A Fresh Start

This January, our new makers decided to co-curate a mini residency near St Andrews—the perfect way to kickstart a year filled with creativity. And it certainly delivered! All five makers attended, and we packed the week with inspiration, collaboration, and growth.

On a gloriously sunny, crisp winter’s day, the residency began with critical feedback sessions, where each maker presented their work to the group. These sessions encouraged lively discussion, fresh perspectives, and invaluable insights—whether the work was in progress, recently completed, or part of an ongoing project.

With the guidance of Lydia Smith, the makers honed their skills in photographing their work—learning how to capture, edit, and present images for their websites, applications, and social media. Lydia also created professional headshots, a must-have for makers looking to promote themselves and their craft. Her knack for putting people at ease ensured the photos felt natural and authentic.

Three of the makers were eager to build confidence in teaching, so they each hosted a creative workshop for the group. The sessions were a chance to share skills, experiment, and collaborate in a supportive environment.

Look on to discover more about their experiences and the outcomes of this energizing weekend!

Photography Workshops

It was decided early into planning the residency that an integral part of the weekend would be spent on learning how to take high-quality images of work. These are essential to showcase their craftsmanship, attention to detail, and artistic vision—qualities that can set them apart in a competitive field. In today’s digital-first world, potential clients, galleries, and collaborators often first encounter a maker’s work online, making it crucial to present it in the best possible light.

We also thought it would be useful to gain professional headshots, which helps convey professionalism, approachability, and credibility, in addition everyone enjoys seeing the maker behind the pieces – you may have already spotted some of the final images on the individual maker’s profile pages.

Anna Rooney’s Zine Making Workshop

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Imogen Hale’s – Aluminium Foil Lithography Workshop

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Leah Faulk’s – Exploring Heritage Crafts though fast and sloppy making workshop

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The Fife Contemporary residency provided me much needed time, space and community. This opportunity brought together a diverse group of makers and allowed us to share our experiences since graduating. The support and teaching provided on the residency gave a much-needed creative boost in January and valuable guidance to take into my work for the coming year.

I was very grateful to have the opportunity to participate in the Materialise residency this January. Following critical feedback sessions and many lively conversations with my fellow residents and Fife Contemporary staff, I left the residency feeling buoyed and more confident in the direction of my practice. Having gleaned a lot of useful information over the course year during our monthly Materialise meetings, it was lovely to get to know the other residents in person and to bounce ideas off each other in real time. As well as having the chance to test-run my own tin-foil lithography workshop, it was great to participate in Anna Rooney’s zine session and Leah Faulks’s sgian dubh workshop. Both reiterated the importance of play in making, which for me was a reminder of the necessity to remain curious and open to experimentation now that I’m working outwith a university setting. A fun and fulfilling few days, and the perfect re-set for the start a new year!

It was really inspiring to be surrounded by creatives again and relate to each other about the experience of life post-graduation. I had a lot of questions about how I should go forward with my practice and Stefanie and Kate were both reassuring and knowledgeable when giving advice. Lydia gave a lot of great tips for how to light both 3D and 2D artwork for photography as well as how to edit photos with accessible software that you can use on your phone. It was also really valuable to deliver the zine-making session and get feedback to reflect on for my future workshops. The accommodation allowed us to feel relaxed and able to take a break from our daily lives and fully reflect on each of our practices, as well as Stefanie’s fantastic cooking!

Following my residency, I feel recharged and motivated to further define the direction of my work, with a strong focus on material experimentation and sustainable process.

I found the residency experience really refreshing and reassuring. It has been so nice to be connected with the other Fife Contemporary artists and gain a new network or makers.