Artist Directory
Out of the Blue currently houses over 200 artists, arts organisations and other creative businesses at The Out of the Blue Drill Hall, Abbeymount Studios, NMR Studios (Niddrie Mains), Meanwhile in Leith and Out of the Blue Music Studios. The list below is a selection illustrating the range and quality.
Artists: To update your directory entry or add content, email marketing@outoftheblue.org.uk
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Daniel Murray
Daniel MurrayOut of the Blue Drill Hall
Dried is a small, independent business based in Edinburgh Scotland, that was born out of a love for all things floral. Like many people, I’ve fallen head over heels for dried flowers and the beauty they deliver year after year.
Unlike fresh cut flowers which are mass produced to have a short-life cycle, dried flowers are a more sustainable option that last years and years. All of our dried flowers are sourced sustainably and responsibly in order to have as little impact on the environment as possible.
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Edinburgh ceramics workshop is and open practice pottery dedicated to providing learning opportunities and practice space for people who are passionate about working with clay.
Our open studio allows you space and time to develop and refine your pottery practice.
Our members have a wide variety of aims and objectives from simply exploring a creative passion through clay to working towards building careers in the creative Industries as studio potters.
We work in partnership with Edinburgh design school who teach our pottery courses, classes and workshops. Edinburgh design school is an approved Scottish Qualifications Authority teaching centre.
Julija Pustovrh is trained as a Landscape Architect (Edinburgh College of Art), but has been working in ceramics since 2016.
She developed a varied independent practice, spanning from wheel-thrown to hand-build pieces, and from sculptural works to jewellery.
Majority of her current work is in contemporary tableware, with distinctive mix of simple, elegant forms and meaningful, contextual materials.
Her studio is located at Studio #1 at Abbeymount Studios, Scotland.
To get in touch, become a stockist or to visit the studio, email info@emporiumjulium.co.uk.
Esther Swift
Categories: Music/Sound Engineering Esther SwiftMeanwhile in Leith“Björk-esque” – The Edinburgh Reporter Esther Swift explores ritual, connection, isolation, and the natural world in her performance with pedal harp and voice.
A prolific, boldly innovative harpist, composer and singer, Esther works across genres as diverse as classical chamber music and free improvisation, and writes for ensembles large and small. Having studied at Edinburgh’s St Mary’s Music School and the Royal Northern College of Music, as well as with harp pioneer Catriona McKay, she has received numerous prestigious commissions and featured in many international collaborations.
She has travelled to Vietnam, New Zealand, Malaysia, Mongolia, and beyond with her music, and shared international, music lead collaborations with musicians and other artists around the world.
She has recently been commissioned by Celtic Connections, Chamber Music Scotland, Manchester Jazz festival and The Edwin Morgan Trust and performed internationally with her band Emergence Ensemble.
Eve Tong
Categories: Crafts, Illustration, Painting Eve TongOut of the Blue Abbeymount StudiosContact: Eve TongI’m an Illustrator and Printmaker based in Edinburgh, I studied BA (hons) Textile and Fashion Design where I specialised in Print.
A lot of my work is inspired by the surrounding nature and the Scottish Highlands; I practice across a range of mediums and I’m looking forward to expanding and experimenting further within Abbeymount.
Take a look at some of my work over on my Etsy shop- EveTongDesigns and Instagram @eve.tong18.
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Science-inspired art and illustration. Working in a range of two-dimensional materials to create art that is both observational and evocative. Available for commissions and collaborative projects, particularly those with a scientific influence.
Fi Fraser Production Management
Fi Fraser Production ManagementThe Out of the Blue Drill Hall
Fi Fraser Production Management is a limited company ran by multi-award winning production manager Fi. She has extensive experience managing all technical and production aspects of a wide range of live performances. With the expertise to turn almost any venue into a performance space.
Fi has significant experience of production managing multiple, simultaneous projects and shows.
Finlay Cramb Art
Finlay Cramb ArtThe Out of the Blue Drill HallContact: Finlay CrambFinlay Cramb is an award winning Scottish artist, traditionally trained in Printmaking with a 1st Class Hons Degree in Painting from ECA. His fine art prints have been featured in national press and he’s worked in fields as diverse as storyboard artist for Bafta nominated short film ‘The Island’, corporate branding and product design for ‘AICR’ international cancer charity and provided artwork for heavy metal band ‘Firebrand SuperRock’ as featured in ‘Metal Hammer’ and ‘Powerplay’ magazines, to name a few. Fin continues to exhibit his printwork and is currently enjoying fulfilling a lifetime ambition to work in the comic book industry.
Frances Priest
Frances PriestOut of the Blue Abbeymount StudiosMy current work explores and interprets languages of ornament from different cultures, places and periods in history. From my Edinburgh studio I create intricate and colourful ceramic objects that celebrate this fascination for ornament and pattern, using clay as a canvas on which to build richly drawn and layered surfaces of inlaid line, glaze colour and enamel decals.
Beyond the studio I develop projects and commissions that respond to people and places, using my interests as a platform from which to engage with new environments. This approach has lead to work in varied and sometimes unexpected settings, from an English Tudor banqueting room in Sheffield, to a country home on the Scottish Island of Raasay.
Francesca is a Maltese illustrator and picturebook maker based in Edinburgh. She is fascinated with heightening everyday life and the mundane, through whimsical & emotional characters and stories. The themes surrounding inclusivity, mental health and wellbeing are an important part of her practice. She often combines her illustrative work with material such as textiles and paper cutting as an additional layer for her storytelling.
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Gabriel Levine Brislin
Categories: Arts Education, Visual Arts, Writing Gabriel Levine BrislinThe Out of the Blue Drill HallGabriel Levine Brislin is a writer and visual artist working across various media. He is one half of Bog Press, a small press designing and printing handmade books that engage with found text and experimental poetry. He is also part of the Cluster Collective, a group of four emerging artists working collaboratively on various projects, with whom he shares a studio space in Out of the Blue Drill Hall.
Gillie Welstead has spent much of her life immersed in nature and art. Having studied natural sciences at university and a spell doing botanical research in Borneo, she went on to have a varied career including running a successful art gallery at Stirling Castle and then her own space for ten years.
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I’m Ryan Hamill but for my entire life I always got called Ham, Hammy, Hamster, basically anything with the prefix HAM. So it seemed appropriate to steer into it.
Under the moniker of HAM I produce work that is orientated around a humorous perspective. I see myself as an entertainer and storyteller, and endeavour to produce work that emotes the viewer. A stupid joke is still worth telling if it gets a laugh and a simple story is still worth telling if it evokes emotion. No matter the method with which I can manifest it, I only wish for my work to be enjoyed.
If you want to know more about me and my work I have an interview with Co&Co.
Using a combination of base and precious metals, I construct sheets whose patterns are created by these methods of assembling. I form the resulting metal sheets into sculptural vessels, deciding on a shape by responding to the pattern of the metal. Applying the same chemical patination to the whole object affects the mixed metals in varied ways, producing contrasting colours that highlight the structure of the sheet.
Helen Miles trained with mastercraftsmen in Greece who taught using traditional methods with a focus on Byzantine iconography. She later became interested in Roman mosaics and now makes contemporary pieces inspired by ancient designs.
Born in Glasgow in 1963, Helen studied English at Oxford University before moving to America and the Middle East to work as a journalist. It was in 2003 while living in Thessaloniki in Greece, a UNESCO city famous for its concentration of Byzantine churches, that she began to study mosaics in the Byzantine tradition. This led to an interest in Roman mosaics and her passion for them went on to become a full time profession.
Helen Miles is based in Edinburgh and specializes in using Greek stone and marble as well as Winkleman unglazed porcelain. Her aim is to preserve the simplicity and directness of early mosaics while producing works which suit the way we live now.
Holly Summerson
Holly SummersonOut of the Blue Abbeymount StudiosContact: Holly Summerson
Specialising in hand-drawn, mixed-media and experimental styles, Holly is an animator, illustrator and community artist. Her freelance work includes short films, music videos, advertising, projections for events and theater, illustrations, interactive online art, and community workshops.
She is an award-winning filmmaker, interested in using fantastical and surreal visuals to explore emotional subjects. Her most recent project as an animator-director is ‘Living With It’ – a dark comedy short about disability and acceptance, with funding from the BFI and Screen Scotland through the ‘Sharp Shorts’ programme. It follows Lee, who lives with a disease – brought to life as a chaotic supernatural flatmate, and will premiere in June.
![Photo of Horus Scotland]()
Out of the woods…..
This collection is inspired by my love of nature, texture and the simplistic design of 1960’s contemporary architecture and interiors.
I have attempted to recreate the textures found in nature, such as bark, lichen and wood shavings. By introducing these themes in a sophisticated and highly wearable collection, my aim is to offer contemporary design for an everyday individual statement.
The bracelets and rings from the collection have been specially designed to wear as single units or as stacking pieces, which can be interchanged to create different looks to suit any occasion.
All HORUS jewellery is handmade in Scotland with sterling silver by Louise Mcmanus, BAhons, jewellery and silversmithing, Edinburgh College of Art.
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