Issue 29 Spring 2014 the queen elizabeth scHolarship trust MAGAZINE In this issue Introducing 24 New Scholars including an Iconographer, Stonemason & Stained Glass Conservator QEST New Scholars MARK ANGELO-GIZZI Leather Worker QEST Leathersellers’ Company Scholar Largely self-taught, Mark developed his skills from a short leatherwork course at Capel Manor College in 2009. He produces a range of handmade satchels and bags. He will use his QEST scholarship to attend three short courses: Leather Covered Trunks with McGregor & Michael in the Cotswolds, a one-to-one with Peter Wall on Associated Skills, Attaché Cases and Cartridge Bags at the Saddlery Training Centre. These will improve his hand stitching and enable him to diversify to include bespoke cases and luggage for classic car owners and a range of equipment and accessories for field sports enthusiasts. www.gizzi-leather.com JULIET BAILEY Woven Textile Designer & Maker QEST Scholar Juliet Bailey co-founded Dash and Miller Ltd. in 2009. She is a hand-woven designer contributing to both a seasonal portfolio of trend-led, hand-woven designs that are supplied with technical details and copyright to all areas of the fashion and interior industries and, a seasonal collection of UK produced, ready to wear, luxury womenswear fabrics. Juliet is determined to improve her understanding between traditional techniques and modern methods of textile production through an extensive research and hands-on learning project and will share her experiences with the students of Central Saint Martins and Brighton Universities, amongst others. Her scholarship will be used to fund a series of visits to renowned UK manufacturing facilities that will include, intensive training in technical aspects of all areas of the UK textiles industry from fibre harvest, through to spinning, dyeing, weaving and finishing. www.dashandmiller.com BENJAMIN ARNOLD Artist QEST HISCOX Scholar Benjamin graduated from Newcastle College of Art & Design and completed a BA Drawing at the Camberwell College of Arts, before embarking upon a career as a self-taught painter. After discovering the Florence Academy of Art (FAA) through fellow QEST Scholar, Rupert Alexander’s work, he enrolled on a short summer programme. He was inspired to undertake the full course which he started in October 2011, part funding his training by working as both studio assistant and studio cleaner. Now with QEST’s support, he will complete his third and final year. The FAA is renowned for its instruction in the time-honoured practices of painting ‘from life’, built upon a foundation of first understanding the principles of drawing, training the artist’s eye, hand and judgement. In this, Benjamin’s final year, emphasis will be placed upon Portraiture, The Figure and StillLife, with one of the primary objectives being developing a more sophisticated understanding of mixing colour. The ‘sight-size’ method taught at the school is what distinguishes it from other institutions and this method was practiced by artists such as Titian and Rembrandt to Whistler and Sargent. Issue 29 Spring 2014 CLARE BARNETT Master Saddler QEST Saddlers’ Company Scholar Clare has developed from a talented leatherworker to a Master Saddler and qualified saddle fitter. Since she established her own business ten years ago, her husband has qualified as a Master Saddler and their daughter has recently joined them as an apprentice, ensuring the next generation will benefit from Clare’s knowledge. While attending a side saddle refurbishment course, her passion for traditional skills and history of the subject was unleashed. A side saddle rider herself, Clare will use her QEST scholarship to fund the Side Saddle Manufacture course at the Salisbury Saddlery Training Centre. This elegant style of riding is enjoying a resurgence with a growing demand for new saddles. Unfortunately there are few makers that remain with this skill and, with stocks of old name side saddles dwindling, (many of which are over a hundred years old and can only be refurbished a finite number of times) it is essential to be able to use modern technology in the traditional construction method of new side saddles. RUTH EMILY DAVEY Cordwainer QEST Leathersellers’ Company Scholar Ruth Emily Davey is a bespoke shoemaker with a difference. After completing Art College she secured an apprenticeship with Alan James Raddon, a shoemaker with a deep rooted philosophy from his reflexology training and the belief of strengthening and healing feet through wearing comfortable and well-fitting footwear. Ruth Emily practices his philosophy and will extend it by incorporating a range of boots. Ruth Emily, from Ceredigion in Wales, won the Balvenie Young Master of Craft Award in 2011 and was awarded her own studio by Aberystwyth Arts Centre in August 2012. She is now based at her home workshop in Machynlleth, Powys. With her award, Ruth Emily will complete a reflexology course and gain further understanding of the anatomy and structure of the foot, with the aim to innovate new designs following traditional methods, with the purpose of making footwear that provides unique health benefits. In addition, she will attend a boot design course at the London College of Fashion to perfect her design and extend her range into specific areas such as the equestrian market. She will also use the award to research fabric by investigating cloth and traditional weaving. www.ruthemilydavey.co.uk FRANKI BREWER Hand-Weaver QEST Scholar Franki Brewer is a hand-weaver and co-founder of Dash and Miller Ltd., a design studio producing quality hand-woven designs for the textiles industry. The company’s core business remains the inception and development of inspirational hand-woven samples for national and international clients in both the fashion and interior sectors. Franki will use her scholarship to fund a series of day visits and intensive one-to-one training sessions to explore the processes and skills involved in industrial and historic fabric production in the UK. She hopes to acquire extensive knowledge and skills in the industrial processes of fibre harvest, spinning, dyeing, weaving and finishing. The project will culminate with a series of professional practice lectures on translating hand-woven design for industry, to consolidate and disseminate this knowledge. www.dashandmiller.com QEST New Scholars GAYLE COOPER Model Maker & Prosthetics, Creature Effects Technician QEST Scholar Gayle has been working in special effects for the film/television and model making industry since she left university in 2008. Her speciality skills include prosthetic make up, creature creation and special effects. Her work often includes mould making and casting in a range of materials including silicone and fibreglass. Through practice, she has learnt some basic hair skills including knotting and laying. The QEST scholarship will fund her place at the UK Wig School to attend the Lace Wig and Hair Replacement Course where she will gain knowledge of ‘Foundation Fabrication,’ ‘Hair Selection and Preparation’ and ‘Measuring and Fitting’. These new skills will not only benefit her current career, but enable her to set up her own business making wigs for those requiring hair-replacement, due to medical conditions. MARTIN EARLE Iconographer QEST Radcliffe Scholar Martin sought a scholarship to develop his practice as an iconographer through a two year apprenticeship with Aidan Hart. Aidan is a Master Craftsman who has been carving and painting icons in the Byzantine and Russian tradition for 25 years and is renowned as the West’s foremost ‘liturgical artist’. Martin studied animation at the Royal College of Art and later, relief iconography in the studio of Sasha Aleksejevas. He brings to his apprenticeship a passion and talent for making, especially by hand, and a deep love and knowledge of the iconography of different eras and cultures. Since December 2012, Martin has been assisting Aidan on major carving and mosaic commissions for churches in Spain, Wales and the USA. The QEST scholarship will support him while he begins to learn the complex art of painting egg tempera panel icons and large scale wall paintings under his mentor’s close guidance. In recent years there has been an increased demand for specialist ‘liturgical artists’ able to create icons and church furnishings in a variety of media. This apprenticeship will help him to join the handful of such craftspeople that are emerging in this country. EMILY GOODAKER Jewellery Designer & Maker Weston Scholar Emily has an exquisite way of showing off her diverse skills in producing jewellery design in a very modern and imaginative style. Her work aims to bring new light to jewellery when it is not being worn, composing sculptural objects with the jewellery elements that add a playfulness to the display of her work entitled Life Outside the Jewellery Box. She intends to use the dialogue between historical information and objects through her MA in Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork and Jewellery at the Royal College of Art. Issue 29 Spring 2014 CHARLOTTE HETHERIDGE Textile Designer & Maker Weston Scholar Charlotte is an accomplished screen printer, dyer and woven textile specialist. She has recognised that digital printing facilities have ousted hand processed methods. She is determined to keep traditional skills alive and to make them relevant by modernising through innovation. In the year prior to attending RCA, she acquired extensive knowledge of printing and manufacturing within the fashion industry, showing her versatility as a designer by working within a diverse range of organisations, including Zandra Rhodes, H&M and Fusion. Using her QEST scholarship, Charlotte will complete an MA in Printed Textile Design at the Royal College of Art and plans to showcase a collection of garments that boast a combination of pioneering, woven and hand screenprinting techniques. www.charliehetheridge.com LAURA JEARY Stonemason Weston Scholar Last year Laura changed the emphasis of her career to channel her increasing interest in heritage skills and craftsmanship. She moved from architecture and undertook a part-time diploma in stone masonry at York College. After an intense year of total immersion within the craft, Laura has accepted a three year stone masonry apprenticeship at the York Minster stone yard. With the support of her QEST scholarship, Laura started her apprenticeship in August 2013, and is relishing the opportunity to work and learn in this focused and well-respected workshop. During the apprenticeship Laura will be learning banker masonry, setting out, fixing, conservation and carving. The position also includes a two week placement at another Cathedral, a City & Guilds Level 3 in Stone Masonry at York College and an optional Level 4 & 5 Cathedral’s Fellowship Fund Foundation Degree through the University of Gloucester. Laura is passionate about the promotion of traditional crafts across the board. She intends to investigate other crafts and conservation skills and to continue to make strong contacts with established craftsmen and women from the UK and beyond. AALIA KAMAL Easel Paintings Conservator QEST J. Paul Getty Jr Charitable Trust Scholar After seven years undertaking public policy research for central government Aalia was already well versed in research skills and methodology when she embarked upon a new career and undertook a postgraduate diploma at the Hamilton Kerr Institute. Aalia has gained valuable experience of working in situ at the Clothworkers’ Company in the City of London. Her third year Diploma project on Vanessa Bell’s painting technique will inform the practical conservation treatment of Bloomsbury School paintings. The QEST award will enable Aalia to undertake a 12-month V&A internship in paintings conservation. The Museum’s painting section is one of nine conservation areas including science, frames and paper, in which she will learn new skills through experts from each of these fields. Few studios have this depth of expertise and having a unique opportunity for a one-to-one apprenticeship highlights her exemplary skills in conservation. QEST New Scholars TARA OSBOROUGH Textile Designer & Maker QEST Bendicks Scholar Tara is passionate about British wool and the potential that exists by using locally produced resources to promote British suppliers and help to reinvigorate the sheep farming industry in this country. The award will enable Tara to study a Masters in Textiles at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, Surrey, where she studied for a BA Hons in Textiles for Fashion and Interiors. Her research during her degree has led her to focus on British wool and specialist dyeing techniques to create beautiful woven textiles. She has explored dyeing extensively and has created new ways of dyeing warps prior to weaving. The colour mixing is very evocative of the Irish landscapes, from which she takes inspiration. ALEXANDRA PENGELLY Knitwear & Textile Designer QEST Iliffe Family Charitable Trust Scholar Alexandra has completed the Fashion Knitwear BA course at Winchester School of Art and was a winner of the Rowan Knit Competition. Amongst other awards she has received the WSA Graduate Fashion and Textile Award. Tara gained commercial experience as a six month intern with Jude Cassidy, an Irish hand weaver with an international reputation and now undertakes freelance commissions alongside her studies. She won the New Designers Sanderson Award in July 2013 and alongside a cash prize, she received a four week paid internship with Royal Warrant holders William Sanderson & Son. www.taraosborough.co.uk Alex will attend the Knitwear Textiles MA course at the Royal College of Art. She will research hand manipulation and integral structure to better understand how traditional stitches from hand knitting can be developed through a range of methods in order to form dynamically different knitted structures. Studying at the RCA will enable her to research and present academic study into structural knitting. Using Shima Seiki and Morat machinery, she will explore how the skill and unique heritage associated with the craftsmanship of hand knitting can be adapted and interpreted through alternative methods. “It is my hope that the research and textiles I develop during this course of study could be used to challenge the preconceived notions of knitting as a domestic practice,” explained Alex. www.alexpengellyknit.co.uk CHRISTOPHER MADLIN Stained Glass Designer & Maker QEST Scholar Since 1987 Christopher has been working with glass as a craftsman, designer, fabricator and installer of stained & decorative glass. He gained additional experience in aspects of conservation glazing whilst working and training with Goddard & Gibbs Studios Ltd. and Chapel Studio Ltd. He is currently with Philip Bradbury Glass overseeing design, production, repair and restoration of all stained glass work and is involved with the design and production of decorative etched glass work. The scholarship will enable Chris to attend two specialist courses at Swansea Metropolitan University: the Glass Painting Workshop and the Silver Stain & Enamel Workshop. Issue 29 Spring 2014 JACK ROW Silversmith & Jeweller QEST Scholar Jack Row established his own eponymous brand in 2011 with the launch of his debut collection at Harrods. He designs and creates elegant writing instruments and accessories in silver, gold and platinum, frequently incorporating precious gemstones. Jack draws inspiration from engineering, iconic architecture and the intricate detailing of Islamic art. The QEST scholarship will enable Jack to learn and develop the traditional art of hand engraving from one of the UK’s leading craftsmen, with an emphasis on the use of new technologies, specifically compressed-air engraving tools and optical equipment. www.jackrow.com New Scholar Front Cover Image - Ring by Jack Row BENJAMIN POINTER Book & Paper Conservator QEST Clothworkers’ Company Scholar The QEST scholarship will ensure that Benjamin Pointer is able to complete a Postgraduate Diploma in the Conservation of Books and Library Materials at West Dean College. This course is recognised as being especially focused with time dedicated to practical conservation treatments, so that students are as fully prepared as possible to enter conservation upon completion of the course. Benjamin’s specific interests are in illuminated manuscripts and historical book structures. He has ambitions to work with collections such as those at the Bodleian, the British Library and Trinity College Dublin. Benjamin has also developed an interest in hand bookbinding and hopes to further cultivate his skills in the craft. JENNIFER PRICE Artist & Printmaker Weston Scholar Jennifer’s journey as an artist and printmaker has been more than just aesthetics; through her work she raises awareness of mental illness, the prejudices and the challenges that surround the topic. She uses the traditional skills of printmaking in an unconventional manner, by recycling discarded objects and scrap fabric to create prints. The object is inked up and wrapped in fabric providing a direct print of the item. The process is very much a metaphor for illnesses such as personality disorders and psychosis. Jennifer utilises the style of a psychiatric ink-blot, as her work encourages a viewer to look at artwork and interpret it however they see fit. She has worked as an Artist in Residence at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, USA; the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal; and the Aberystwyth Arts Centre. On each occasion, she held lectures, worked with volunteers and produced large format prints for exhibition. The QEST scholarship will give Jennifer the freedom to explore the bare bones of printmaking and her practice, as well as the time to refine and develop her work whilst she completes her MA in Printmaking at the Royal College of Art. www.jenniferpriceart.com QEST New Scholars KIRSTEN WALSH Wood & Stone Conservator Qest Tallow Chandlers’ Scholar Kirsten completed a BA in Fine Art in 1993, worked as a scenic artist at the National Theatre and later in the West End and the film industry. Assignments frequently included reproducing historical paintings and finishes. As she researched original techniques and began to understand how methods were dictated by technologies, Kirsten developed an interest in conservation that continued with carved and painted objects as she recognised a necessity for a more scientific and professional approach to their care. She has a particular passion for British medieval painting on stone and wood. Kirsten will use her scholarship to complete her BA course in Conservation Studies at the City & Guilds of London Art School. TOM VOWDEN Stained Glass Conservator QEST Eranda Scholar Tom Vowden studied archaeology at the University of Manchester and is currently a Heritage Lottery Funded Intern at The York Glaziers’ Trust supporting the conservation of the Great East Window of York Minister. The QEST scholarship will enable him to attend the MA in Stained Glass Conservation and Heritage Management at the University of York. This educational award will ensure that Tom advances the skills currently learnt and expands his knowledge of stained glass conservation, thus progressing his career in a profession dealing with fragile historic material. BEN SHORT Charcoal Burner & Coppice Woodsman QEST Ernest Cook Trust Scholar In 2008, Ben felt his life needed a change from working within the London advertising agency M & C Saatchi. A stint as an assistant forester with the National Trust in Cambridgeshire was followed by a year helping to set up an agro-forestry project on the Dorset/Devon border. Going alone in 2012, Ben started his own charcoal burning business; harvesting left-over thinning’s which a previous forestry contractor had neglected to clear in a wood close to his home. He now supplies several local shops with his English hardwood charcoal including River Cottage. A QEST scholarship will allow Ben to work full-time in the woods of a 2000 acre estate in West Dorset, honing his skills in charcoal burning and gaining a fuller understanding of coppice restoration, through the guidance of an experienced woodsman. Issue 29 Spring 2014 KATE WALLWORK Stonemason Weston Scholar Such is Kate Wallwork’s passion for her craft that over the last five years she has spent all her spare time improving her skills. Since 2008 she has been working for the French organisation, REMPART, as a supervisor on heritage missions run over the summer months, leading volunteers in conservation work. In her History BA she specialised in architectural history and it was natural that she would find her calling in the stone craft. She has completed a one year’s intensive training in stonemasonry at the Building Crafts College in London and has taken a variety of voluntary placements, including at Gloucester Cathedral and in a stone carver’s workshop. Her QEST scholarship is essential to fund the Diploma in Historic Carving at the City & Guilds of London Art School, where she will build on her masonry experience. This course will allow her to develop artistically, moving on from working stone into complex architectural shapes, to producing architectural ornamentation and to fulfil her ambition to become a professional stone carver. THOMAS SKEENS Potter & Ceramicist QEST Rumi Foundation Scholar OLUWASEYI SOSANYA Wood Worker & Design Engineer QEST Scholar Oluwaseyi is accomplished in woodworking and joinery techniques among other craft and design skills. He has focused on fusing sustainable design practice with beautiful aesthetics to bring art to every day experiences. He has gained considerable knowledge working internationally with individuals and companies commissioned to resolve emerging problems as quickly as our new age creates them. The photograph illustrates an iPhone cover Oluwaseyi made by working bamboo through several manufacturing processes. He has designed, then applied traditional wood working skills to produce a pair of his signature Nobu Chairs from a standard sheet of 4’x 8’ Baltic Birch plywood and thus realised his desire to create an affordable flat pack chair for the restaurant market. The scholarship will enable Oluwaseyi to complete his MA in Innovation Design Engineering, a joint programme between the Royal College of Art and the Imperial College, London. Oluwaseyi believes that the past can often help shape the future. His belief in a heterogeneous mixture of traditional craft and cutting-edge manufacturing technologies of today can help designers, artists and engineers make sustainable and fantastic works. www.sosafresh.com Tom is a potter with a reputation for technical expertise. He learned his trade initially through a vocational course run by the Crafts Council in rural Ireland, which took a traditional throwing based approach to clay. The course led to a series of jobs in a number of thriving potteries, making flowerpots in Bristol, tableware in Hong Kong and later assisting international ceramic artists in London. Working for a range of makers has expanded Tom’s knowledge of clay working techniques from both ancient and contemporary standpoints, engrained the fluency of his pottery making skills and offered him diverse perspectives on the medium of ceramics. Tom has demonstrated his passion for clay and it is in order to further explore this medium that he has chosen to study at the Royal College of Art. Keeping the inherent beauty of clay, the value of hand-making and, issues of class, identity and history in sharp focus, Tom seeks to create relevant and beautiful contemporary ceramic art at the college. What remains to be unearthed is how exactly he will express his own personal voice in clay as he moves into producing work that is fully his own for the first time since graduation.
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