QEST awards
Rings, Jessica Poole
Craftspeople did extremely well in the latest round of QEST (Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust) awards, winning a total of £33,370
Twenty nine-year old jeweller Jessica Poole got the biggest award, winning £13,370 to fund a course in micro-pave setting at the Alexandre School of Optical Setting in Antwerp, Belgium. More of a maker than a designer, Poole’s client list includes Boodles and De Beers as well as Kamilla Ruberg and Ben Day, and she hopes that her stint at the school will build up her skill set as well as re-introducing a lost craft into the UK – at the moment most British jewellers send their pieces to Belgium to be set. It should also give her the financial security to design her own pieces.
The two other crafts winners were Scottish silversmith Grant McCaig and Cardiff-based ceramist Samuel Blackwell. Both get £10,000 to fund an MA at London’s Royal College of Art. McCaig says he’s particularly interested in the integration of emerging technologies into a creative practice, while Blackwell is hoping to be pushed into what he calls ‘uncharted territory’.
The other winners are Catherine Dand (Archive Conservation), Rose Forshall (Illustrator), Daniel Meek (Stonemason), Jenny Saunt (Stucco duro) and Elizabeth Woolley (Wall Painting Conservation).
The closing dates for the next round of awards is 8 January.
www.qest.org.uk
