The new edition of Metalsmith, the annual "Exhibition in Print" is fantastic. Susan Cohn curates "As Seen By Others: Photography As Strategy", an exhibition which I didn't enter as I didn't really think that it would be very interesting, nor did I think that it applied to my work. Now I am kicking myself for being so short-sighted, especially after the day I have just spent in…

One of my students made my day today by giving me a load of old silversmithing hammers which she had bought as part of a job-lot of tools from a workshop which was closing down!

Other than that, I've…

The way my schedule has worked out this year, I've managed to miss most of the Edinburgh Festival and so when I went through this weekend, there was a certain lack of energy about the place, shows closing, posters coming down, people leaving. The atmosphere wasn't wholly helped by the dreich weather but I still had an excellent weekend, as I always seem to do when I visit the Scottish capital.…

Well, having cleared the workshops, catalogued my stones and re-organised the casting room, I found in my inbox a reminder for "Suspended in Green", the final show in the highly successful…

It has to be said that this is the longest it has ever taken me to bring my blog up-to-date. It is amazing how much I was hampered by not being able to reliably edit photographs and upload them due to the terrible internet connectivity…

I do like Pittsburgh, especially as I have good friends there who can take me about and introduce me to new things such as the marvellous Klavon's Soda-Fountain: To the immediate right of Dingo is Elizabeth and her daugher, Eliza.…

It wasn't all work in Pittsburgh and in between teaching the workshops, I got a chance to socialise a bit too. Quite apart from my non-metalsmithing friends, Elizabeth Avery and Kirk Savage and their wonderfully odd family, I also managed to see Lizzy DaVita and hooked up with Glen Gardner for an evening of dinner, his workshop and an exhibition.…

After the stint at the detention centre, it was time to return to the SCC to work with a group of young people on the "Artist and Kids" programme. This programme is well established within the SCC and I taught on it last year, which was great fun. One of last year's students even signed up to take my main adults' workshop…

After returning from Touchstone, it was time for a weekend in Pittsburgh followed by my work with the young people in Shuman Detention Center. The detention centre is a place for people under the age of…

Last but not least - of course, these are my students - in the round of Scottish degree shows is the turn of North Glasgow College. We've only been offering degrees in Jewellery Design and Technology for three years, validated through Leeds University - the last time for Leeds, we have an exciting partnership with Dundee's own Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art starting next academic year - but this is the first year that I've personally felt part of the degree-show circuit, felt as if we…

So, after all the blogging of the degree shows and other peoples' students' work, it is now the time of my own non-degree students to shine. Every year, the august body, The Trades Hall of Glasgow, a marvellous philanthropic association of people who strive to preserve the craft skills in society, organise a competition between the colleges of Further Education in which the students compete to win substantial cash prizes,…

The circuit of degree shows rolls on and last night was the turn of the graduates at the Glasgow School of Art  to show their stuff and unlike last year, which - though good - felt a little "flat", this was a show buzzing with ideas and energy, every bit as good as the Dundee and Edinburgh shows over the last few weeks.…

About 6 weeks ago, I ordered some stamps with my signature on them from Microstamps in the US. They arrived today and I have to say that I am delighted with them. I've had a hallmark for years and years but since I started working in iron and reclaimed materials, I've barely used it as mediaeval legislation in the UK means that it is not possible to sell anything "contaminated"…

What a great weekend! Lovely weather, so I got out on my bike a lot and re-visited a site I had found some time ago, the wonderfully unhinged paintings on a house in Tollcross, Glasgow. In September 2012, it looked like this:…

Since returning from Istanbul, it has been non-stop in the workshop, preparing work for orders and making some new pieces too. I've sidelined a number of works-in-progress in order to get on with more pressing issues, so there are no updates on my Chanel-inspired piece or my tribute to Alexander McQueen, though I have progressed apace with my first foray into electronics in jewellery, "14th Century Nightlife" which I hope to finish finally this coming week after it sitting on my bench for…

It is that time of year again, when the degree shows in Scotland all kick off. As usual, the roll is started by Dundee's Duncan of Jordanstone College of  Art & Design - DJCAD for short. Regular readers of my blog will…