Kirsty MacDonald awarded Qest

Last year, artist Kirsty MacDonald was awarded the highly acclaimed emerging maker award which allowed for 9 months of mentoring with what was The Old Mill, and now Old Mil Arts. This month, Kirsty had her final three days of mentoring with us which concluded the practical part of the mentoring, leaving a few more online sessions to come.

This has been such an incredible opportunity for both Kirsty and ourselves, not least due to Kirsty’s fascinating work into plant lore and social history. Kirsty has just completed and excelled in her Fine Art Masters degree at Gray’s in Aberdeen and we would very much recommend keeping an eye out for Kirsty’s work, how-ever she develops will be fantastic to learn about.

See Kirsty’s Qest profile (post BA(hons) but pre-Masters) here…https://www.qest.org.uk/alumni/kirsty-macdonald/

See photos of Kirsty’s work and her final degree show here https://www.instagram.com/kirsty_macdonald663/

With three blocks of three day sessions, we have been able to cover a lot of ground. This is an ideal way to work, and at Old Mill Arts, we are really keen to develop these longer teaching opportunities in the future. Starting with cooking up plans for evening classes next year, so watch this space!

Below are just some of the photos from our sessions where we covered, wild clay, pit firing, charcoal making, pens, paintbrushes, tools, seasonal inks, wild plant paper making, eco dying, paint making, printing inks, using lake pigments, pastels, artist’s crayons, cordage, pigment making, plant processing, madder and indigo dyeing.

This length of time enabled us to have a foraging trip each time we met for a few days, and it also allowed us to develop ways of working we hadn’t yet tried.

Thanks to Kirsty for going through the application and selection process for this award, and to Qest for funding this excellent opportunity.