It was a privilege to take part in “Elements Festival of Jewellery, Silver & Gold” in October in the beautiful Lyon and Turnbull auction house, Edinburgh. Elements is Scotland's only fine jewellery fair, bringing together almost 50 makers from across the UK.

Living in Shetland (a group of Scottish islands in the middle of the north sea, in case you don’t know) means getting anywhere is a journey. My husband Bryan, sister Marie and I began our journey by packing up the car and taking the 13.5 hour overnight ferry to Aberdeen. Docking in Aberdeen at 7am, we then drove the 127 miles to Broughton Place in Edinburgh arriving just after 10am. A 20hr journey in total. Eda of the Scottish Goldsmiths’ Trust asked us to arrive early for a photo opportunity as part of the press coverage for the event, so we didn’t dawdle on the drive south! It turned out that the press photographer had just recently been up to Shetland and in fact had been outside my studio and heard all about me. That was a great for an immediate connection.

Parking in Edinburgh is notoriously difficult and we left the car in a spot we obviously shouldn’t have…and of course, we got a ticket. But I’ve never seen someone as excited about getting a parking ticket as my husband was - his first ever :)

It was so exciting walking into the Lyon & Turnbull in the midst of a hive of activity as the building was being made ready for the fair. There was a real buzz about the place as all the exhibitors tried to unpack, find our feet, set up and at the same time get to know others and spot those we knew already. There were silversmiths setting up larger vessels, jewellers with colourful 3D printed sculptural pieces, new metals, traditional metals and all the beautiful gemstones you would expect.

We spend all day Thursday setting up our stall in time for the evening private viewing for invited guests. And we were off - it was lovely to see some of those we had personally invited as well as so many friends of the Scottish Goldsmiths Trust. The following three days were open to the public and we had the joy of meeting so many wonderful visitors and showing them our collections.

Friday evening was cocktail evening sponsored by Glenmorangie and Saturday evening we were treated to talks from some amazing makers in the industry. My favourite was listening to Fred Rich talk about creating the stunning pair of enamel vases which he won the prestigious Jacques Cartier Memorial Award at the recent Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council Awards. These vases are beautiful and the level of workmanship which has gone into them is utterly stunning and hugely inspiring!

I absolutely loved everything about being at Elements Festival! The feeling of being part of something bigger than myself is something I miss from my studio in the Goldsmiths’ Centre in London’s jewellery quarter. And two years of Covid lockdown didn’t help either! But being a part of Elements made me feel part of that community again - I was delighted to catch up with friends and colleagues from my time in London as well as making connections with the jewellery industry here in Scotland. I valued meeting Edda and Eba from the Scottish Goldsmiths’ Trust as well as connecting with other makers at the top of their game. And of course I was delighted to make new clients who loved and bought my pieces.

Returning home I feel encouraged, inspired and motivated to keep pushing for excellence in my own work. I’ll be back next year, if they’ll have me!

Elements Festival 22