Fingals Goblet - 2012

During Hamish’s 3rd year at Glasgow School of Art he won the ‘Outstanding Scottish Student of the Year Award’ presented by The Incorporation of Goldsmiths’ of Edinburgh. The brief was to create a functional drinking goblet for use at formal dinners.

The prize was the funding to create the design in silver while working with a master silversmith.

‘I was fortunate enough to work with John Creed on my Goblet. The whole experience was very eye opening for me, working with John and working in silver for the first time at this scale was the turning point into silversmithing for me.’

National Museums of Scotland Vase -2016

One of Hamish’s proudest moments came in 2016 when he was commissioned by the P&O Foundation to create a piece of silver for the National Museums of Scotland’s newly refurbished ‘Making and Creating’ Galleries.

‘This was an amazing opportunity to create a large piece of work that was going to be on permanent display in my national museum so I really put my all into the piece.’

Standing at 45 cm in height the tall elegant vase combines Hamish’s use of traditional metal working skills with 3D printed and wax work.

Seam Vase - 2013

Winning one of the Goldsmiths’ Company’s Precious Metal Bursaries while in his final year at Glasgow School of Art, Hamish created this piece. Among the largest pieces of work Hamish has created to this day, this vase was a technical and design challenge which he relishes.

‘This piece was a real learning curve, so many things had to be worked out but this is the joy and challenge of making!’

This piece was purchased for a private collection in 2014 at Goldsmiths’ Fair.

Ebony Jewellery Box - 2014

A commission from Hamish’s first show at Goldsmiths’ Fair, this piece was a birthday present for the client’s sister. Made from solid ebony and sterling silver, the piece was requested after seeing a smaller box of a similar design.

‘working with wood for the first time in a while was very nice, there is something special about working with a material with a personality. Each plank of wood is different and learning to respond and listen to it is key.’

The silver lid has a handle designed into the columns so as not to be intrusive on the visuals of the object. Created using a process of building individual wax components together to create a larger structure, this was one of the first pieces of its kind to use this process.

Brothers Bowl - 2014

Created for the Contemporary British Silversmiths exhibition held in Koldinghus in Denmark, the Brothers Bowl is a double skinned vessel using reflection as a design element.

‘One of the best qualities of silver is the high luster polish that can be achieved on the object. being able to create reflections and play with this creates an added layer of depth to pieces.’

The piece is now in the Peason Collection, a private UK collection of post war silver.

‘Growth Vase’ - Silver Speaks exhibition with Contemporary British Silversmiths

in 2016 Contemporary British Silversmiths held an exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the V&A’s Silver Galleries and CBS’s 20th anniversary. As a selected maker Hamish was asked to create a new piece of work for the exhibition as well as present a short piece of information about how it was created.

‘I was interested in the descent into chaos and how quickly things evaporate from being simple and organised to being a mess and unruly. I used the regular and repeated shape of a hexagon (which is a running theme in my work) to create a vase. The mesh grid starts ordered and regular at the bottom but starts to descend into chaos as it rises and grows from the table.’

Like the other pieces on this page this piece is a key work for Hamish. The opportunity for him to develop ideas and create larger pieces is crucial for an artist and maker’s development.

The piece is now in a private collection in London.

Landscape Dish - 2017

in 2017 The Goldsmiths’ Company created a teaching program for silversmiths within their first 5 years of graduating to learn more skills from master silversmiths in the UK. Hamish was fortunate to be awarded training from the wonderful silversmiths Michael Lloyd and Angus McFadyen.

‘learning from Michael and Angus was a very special thing. Both have taught me so much more than the skills that we spend exploring. Spending weeks with a maker of their skill, you pick up much more in the general conversation and presence of that person than is given credit.’

Hamish spent 11 weeks with Michael furthering his chasing skills and 6 weeks with Angus learning to engrave metal. These skills have been put to good use in his work since this time.