Spotlight On: Scott Smith

Spotlight On: Scott Smith

Scott Smith is an award-winning maker whose works explore the importance of meditative craft through the processes of carving, raising and casting. Scott uses materials such as precious metals and reclaimed wood alongside a variety of repetitive and meditative practises, traditionally favoured by ancient Scottish craftspeople, to interrogate early Pictish carvings, contemplating mark making and the authenticity of replicas.

Scott often produces pieces of silverware that sits comfortably on both the dining table and in the wild Scottish landscapes that shaped their designs. A passion for meditative practises that allows for an expansive role for materials, instinctive making and spontaneous responses.

Scott’s work was featured in our 2021 Graduate Showcase at Elements. We caught up with Scott to learn more about how his work and career have developed over the past year.

Left: Bronze Cast Woodchip Vessel & Reclaimed Carved Wooden Spoon
Right: Silver Serving Spoon

How did you become interested in jewellery and silversmithing?

At school, I always wanted to be an architect. I undertook a week’s work experience with an architecture firm and soon found out the maths and engineering expectations required for such a technical industry restricted my creative potential and would require more time at a computer than at a drawing board. I spoke to a very encouraging art teacher at my school, Banff Academy, who informed me that jewellery and body adornment was like architecture for the body without the risk to human life. I took to this description and ran with it, studying HND Jewellery Design at City of Glasgow College straight after school. I then studied BA (Hons) Silversmithing and Jewellery Design at The Glasgow School of Art where I played with scale and form, eventually falling in love with tableware and silversmithing techniques that celebrated traditional crafts in a contemporary way.

Why did you decide to follow this career path?

I chose to follow the career path of a silversmith as it is very freeing and open to experimentation and a continued evolution of learning. I enjoy that I can work with my hands every day and interact with a materials response to my actions and manipulations, challenging my knowledge of that material and ultimately leading to learning more about my craft as I go. I knew I wanted to do something that I would enjoy doing every day and allow me to take every opportunity offered to me. Following this career path allows me to speak to other makers, continue training and participating in skills programmes and exhibit my work in exciting places across Scotland.

Can you tell us what you are doing in your career right now and what you are currently working on?

I am currently an Artist in Residence at The Glasgow School of Art, helping students in the Silversmithing and Jewellery Department with technical and design queries in exchange for a space to develop my own work and create new and exciting pieces to exhibit. This month, alongside fellow Artists in Residence, we put on an exhibition at The Alchemy Experiment in Glasgow to celebrate our work and development from this last year, showcasing new pieces with silversmithing and jewellery pieces available for purchase as well. Earlier this week, I finished a silver tea caddy spoon with a wood chip texture and repetitive punch marks to celebrate the slow processes of traditional manufacturing techniques in my work.

Woodchip-Textured Studs

Where do you draw inspiration from in your work?

Exploring the processes of carving, raising and casting, my works question repetitive markings, rhythmic making and the importance of meditative craft. Materials such as reclaimed wood, sheet metal and a variety of repetitive and meditative practises, traditionally favoured by ancient Scottish craftspeople, have changed the direction of my practise over the last year.

Using carving skills I acquired while in the Scouts and learning to appreciate the abundance of natural material available in rural Aberdeenshire made possible a reflection and careful consideration of our relationship with such organic matter. While analysing and interrogating wood chips as evidence of manufacturing processes, this knowledge assimilated seamlessly within research undertaken on early Scottish carvings, contemplating mark making and the authenticity of replicas.

After the first national lockdown due to COVID-19, responsiveness to environment and reflective practice have emerged as qualities in my works; a passion for meditative practises that allows for an expansive role for materials, instinctive making and spontaneous responses. In this sense, my work represents a collection of handheld objects that sit comfortably both on the dining table and in the wild Scottish landscapes that shaped their designs.

How would you describe your design style?

I work with repetitive techniques that take a long time and use the same repeating meditative actions that result in contemporary objects for the table that use traditional crafts and materials. I enjoy that my work could sit comfortably both on the table at a celebratory banquet and outside in the Scottish landscape that inform their design.

Tell us about the practice and methods you have developed in your work.

I use carving, raising and casting methods alongside press forming, punching and etching to create my repeating textures and forms. These are techniques I learnt while studying but have continued to develop throughout my residency and I look forward to learning new and exciting techniques for my work in the future.

Left: Silver Nut Dish & Cast Woodchip Serving Spoon
Middle: Tea Spoon Caddy with Woodchip-Textured Etching
Right: Silver Canapé Spike & Rest

What is next for you this year?

I am taking part in Elements later this year, as well as Goldsmiths Fair, and as a result am in the middle of developing new work to show at these events and celebrate the evolution of my craft since graduating. I plan to continue to learn new techniques that aid my craft while developing pieces for trade fairs at the end of the year. I look forward to creating new pieces of work, both commercial and exhibition pieces, that celebrate traditional crafts in new and interesting ways while allowing me to slow down and reflect on my practise as I experiment with material manipulation.

Elements: Festival of Jewellery, Silver and Gold takes place this autumn, 28-30 October at Lyon & Turnbull Auctioneers in Edinburgh. Visit Scott, alongside 46 designer-makers from across the UK, for a weekend of dazzling silver and gold.

Visit the links below to learn more about Scott: