewellery designer working predominantly with silver using ancient wax carving and casting techniques. Born and raised in Italy, Roberta creates pieces uniting inspiration from the Scottish landscape with exquisite Italian style. Her skills were honed in Florence, London and Glasgow.
Her creative practice, Quinta Essenza, is now based at The Creative Exchange in Perth where she creates jewellery that reflects an enchanted fairy-tale elegance. She is inspired by the detailed beauty of the stones, cracks, wood, leaves and lichens that she spots on woodland walks, and weaves this into the natural, organic shapes of her designs.
Dave Hunt, photographic artist
A photographic artist with a passion for vintage analogue photography, Dave works with film, various alternative printing techniques, and also the wet plate collodion process from the 1850s for both fine art and portrait commissions, all from his home-based near Glen Lyon, Aberfeldy.
As well as creating images as fine art prints, Dave shares his passion for photography through the courses he runs in both digital and analogue photography. Inspired by the places he visits and the people he meets, he describes himself as a fine art photographer, which he says more accurately reflects his style of work rather than his subject choice.
Diana Law, jeweller
A contemporary jeweller whose pieces are the epitome of everyday elegance, Diana’s collections use silver and cast resin, and her designs are both extremely wearable and affordable. Simplicity is key and her work features fluid, clean lines and uncomplicated characteristics, expressing Diana’s strong sense of “less is more”.
Working under Diana King Jewellery from her Perth-based garden workshop, Diana draws inspiration from the natural world, from the flora and fauna found in her garden, the freedom of movement and flight of birds, as well as the visual textures of the sea, waves and clouds. She also on commissions which she personalises to the client.
Derek Allan, silversmith and jeweller
Derek is a silversmith and jeweller who enjoys working with a number of mediums in various forms, including silver, copper, and also precious and semi-precious stones. Working from his garden studio in Pitlochry, his brand name is BlueRoc Design Jewellery and his designs are largely one-offs which are rarely replicated.
Strongly inspired by history and culture, particular that of Scotland and Scandinavia, Derek enjoys incorporating precious and semi-precious gemstones into his designs as he feels their intrinsic properties add colour, contrast and character to each piece. He loves working with customers to realise their own ideas so he can design a piece of jewellery unique to them.
Kate McLaughlin, contemporary jewellery maker
Simple yet striking, Kate’s contemporary jewellery has a minimal aesthetic and features pieces that are equally wearable every day or as a statement piece. She trades under her own brand Kate practices under her the Align Jewellery and makes every piece by hand in her Perth-based home studio.
Kate’s previous life as an architect is a major influence on her work. The presence of strong, clean lines and the careful consideration of each item’s form to create both interesting shapes and voids is immediately apparent in her collection. She mainly works with sterling silver but occasionally with other precious metals and materials too.
Jon Bishop, illustrator
Jon is the talented Comrie-based illustrator behind the hand-drawn creations brand The Grey Earl. He creates illustrations for picture books and also standalone illustrations available to purchase as digital prints., he creates colourful, dreamlike scenes which appeal to the inner child in all of us.
Contemporary and original, Jon’s work is as equally whimsical and imagined as it is detailed and natural. In every creation, he creates a sense of magic which is loved by children and adults alike. His considered use of colour is key to his aesthetic with all of his illustrations begin life as rough sketches as he translates his imagined ideas onto paper.
Anna Malyon, artist and printmaker
An artist and printmaker creating bold, quirky homewares and textile gifts under her brand Coppertop Croft, Anna works from her home-based studio in Crieff. Combining traditional lino block printmaking techniques with digital design methods to create beautifully organic and striking designs, her work includes kitchenware, tableware, textiles and paper products.
Inspired by her time living in Sweden where she became “mildly obsessed” with the bold and interesting prints of mid-century Scandinavian textiles, Anna’s work is her interpretation of that era applied to Scotland’s flora, fauna and natural scenes that she is surrounded by in Perthshire. All of her ideas begin as rough sketches drawn with a chunky graphite stick.
Izzy Gretton, fabric designer
Izzy is a designer and up-cycler with her own range of quirky woollen hats and natural jewellery all produced in her home studio in Aberfeldy. She repurposes fabrics to create her collection of hats which are stylish and unusual but also robust enough to cope with the Scottish climate. She uses natural fibres as much as possible, particularly wool.
Her jewellery collection features striking Scottish stones which she collects, polishes and sets into one-of-a-kind pieces. Izzy is a keen hillwalker and was inspired to start creating her own headwear when she couldn’t find a suitable hat that would keep her both warm and dry while appealing to her personal style.
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