There’s a website that expains a great deal about the arts and crafts of the Scottish Highlands and Islands. Here’s a taster:

The Highlands and Islands of Scotland have provided a natural home for craft for many years inspiring makers through the beauty of the environment, the rich mythology and the wealth of natural materials.

All across the Highlands and Islands there are makers working in ceramics, furniture and wood, glass, jewellery and metalwork, lettering, musical instruments, paper, textiles and basketmaking. Using a range of skills and techniques they create objects which can be functional, decorative, or both, using metal, fibre, wood, glass, resin and clay.

The indigenous crafts are also very important in the Highlands and Islands, including the traditional skills and products of spinning, weaving, knitting, basketmaking and woodworking.

Craft is an integral part of the economic life of the Highlands, and the diversity of work combined with the growth of e-business means there is a great deal of potential for growth. In 2004 HI~Arts worked with the Scottish Arts Council and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to develop the pilot phase of a national website to promote and strengthen crafts in Scotland.

That website, www.craftscotland.org is now part of a national organisation, craftscotland, and creates a virtual gateway showcasing contemporary Scottish craft and promoting the quality and diversity of work to both national and international audiences. The site highlights work by skilled makers from all over the country, some of whom are at the very beginning of their careers and others who are internationally recognised as being at the top of their profession.

If you are interested in Scottish crafts, go to www.hi-arts.co.uk/