Rich colours, beautiful textures and subtle movement can be found in Autumnal Jewellery.

Disa Allsopp offers a selection of fantastic gemstones and sculptural rings. Heather McDermott and Joanne Thompson specialise in tactile jewellery that cries out to be touched and enjoyed. Julie Blyfield, Paul Preston, and Malcolm Appleby take inspiration from nature to make wearable art with their incredible skills in metalworking. Luxurious gold and platinum features in Jacqueline Mina’s collection, alongside pops of blue and mauve titanium which nod to the chillier weather to come. New to the Gallery is Eleanor Symms, an Edinburgh based maker showcasing bold, autumnal colours and a fearless use of non-precious materials.

Malcolm Appleby

Born: 1946

Place of Birth: West Wickham, London

Malcolm Appleby was born in 1946. He studied at Central School of Art, Sir John Cass and the Royal College of Art in London before establishing his studio in Scotland in 1969. A silversmith and metal engraver, known for his imaginative use of line and form, he considers gold “just another lovely material to work with.”

The Scottish Gallery has been associated with Malcolm Appleby since the 1970s; the many facets of his work have brought joy to many, each piece sold marking the beginning of a journey of discovery around this senior artist. The Gallery honoured Malcolm Appleby’s seventieth birthday in January 2016, which marked over fifty years of a creative tour de force. Malcolm Appleby has dedicated his artistic practice primarily to engraving and pushing the boundaries of metalwork; constant experimentation has made him a master of his craft and in 2014 he received an MBE for his outstanding contribution to the arts.

2019 marked fifty years since Malcolm Appleby first set up his studio in Scotland and the exhibition 50 Golden Years in Scotland, featuring both jewellery and silversmithing, recognised his unique contribution to the arts. Malcolm’s infectious enthusiasm for his craft, his willingness to work with other artists and his pleasure in sharing his skills is characteristic of his generosity and pre-eminence. The natural world that surrounds Malcolm’s studio informs every piece; the artist’s inspiration unlimited in the abundance of the world around him.

Public Collections include:
The Victoria & Albert Museum, London; The Goldsmiths’ Company, London; British Museum, London; Royal Armouries, Tower of London; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums; The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh; and Perth Museum & Art Gallery

Malcolm’s jewellery collection can be viewed here.

In August 2021 we celebrated Malcolm Appleby’s 75th birthday with Malcolm Appleby & Friends. Previous exhibitions include 50 Golden Years in Scotland in March 2019 and The Gallery also hosted a special exhibition in January 2016 to celebrate Malcolm Appleby’s 70th birthday.

Disa Allsopp

Born: 1958

Disa was born in London and grew up in Barbados. This special island really influenced her jewellery designs, visible in her use of colourful gemstones. Disa personally selects each stone such as golden citrines, warm garnets, rubies, sapphires and morganites.

White and coloured diamonds are set on unique bands while rough and rare cut gemstones make Disa’s work contemporary and current, maintaining a timeless charm.

Disa exhibits internationally throughout the UK, United States, Japan and France. All work is individually handmade in Disa’s London studio.

Julie Blyfield

Born: 1957

Place of Birth: Melbourne, Australia

Julie Blyfield makes jewellery, small-scale vessels and sculptural objects in her studio nestling in the garden of her home in Adelaide, South Australia. Inspired by the botanical landscape in Australia, Julie’s favoured medium of expression is silver. This she uses in its softer pure form as well as in its stronger alloyed form – sterling silver. Her jewellery and vessels are characterised by seductive textured surfaces created using traditional silversmithing techniques such as hammering, chasing, punching and piercing. Rhythmical repetition is a key element of both her design process and her aesthetic, and the use of colour is also apparent. Following the traumatising Australian bushfires of 2007, Blyfield echoed the scorched colour and searing heat with enamel paint and startling glints of gold and silver set against charred blacks and ash greys.

‘My work is inspired by the botanical landscape in Australia, which I interpret in my metal work using the technique of ‘metal raising’ and ‘chasing’. I enjoy exploring and collecting plant specimens from rich and diverse environments such as the Simpson Desert in the north of South Australia and further south around the coast of Kangaroo Island. Working with both pure silver and sterling silver as my preferred choice of material, I texture the surface to create individual pieces in the form of vessels and also more sculptural pieces. During the making process, I enjoy the way the metal ‘moves and shifts’ in almost unpredictable ways to create the organic forms which shimmer with the silver textures or colours derived from nature.’ – Julie Blyfield, 2016

Public Collections include:

Aberdeen Art Gallery; Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia; National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh; V&A, London

Heather McDermott

Born: 1989

Heather McDermott studied Jewellery and Silversmithing at Edinburgh College of Art before completing an MA in 2011. She then returned home to the town of Aird, in the Isle of Skye, where she takes inspiration from the ever-changing shoreline and landscape.

“The tideline of Skye is a treasure trove of unique objects discarded from the urban environment and deposited by the power of the Hebridean swell. Here rope, wood and plastic take on a subtler identity as wind and wave shape and re-shape form and colour. These inspirational scenes are developed and translated in my work by utilising shapes and colours. Unconventional in size and structure, each piece is an expression of sculptural form and is designed to create a statement. The continually changing shoreline is my constant source of inspiration and my current collection ‘tidal surge’ is the contemporary interpretation of these surroundings.” – Heather McDermott, 2016

Jacqueline Mina

Born: 1942

Place of Birth: Buckinghamshire

I aim to achieve an aesthetic result that obscures the technical rigours of its production. I am preoccupied mainly with the surfaces of precious metals (which I always affect in some way before construction begins) and with form – juxtaposing the play of light, reflection, lustre with characteristic angle, curve and line – inspired by an abstraction of nature and art, and particularly of the human form. I am intrigued, too, by the potential for dialogue between inner and outer planes, with random patterns imprisoned within strictly delineated edges, the inclusion of chance, and the visual tension created by the contrast and harmony of all these factors.

A Lecturer at the Royal College of Art from 1972 until 1994, Mina has made a significant contribution to art education and has provided a great source of inspiration to her students; many of whom have become distinguished jewellers. Winner of the Jerwood Applied Arts Prize for Jewellery in 2000 for ‘consistent innovation and a significant contribution to contemporary jewellery… for subverting and taking precious metal techniques to the extreme’, Mina also received an OBE for services to Art in 2012. In 2011, the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths honoured her career with the retrospective exhibition, Dialogues in Gold, which brought together a selection of her work spanning almost her entire career to date. It included pieces that are still regarded as seminal today; ground-breaking pieces for contemporary practice in precious metal. This was followed by Touching Gold, an exhibition which toured the UK.

Jacqueline Mina’s technical brilliance, allied with her strong artistic curiosity has resulted in a range of sensuous, understated work, which has a rare aesthetic presence in the field of contemporary gold jewellery. Her superb technical accomplishment in manipulating precious metals is combined with a fine, painterly eye. Sources of inspiration include the Venetian Palazzo Fortuny with its textile drapes; featuring devoré velvet with their etched patterns.

Public collections include: National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh; V&A Museum, London; Cooper–Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York; Crafts Council, London; The Goldsmiths’ Company, London; Leeds Museums and Galleries.

Paul Preston

Born: 1943

Place of Birth: Leeds

Born in Leeds, Paul Preston a.k.a. the ‘Red Mole’ originally practised architecture before becoming a self-taught jeweller. His combination of fine workmanship and imaginative ideas make him one of the most distinctive contemporary British jewellers today. Paul practised architecture for just two years before retiring to dive the waters round Lands End for crawfish and the recovery of non-ferrous metals from wrecks. His interest in jewellery began after seeing the jewellery of artist and sculptor Breon O’Casey.

A large proportion of Paul’s work is based on themes from nature, especially birds and fish. This natural world in metal often has a strong element of fantasy influenced by cartoons and story books, as well as a whimsical, poetic quality.

Paul Preston now works from his studio in West Wales. His work is in many public and private collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

The Gallery will be hosting a solo exhibition in August 2024 – The Impartial Observer.

Joanne Thompson

Born: 1971

Place of Birth: Annan, Dumfries & Galloway

Joanne Thompson creates special everyday wearable pieces and extraordinary three dimensional necklaces and bracelets which are comfortable, elegant and easy to wear. Joanne studied Jewellery & Silversmithing at Edinburgh College of Art, graduating in 1993, before completing an MA in Jewellery at the Royal College of Art in London in 1995. Her distinctive silver and soft black palette is playful and sensual; elegant movement is integral to her jewellery – beautifully made, beautiful on and loved by women. Ancient chain maille patterns are a constant inspiration. Joanne experiments with the scale, weight, form and texture of the chains, making sculptural forms, necklaces, bracelets and earrings which are voluminous yet light, tactile and extremely durable. Her aim is to create striking contemporary jewellery which can be worn for both special occasions and every day. Joanne is fascinated by unit construction techniques in jewellery making, enjoying the way hard precious metals can be translated into soft forms which flow and stir with the body. Every circle in each unique handcrafted piece is formed, soldered and finished by Joanne.

Eleanor Symms

Photography by Martin Alan Smith Photography

I design and make sustainable contemporary jewellery, creating unique pieces of jewellery and small editions from found and reclaimed materials. These are often reclaimed and repurposed plastics, which are usually combined with recycled silver. ‘Stuff’ and the properties and potential of different materials fascinate me. My work is a response to materials which have had a former life and I aim to make work which is wearable, original and beautiful and which questions ideas of ‘preciousness’.

Eleanor graduated from Edinburgh College of Art with Distinction in 2012. She is a professional member of Visual Arts Scotland and Applied Arts Scotland, a member of the Association for Contemporary Jewellery, the Crafts Council and Craft Scotland Directories of Makers and the Green Arts Initiative. Her work is held in several public collections in the UK and Europe and she has exhibited in the UK and internationally.

Autumnal Jewellery

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