It has been a season of slow transition for me which feels especially fitting for autumn (incidentally my absolute favourite season!). At the end of my programme at Bishopsland educational trust, I got offered a residency placement at Marchmont Silversmithing workshop tucked away in the Scottish Borders. To say it’s a dream come through is stating it quite subtlety. I prayed to be here back when I first made travel plans to go to Japan in order to learn from the masters, the metal decorative techniques that has led me here.

Nestled among towering Scots pines, carpets of ferns, and stately beech and cedar trees, Marchmont offers a rare stillness. It is a place that invites attentiveness. For an artist whose practice is rooted in nature and creation, the landscape is not simply a backdrop but an active collaborator. My work continues to be guided by a single intention, to bring the quiet beauty of the natural world closer to others, using metal as my canvas and storytelling as its voice.

Within my first month here, I had the opportunity to participate in the Hugo Burge Foundation programme, which allowed me to connect with the local community and observe how my work is received and interacted with in a new environment. Since then, I have led a jewellery-making workshop and taken part in the Foundation’s Christmas market earlier this month. I am looking forward to hosting more jewellery-making workshops here in the future, and I’ll be sharing dates for 2026 on my website when they become available. I have also been working on a project that is, to date, my most ambitious both in scale and technical challenge, and I cannot wait to share it with you.

As I settle into this residency, I’m looking forward to sharing the rhythms of life and work here, the pieces that emerge, the lessons learned, and the quiet moments in between. Thank you for being part of this journey with me. I hope to bring you closer to the process as it unfolds.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year,

Jess

LATELY IN THE BORDERS