Encompass 2024/25

G JAYNE LYLE

Something that I do automatically is make connections and see links and patterns in things, events, locations, history. One simple thing can trigger a whole narrative, and this has definitely happened over the past year.

Around the time I embarked on this course we inherited some antique table linens and a vintage patchwork from my husband’s family. Whist looking through the linens it led me to think about my own family and its history with Ulster Linen. My Grandmother, and other members of my family worked at Herdman’s Mill (Sion Mills, County Tyrone) on the banks of the Mourne River. In addition, I now live near the Lyne Burn south of Dunfermline which was also involved in linen production. Our home is named for the process of washing the linen after it is made to remove impurities– waulking. To me, the threads from the past on both sides of our family came together and join where we now live and weave together moving forward. The Mourne River that run past Herdman’s Mill in Northern Ireland and the Lyne Burn running next to our home have formed part of the story. The water shaped the land and provided a home and work for my family in Northern Ireland. Mills, like Herdman’s, produced linen which was used by people all over the UK and beyond. Linens so beautiful that they are passed down and now reside in a home also with a connection to the trade.

On a visit to Northern Ireland I explored the ruins of the mill. So much was still intact and although in ruins there are still bobbins and other pieces of the trade lying about providing inspiration. Alongside this, the textures and folds of the linens , colours and shapes from the patchwork and the shapes of the rivers have informed the pieces here. But there is so much more to explore.

Everything I make needs its own story, to have its own meaning. All I do is pick at the threads and follow the flow (cheesy but true!). Ultimately I hope they look as unique as what inspired them.

ÖZGE ÇALLI SPIKE

The places I’ve lived, their textures and histories, are at the heart of my creative work. My inspiration here comes from three of the places I feel a sense of connection with – from my childhood in Izmir, Turkey, from my years living at the other end of the world in Canberra, Australia, and from my chosen home in Leith, Edinburgh, where my back window looked onto the windows of Leith’s Banana Flats. I always loved to explore cities, to walk their historic streets and admire their different architectural styles, but this work is built on a realisation of a common ground in the buildings I am drawn to: structures which seem to tell a story, often through playful shapes, in a way which defines them. In particular, I was fascinated with Brutalist architecture: not just because I loved its bold, blocky, heavy look and the geometric, concrete forms, but also from a strange closeness I felt to these often-controversial buildings. I use the word strange because I sensed something more complex was going on, which I wanted to explore. My research into Brutalism revealed a paradox: these buildings were explicitly designed to represent utopian ideals of socialist equality, access to the arts for all, and to act as a social leveller. Many people today, however, see them as symbols of dystopian failure: cheap and vulgar, their monumental scale as overwhelming and ultimately isolating. I wanted to ask: how can something be both utopian and dystopian? This collection is based on an iconic brutalist building in Leith (Cables Wynd House, which every local knows as the Banana Flats), and from a feeling which struck me while exploring up and down the staircases of this building: a feeling of being deeply inside, and surrounded by the building’s story – but also of being trapped, that whether you go up or down, there is no escape. This enclosed feeling is the focus of my work here. This collection is based on a feeling which struck me as I walked up and down the staircases of Leith’s iconic brutalist building, Cables Wynd House (known to every local as the Banana Flats): of being deeply inside, and surrounded by the building’s story – but also of being trapped, that whether you go up or down, there is no escape. This sense of confinement is the focus of my work here. In this collection, I want to capture the feeling of how this iconic example of social housing, the physical and social lives of the people who live there, and the impersonal systems which hold them there, are all woven together into a single, crooked and untidy patchwork.

I have been offered a place on the Masters Degree At Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh University.

HEATHER PUGH

My collection is called Haven as making jewellery is mine. I absolutely love it and thanks to SilverHub and the tutors I’m getting the opportunity to take my making further, starting at the University of Dundee in September. I never imagined for a minute that I’d have that opportunity. A lot of my pieces feature bubbles or seafoam because when I was young the family always talked about the white horses riding the waves and that’s the seafoam. I love watching the sea, it calms me, like making jewellery does.

JANE FUNG

The Infinite possibilities for my brief “Lines” questioned my inner self and surroundings thus what came natural to me was nature during my research drawing so many flowers eventually it came to my favourite flower. Peonies for me represent the different obstacles and stages in my journey. Nothing in life is perfect, if it was, we would have nothing to look forward to. Seasons changes, growth, your inner soul. I love there are many different species around the world like cultures, how we all have variation meanings behind what is valuable for us in a spiritual level. Individual petals are the different timelines, our layers. The pollen is the deep atmosphere of the soul; the stem is what holds us together.

The one year course has taught me many different skills through the variety of master clone-year took a natural liking to fold forming because of its organic feel I also found this the most affordable to completing my 10 piece collection and I was able to work through it from my home.

Learning how to calculate a timeline and materials costs helps me acknowledge the real world of what’s it like to have a client. How to finish off to a professional standard and how important the research, samples are before progressing to the final design.

I have been offered a place at Dundee University to study a degree in Jewellery Design.

LEENA PATEL

Being. Feeling free. The ability to pursue one’s dreams and ambitions, to make decisions freely, to simply breathe and exist—this sense of freedom is at the heart of my creative journey. It’s the foundation of my ideas, designs, and collections.

I am inspired by the idea of living without fear of judgment or boundaries, and it’s this liberation that fuels my work. The design process began with a simple word: line. But as I followed where that line led, I discovered that it traced back to something deeper—my identity, my values, my lived experiences. The line became a metaphor for the threads that shape who we are, and how we choose to express that. Freedom—colourful, flowing, in constant motion—is expressed throughout my collection.

In “Dance to Your Own Tune,” I explore the pure, unfiltered joy of movement. It’s about dancing like no one is watching—an act of total authenticity and expression. In “Kingfisher,” the vivid colours and agile grace of the bird symbolise survival, diversity, and the power of difference. Just as the kingfisher thrives in nature through its uniqueness, this collection celebrates the beauty and strength found in embracing our individual stories.

My work is also deeply rooted in values that are close to my heart: • Diversity, as seen in the natural world, strengthens and enriches both ecosystems and communities. I strive to reflect this richness in my designs. • Eco-consciousness is central to my practice.

I carefully choose sustainable materials, employ non-toxic processes, and repurpose wherever possible. A personal example: my jeweller’s bench was handcrafted from my son’s broken bed—transforming the old into something meaningful and new. At its core, my design practice is a personal exploration—of emotions, culture, resilience, and transformation. Through my collection, I share stories of struggle and strength, and I hope to inspire others to discover and express their own beauty, freedom, and power.