A voice for craft

Over 29 days we will be profiling the recipients of our recent round of training bursaries.

Lily Thomas @lilywillow.jewellery, from Powys, has found living in rural Wales has impacted her access to further training opportunities in jewellery making and silversmithing. She will train on a one-to-one basis with renowned silversmith @raunihigsonjewellery. As well as establishing a successful business, Lily hopes to one day offer beginner workshops within her local community.

Lily’s bursary is funded by the Ashley Family Foundation, which supports a broad range of arts, community and social welfare projects in Wales, with a particular interest in supporting rural communities and environmental sustainability.

Lily said:
“Receiving this bursary is an incredible honour and I feel so lucky to have been selected. This funding gives me the opportunity to work one-to-one with a Master of the Craft, something I have only dreamed of being able to do. Together we will be honing my existing skills and building on them with a range of new techniques, supporting me to expand my designs and develop my career as a jeweler and metalsmith. I am beyond excited to get started!”

This week’s #mondaymaker is Michelle Mateo @chelle.mateo , a Monmouth-based early-career basket maker, green wood worker and leather worker. Awarded a Heritage Crafts training bursary in 2022 (funded by the City & Guilds Foundation), Michelle was able to train in split wood basketry, expanding her repertoire from ask to hazel and oak splint basketry, and to weave baskets in styles from the UK, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Spain and the US. Two forms of split wood basketry are currently listed on the Red List of Endangered Crafts.

#heritagecrafts #mondaymaker #basketry #woodwork

Over 29 days we will be profiling the recipients of our recent round of training bursaries.

Elena Fleury-Rojo @redflowerglass, from Essex, is a glass artist who wishes to develop her skills in the specialist field of scientific glass blowing. She will train with Brian Jones at the @nationalglasscentre in Sunderland. She plans to raise awareness of the craft of scientific glassblowing through her artwork, as well as offer other services such as making and repairing scientific glass apparatus.

Elena’s bursary is funded by the Maxwell Hanrahan Foundation, supporting innovative people working in field-based science, art and craft, teaching and protection of the natural world.

Elena said:
“Scientific glass blowing is an endangered craft in Britain. The Heritage Crafts bursary will give me the opportunity to learn from a master glassblower before it’s too late. Learning these skills will enable the craft to be passed on so that I can then pass them on to future generations.”

Over 29 days we will be profiling the recipients of our recent round of training bursaries.

Tim Wills, from Devon, served for five years in the police before realising that his interest lay in craftsmanship and the outdoors. He will train in the endangered craft of Cornish hedging with @crestcornwall. He plans to set up his own business and to continue to support local charities to keep these skills alive.

Tim’s bursary is funded by the D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, which funds charities operating in the UK in the fields of the advancement of the arts, health and medical welfare and environmental protection or improvement.

Tim said:
“I found rural crafts while trying to find an escape from my busy life in the emergency services. My craft has allowed me to leave that life behind, and the grant from Heritage Crafts will allow me to follow in the footsteps of so many that came before me and continue to pursue an ancient craft that is dying out.”

This week’s #craftfocus is silversmithing.

Silversmithing refers to the making of predominantly silver items, such as hollowware (vessels such as bowls, cups, candlesticks etc.), flatware, household and ecclesiastical items, sculpture and regalia.

Sub crafts include raising, hammer forming, chasing, repousse, joining, forging, spinning, polishing/ buffing/finishing, cutlery techniques, welding, enamelling, hinge making, plating, gilding and more.

Threats to the viability of the industry include a lack of funding for training opportunities, disengagement by mainstream education providers at degree level, and a lack of apprenticeships and other employment opportunities within the industry.

Positively, though, a new generation of designers and makers, supported by dedicated institutions and networks, are developing viable and sustainable businesses rooted in British craftsmanship.

Images: Wayne Meeten @waynemeeten

#heritagecrafts #craftfocus #silversmithing #silver

Over 29 days we will be profiling the recipients of our recent round of training bursaries.

Chanelle Brown @chanellebrown.art, from East London, will train in woodturning on a one-to-one basis with Mick Hanbury at Hope Woodturning, progressing to sculptural forms and advanced finishing techniques. As well as earning a living as a maker, Chanelle would like to share woodturning with young-people in London who might not otherwise get the opportunity.

Chanelle’s bursary is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund @heritagefunduk and made possible by money raised by National Lottery players.

Chanelle said:
“The Heritage Crafts bursary supports me with the opportunity to specialise in woodturning. I’ve noticed the profession is underfunded and lacking in diversity, which leads to many makers developing a design and craft practice based on restriction and scarcity. With the help of the bursary, I am able to develop my knowledge with good resources, and refine my skills safely and critically.”

Over 29 days we will be profiling the recipients of our recent round of training bursaries.

Jamie Smith, from Argyll and Bute, has worked on traditional sailing vessels over the last four years, where he has picked up traditional skills of rope work, maintenance, sailing, and some woodwork. He will attend the International Boatbuilding Training College @ibtc_lowestoft in Lowestoft. He plans to work in Scotland and has industry contacts with employers who are looking for qualified boatbuilders.

Jamie’s bursary is funded by the William Grant Foundation, a funder of good causes connected to one of Scotland’s leading family-owned businesses, with a vision of a Scotland where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

Jamie said:
“Boatbuilding is a craft I have been exposed to through working on traditional boats at sea. This training bursary has allowed me to take the next step, combining my passion of traditional boats and furniture making, and allowing me to learn the required boatbuilding skills to restore and build wooden boats. I am really excited and grateful for this opportunity Heritage Crafts has given me to support my training at IBTC and made it possible.”