10 year Anniversary!
Heather McDermott Jewellery has turned 10!
Last month marked my 10 year anniversary as a business and my, has time flown by. I have listed below some of my highlights over the years, from shows to collections of work.
Having started in my parents shed on Skye in a quilted boiler suit (because it was so cold) to living in Glasgow by myself and now married and living in Callander, the past 10 years have been filled with lots of highs and lows. I have travelled and exhibited in America and Europe and had my jewellery sold further afield in Japan.
Some of the highs that stand out are exhibiting in New York at NYNOW, having my work selected by Zaha Hadid for Goldsmiths’ Fair and opening my first shop in Callander. Don’t get me wrong, the years have also been peppered with some of the hardest times, rejections from shows, creative blocks and a global pandemic. I have listed below some of my highlights over the years. It's been such an amazing journey so far for my practice and I have really enjoyed reflecting on past designs, how shape and colour have been a constant inspiration and how much I have achieved as one wee designer making jewellery.
2012 - Jewellery
The move home after studying was a massive adjustment after being away for 5 years. I didn’t know who I was as a designer so began by making silver pieces whilst getting mentoring and business advice from Emergents, a Highland arts organisation. These were some of the pieces I started with.
2013 - One Year On
This was one of my first shows as a business and the first time I had a full collection of work in stainless steel.
2013 - Scottish Sculpture Workshop
This was a wonderful week as part of the Naked Craft residency where five makers from Scotland and Canada came together to share their inspiration using the facilities at the Scottish Sculpture Workshop. My love of trees came through!
2014 - My first Goldsmiths’ Fair
I was accepted on my first year as part of their Graduate Scheme, this was a massive turning point in my business. We were mentored and given a bursary to help with buying material for the show. It not only pushed my work but also to develop a better website and photography. I was really settled living back at home and for the first time felt a direction in my work.
My jewellery displayed in my studio on Skye
Skye Weavers collaboration
Margaret Howell Collection
My second Goldsmiths Fair
2015 - Margaret Howell
A massive highlight has been to make work for Margaret Howell. I made 4 collections for the British fashion designer which was also sold in her Japanese outlets.
2016 - Solo show at The Scottish Gallery and more shows! This was also the year I moved to Glasgow
2017 - Baltimore, Bucharest and more shows…
This was first year I hadn’t got into Goldsmiths Fair since 2014 and it was a massive knock to my confidence. It was however the start of some real travelling within my business and the first time selling in America and Europe in person. It was also the year my parents opened thier new gallery on Skye where my father sells his watercolours along with a selection of my jewellery.
2018 - Two trips to New York, Collect Fair and back at Goldsmiths Fair
Exhibiting at NYNOW was an eye opener and a great first experience at doing wholesale in the USA. My collection for Collect was also just what I needed to push my work on and which I also applied with to Goldsmiths’ Fair that year.
2019 - Pop-ups and teaching on Skye
I really wanted to cut back on the amount of travelling I was doing across the country for shows and wanted to pinpoint certain places to revisit year on year. Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow and London were the places I focussed on and met so many lovely clients within these areas.
2020 - How can we forget this year!? I got my very first workshop in Glasgow, did my last in-person event for 9 moths and then COVID!
2021 - Back to in person events and the start of the engagement ring season!
After a very rollercoaster year in 2020 it was so lovely to get back to in-person events. Heading to London was the furthest I’d been since the previous March and it felt so nice to see people at the show. 2021 was also the year a lot of my friends commissioned me to make their engagement rings. The ring pictured was so fun to make and has really helped think about future designs!
2022 - One of the most amazing, stressful, overwhelming years!
The start of the year started like many before, slightly burnout from a busy Christmas and trying to find a direction for the year. The workshop in Glasgow was fine but unfortunately something happened where I was really unhappy in the space, so I started to look for a unit in Glasgow and further afield. Months passed and I happened upon the unit in Callander where we viewed a house and decided to move our lives north! Setting up the shop and workshop whilst moving house, trying to rent out our flat and becoming a landlord and planning a wedding in the space of 3 months was one of the most stressful, overwhelming times of my life. Having said that though, I have had lots of people ask my why I have opened the shop in Callander this year and looking back over the years it has felt like the most natural next adventure for my business.
Phew…
After all that, the one thing that has been so fulfilling is meeting so many people over these 10 years. I have met friends for life and I can’t thank my clients enough for their continued support. Whether that’s through a like on Instagram, buying your Christmas presents from my website or visiting me at a show. My business wouldn’t have been able to survive without that, so, a massive thank you to everyone!