Scottish designers tell us about showcasing their work at the Elements Festival of gold, silver and jewellery

It’s an opportunity to pick up some cutting-edge creations

Heather McDermott necklace Pic: Stacey Bentley

The annual Elements Festival of jewellery, gold and silver is returning to Edinburgh's Lyon & Turnbull Auctioneers on October 27-29. We've spoken to a selection of our favourite designers, who will be selling their work as part of the shiny showcase.

Eleanor Whitworth, Glasgow: "Scotland has a strong community of jewellers and silversmiths who emerge from art schools nationwide. Since moving to Glasgow, I have always loved visiting Elements, seeing the array of exciting work on show and chatting with inspirational makers in such a grand setting. It’s a huge honour to be amongst the exhibitors. Receiving a subsidised stand has allowed me to divert funds to making new pieces, and I cannot wait to show them to a Scottish audience for the first time”.

Bio: Whitworth is an artist jeweller whose work explores the human relationship with the natural world - the enjoyment of seeking it and the scientific desire to collect and research. She produces wearable sculptural jewellery, often inspired by miniature creatures and curiosities in nature with the intention to evoke intrigue in the viewer. Eleanor works from her Glasgow Studio, where she marries traditional techniques and modern technology, such as laser welding, to hand-make varied pieces in mixed metals. Chief executive of The Goldsmiths Trust, who organise this event in partnership with Lyon & Turnbull, Ebba Goring, says “Eleanor’s work has a contemporary minimal aesthetic that is beautifully balanced by detailed pattern”.

Elizabeth Jane Campbell Pic: The Goldsmiths Company

Bryony Knox, Edinburgh: “Interaction with the silver is important to me and Elements provides the perfect place for people to play with the movement in my bird sculptures and really feel the weight and warmth of my silver whisky beakers in their hands. I enjoy sharing the stories which inspired my designs and often come away having learnt more tales and fables for work yet to come”.

Bio: Knox’s work explores the combination of glass and contemporary chased silver, creating sculptural yet functional silverware with a twist. A love of storytelling, movement and colour lies behind her collection of kinetic silver objects. The subtle story threads of Scottish and world fables run throughout, with function and form inspired by the essence of animals and birds. She specialises in the technique of metalworking technique, repousse, and chasing, which involves embossing. Her work features in the collections of J K Rowling, Museum of Edinburgh and HRH Princess Anne. In 2019 she took part in BBC's Victorian House of Arts & Crafts. Goring says, “Bryony’s work invites playful inquisition, with colourful glass and intricate moving silver parts that transform the functional object into something sculptural and full of narrative”.

Elizabeth Jane Campbell, Edinburgh; “Having an opportunity on your doorstep, representing incredible jewellers and silversmiths, is so important as it’s opening the market up across the UK. After exhibiting in the show's early years, I’m thrilled to be back again to show how my work has evolved over the years – there’s something really special about showing your work on home turf”.

Bio: Campbell is inspired by colour theory and visual literacy - essentially how we interpret and understand the world around us. Shapes and colours have associations and meanings to us all - often subconscious - and this informs all areas of life. In her work she explores shape, colour and balance to describe certain ideas or to demonstrate a particular visual concept, such as a Bauhaus ideology or the meaning of a colour. Enamel is crucial to her work and she challenges the process with her unique interpretations of the technique. Goring says: “Elizabeth’s jewellery is a modern interpretation of the traditional technique of enamelling, drawing on inspiration from our lived-in world and the relationship between colour, shape and material”.

Happy Hoopoe Bud Vases by Bryony Knox Pic: Shannon Tofts

Heather McDermott, Isle of Skye: "I spent my formative years at Edinburgh College of Art, so it is always special to exhibit here. Having started my career over ten years ago from my parents' shed on the Isle of Skye, an exhibition as dazzling as this reminds me of how far I’ve come. The festival allows me to showcase the months of developing new work from my shop in Callander to sit alongside the best in contemporary jewellery and silverware”.

Bio: McDermott specialises in contemporary jewellery inspired by the Isle of Skye. Having graduated from Edinburgh College of Art with a BA (hons) and an MA in 2011 she moved home to explore her love of the coast and to start her business. The tide-line of Skye is a trove of unique objects discarded from the Hebridean sea and it is here that Heather discovers treasures to inform her designs in stainless steel and precious metal. Goring says; “Heather’s highly wearable jewellery embodies the Scottish environment that surrounds her, and the conversation between the urban environment of cities like Glasgow and the rugged yet beautiful coastlines of Skye”.

Caius Bearder, Glasgow: “Since starting my Silversmithing and Jewellery degree at Glasgow School of Art in 2017, I have visited Elements and been fascinated by the range of creativity and designs that can be achieved in silver. The fact that I am able to exhibit for the first time is amazing, and I am so grateful to be part of a show which has been so inspirational for me as I have developed my practice”.

Bio: Bearder’s inspiration stems from his home island, Guernsey. The beauty of the island's coastlines inspires the flowing lines and forms in his work, combining soft aquatic surface lines and denser textures to reflect rock faces and waves. Caius uses textural engraving in silver to achieve the details which provide dynamic light play to his pieces. Currently an Artist in Residence at the GSA, he’s continuing to develop new designs. He currently focuses on using hand engraving on a variety of scales to mimic the constant flow and motion of the ocean surface.

www.elementsfestival.co.uk