Meet the Artists & Makers of D.A.S

Ceramics

AJ crafts a mix of wheel-thrown and hand-built pieces. AJ enjoys exploring the novel side of ceramics through their fun ‘blob’ series of decorative one-off characters. These creatures are inspired by AJ’s love for illustration and collecting rocks as a child. Alongside their series of small ornamental figurines, AJ fuses fun with function in their series of blob crockery which includes blob mugs, bowls, plant pots and more! Recently they have begun pushing their sculpting skills to produce larger forms in a series of dinosaur blobs which showcase bright colours and goofy expressions.

Sculptor

Allan is one of the co-founders of D.A.S. and a sculptor who has lived and worked in Aberdeen for over 35 years. His current work explores the ambiguities between 2 and 3 dimensions: “rather ironically for a sculptor, flatness has always fascinated me, and consequently, how flat surfaces, edges, lines, and shapes suggest or become form”. Whilst his wall sculptures borrow from the language of painting and geometric abstraction, they are the result of a hands-on making process more readily associated with sculpture. Colour is used to soften the solidity or contradict the reality of the forms themselves, aiming for an art that delights the eye but confuses the mind. Allan was a lecturer at Gray’s School of Art for over 20 years and has served on the boards of both Grampian Hospitals Art Trust and Peacock.

Ceramic Maker / Facilitator

Amy Benzie is a ceramic maker and creative facilitator curiosity lies in the alchemy of glaze recipes and firing. The element of unpredictability that comes from working with her materials, and the exchanges between art and science greatly inspire the otherworldly forms and textures of her work. This has led to innovative and unorthodox methods of pattern application for which she was awarded the Potclays Graduate Award.

Artist

Angela is a writer and painter. She takes inspiration from everything she sees, hears, and feels; every day is different.

She loves a splash of colour and enjoys using acrylic paint to explore colour and texture to capture the shape, movement, and atmosphere of a scene or form.

She often works intuitively in both her painting and writings, at times even combining the two.

Textiles

Launched in 2016 by Lucy MacDonald, Arra Textiles has become known for colour, complex woven design and connection to place.

After completing a degree in Design for Textiles at university in Scotland and Finland, Lucy's textile practice has developed to encompass design, sustainability, digital design techniques and a strong message of environmental protection.

Lucy blends a self-taught heritage tapestry weaving style with contemporary digital woven design, creating an image within an image with complex structures echoing throughout the woven landscapes.

Commissions | Workshops | Art

Jeweller

With over 20 years experience designing jewellery Aubin is now based here at Deemouth Artist Studios. She creates contemporary vibrant jewellery collections with a strong focus on colour and the use of alternative materials. Designs are often inspired from natural or structural forms found in her everyday surroundings which are reduced to the simplest of shapes and patterns. Using traditional jewellery making methods and hand skills she creates one-off designs and small collections often with limited or off cut materials. She describes her process as playful and makes work in an intuitive way, finding that the challenge of combining unexpected materials together harmoniously, such as leather with pearls or perspex is the most exciting part of the creative process.

Printed Textiles, Handstich & Workshops

Camban Studio is a Scottish studio specialising in sustainable, circular, slow designed, hand crafted, and meaningful textiles.

Sourcing dead stock and offcuts from the best Scottish textile producers, we take their finest quality sustainable cashmere and wool, alongside beautiful silks, organic cottons and linens. We then apply our print designs to create a unique and precious range of textile products that are small batch produced by social enterprises in Scotland. We then keep our products in circulation through service offerings including repair, upcycle, trade-in and recycling.

Jeweller/Ceramics

Celda Mae's love for narrative design and femininity is shown in both their jewellery and ceramic designs. Their true passion lies in storytelling through an object and being able to express a serious message with a light-hearted and kitsch aesthetic.

Alongside stone-setting techniques, and colourful statement pieces, Celda has recently been taking silver to its limits through melting and fusing to create uniquely textured pieces of jewellery. Within her ceramic work she has been creating cute and kitsch animal ornaments with hand-built flower crowns finished with gold lustre. This idea was developed from exploring themes of toxic masculinity.

Maker

Peter is passionate about making ‘stuff’. He has a real affinity to working with recycled materials and can turn his hand to just about any process.

In recent years he has refurbished campervans, built bars, counters, benches and seating for cafes as well as bespoke concrete worktops for kitchens and 'scaffolding' beds.

Now he has downsized (!) , inspired by being surrounded by so many talented makers at deemouth artist studios and produced a series of polished concrete products including pots, bowls, lights, trays and other domestic objects.

Artist

My paintings, drawings, and writing are inspired by landscapes, sea and sky, and celebrate the essential relationship between humanity and the elements of nature.

Current works explore how layers, lines, and fields of colour and texture combine to create effects of space, distance and movement. Paintings take influence from feeling, memory and experience as well as realistic studies, and dance between realism and abstraction toward evocation. Figures sometimes creep in, embodying spiritual and emotional depth and connection.

Maker/Art Facilitator

Elaine Grant is an artist, designer, maker and creative facilitator, based in Aberdeen.

Working with textiles, she creates one off designs and limited edition collections of colourful characters, playful jewellery, homeware accessories and bespoke commissions. Her work is inspired by themes of childhood and nostalgia and often incorporates narratives from her own memories of growing up and raising her children. Embracing opportunities to work with others, Elaine also works on a wide range of creative projects that encourage creativity and support wellbeing.

Silversmith / Jeweller / Enameller

Taking inspiration from the landscapes and weather of Scotland, Emma creates fine silver and enamel jewellery as well as hand raised bowls in either fine silver or copper with enamel decoration. Her work begins in the landscape taking photos of the hills and the sea and collecting pebbles from the beach which are all referenced when working in the silver and enamel. She loves to use traditional techniques like hand-raising and enamelling in a contemporary way producing work which is beautiful and modern and something to be treasured.

Bag Designer/Maker & Leatherworker

Founded in 2014 by designer/maker Laura Sherriffs, Fernweh UK is a slow fashion brand creating handcrafted waxed canvas bags and leather goods inspired by a passion for the outdoors, and the colour palette of the Scottish landscape.

Designer/Maker & founder Laura uses traditional, heritage materials, steeped in history and story, such as Scottish waxed cotton, and Devon tanned oak bark tanned leather, tying her work to the dramatic landscape it is inspired by. Fernweh use these materials in a modern sensibility to create rugged, unique pieces with a sustainable focus that will age with the wearer & tell the story of a lifetime of adventures.

Laura also has a creative zero waste ethos, creating one of a kind pieces from offcuts, creative patchworking and exploring how to give a new life to existing materials such as retired climbing rope and sailcloth.

Fernweh support Scottish rewilding schemes, and offer a range of repair/rewaxing services, with a developing circular practice, taking old Fernweh designs & reworking them into something new, with a commitment to avoid products reaching landfill.

Laura also offers a small selection of creative leathercraft, sewing & repair workshops.

Artist

I have always been passionate about ART. As a child, I loved to draw, doodle, paint and create.
I enjoyed a career in Advertising for many years where my artistic skills were put to good use but after the arrival of my second child, I decided I had to do what I loved best………………….paint!!

I refreshed my painting skills and knowledge by attending a course at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, where I found my confidence to paint once again and felt truly inspired to start producing artwork after a lot of years.

I’ve never looked back!

I exhibit my work at local galleries and I’m always delighted when I’m asked to exhibit at art events, such as the Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen Art Fairs.

My inspiration comes from the gorgeous scenery that surrounds my home and I’m constantly inspired when travelling around the world. I love the changing seasons and the colours and textures they bring. Artistic inspiration on tap!

I am delighted to be part of the wonderful community of artists and makers at Deemouth Artist Studios and I enjoy taking part in the Open Studio events and being part of such a creative and inspiring community! 

Bag & Accessories Designer

Hackley is an independent bag and accessory business based in Aberdeen, run by designer and founder Rachel. The simple, functional designs are handcrafted to combine striking colours with tactile materials, offering a bold, eye-catching range designed to be a durable and lasting addition to any wardrobe.

Textile Designer

Helen Ruth is a luxury accessories label specialising in digitally printed silk and wool scarves, printed and hand-finished in Scotland.

Each scarf starts with original hand-drawn illustrations, usually in pen and ink. These artworks are then converted to digital files to be coloured, repeated, mirror imaged, collaged and combined with found imagery and photography to create the intricate and layered prints of the scarves.

Artist

With over 30 years of creative experience, my work includes fine art, illustration, screen-printing and stained glass design. However it’s portraiture and figurative painting that I always return to, from literary characters to private commissions. Now based at Deemouth Artist Studios this space is allowing me to now work on larger pieces and offer one to one tuition.

Artist

I graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in 1995 with a BDes (Hons) in Constructed Textiles. While I've always enjoyed sketching and working with wool, I’ve recently been exploring working with paint, focusing on texture, bright colours, and landscapes inspired by Scottish cities. My work is based on Sunday afternoon scenes and often includes comical characters dressed in fabulous tartans adventuring in their surroundings. Having lived in Oman, Borneo, and travelled through Australia, diverse cultures and vibrant landscapes have greatly influenced my art. I aim to create fun, colourful pieces that stand out and bring joy to those who experience them.

Artist

I graduated from Grays in Fine Art (Painting), July 2024. I work with found objects and unfired clay alongside 2D work to create spatial drawings with an emphasis on everyday materials, process and relationships. My studio is my hub for a continuum of work - short and longer term projects focussed on human place. Ever curious I welcome comments and contributions.

Metalsmith / Jeweller

My creative process starts with a sense of curiosity and a desire to make. It’s also about the untapping new possibilities for materials that have had a previous use in order to promote circularity. Generally, I work with metals and mixed materials finding ways to create jewellery and bespoke objects.

I have always been fascinated by old things, whether it’s process, tradition, materials or pattern. Characteristics of nostalgia and romanticism quite often inform my creative aesthetic.

The essence of slow making and mindfulness are integral to my practice - not only do I gain a sense of grounding and pleasure from the process, I hope that joy is imbued in the work and passed on.

Jewellery & Silverware

Megan is an Aberdeen based jeweller and silversmith who creates collections of silver and gold jewellery, handcrafted silverware and bespoke commissions from her workshop at Deemouth Artist Studios. Each piece Megan makes, is handmade using both traditional and contemporary methods and is finished to the highest professional finish.

Mhairi McBeath is a designer & maker who, after graduating from Gray’s School of Art’s 3D Design course in summer of 2023, has set up her practice focusing mainly on Ceramics as well as folded art and lighting.

Mhairi’s main focus is Ceramics, creating functional and colourful homewares by blending traditional wheel throwing and 3D printing as a method to create tools and stamps, ensuring consistency and a refined finished product.

Throughout university Mhairi focused on using paper folding as a problem solving method for her design work, this then fed into her designs and can be seen most clearly in her folded light shade designs which are crafted by laser cutting and folding polypropylene plastic into bespoke handmade shades.

Illustration

Orange-ade is the creative work of Adrian Reid - an illustrator, graphic designer and printmaker based in Aberdeen, Scotland. He specialises in creating colourful, vibrant artworks that allow everyone to think, smile and have a little chuckle! His illustrative work also translates into stationery and other accessories, which brings his art to life even more! Working mainly from sketchbook, to computer, to hand screenprinting - this crossover between digital and analogue processes is one of the main driving forces behind his practice.

Textile Artist
Mhairi Allan

Paper Houses Design is a textiles studio creating lifestyle products that connect people with their homes, themselves and their well-being. Inspiration for designs come from the everyday, overlooked, mundane and often thought of as harsh elements, like a brutalist staircase or phone wires. Designer Mhairi Allan develops these ugly loves into transeasonal patterns. Collections are designed consciously and made in an ethical way, honing craft knowledge and modern technology.

Jewellery

Pauline is based at Deemouth Artist Studios and makes jewellery using precious and semi-precious stones, both colourful and understated, along with gold and silver. She draws inspiration from the natural landscapes and coastlines in Scotland and her native home, Africa.

Upholstery

Purple Heron began when a new arrival - rescue cat Claude - started ripping fabric from defenceless chairs. There only seemed to be two choices: either the cat or the chair went. Yet the answer was obvious - no more clawed!

Evelyn joined upholstery leisure classes and soon found her calling. Following formal intensive training, she was awarded the AMUSF Diploma and now teaches the wonderful craft of upholstery at DAS.

Classes and commissions welcome.

Painter

Val is a Scottish seascape and landscape painter now based at Deemouth Artist Studios.

Using her memories of time lived in the landscape and in the North Sea coastal communities to inform her semi-abstract paintings, Val strives to express her deep seated connection with the environment and the emotions she experiences when surrounded by the changing elements.

Val uses acrylic paint to build layers and responds intuitively as the painting evolves on the canvas, then works towards a final composition to find a sense of space alongside the marks and texture created by the layers below.

Val exhibits regularly in galleries and at open studio events.

Vintage Clothing and Artist

Jo Muir is an artist and the owner of the online vintage business "Wardrobe Foxes Vintage". Based at Deemouth Artists Studios, she has transformed the space into a treasure trove H.Q where she can style and film curated vintage collection drops for her customers online and make bespoke reworked vintage accessories. She runs her business through instagram but is always looking for opportunities to do pop-ups and markets and encourage folk to shop secondhand and wear unique vintage gems in modern ways.