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.