I am convinced all of Scotland is magical. Edinburgh is a very contemporary city masked by its rich past. I went there not for the porcelain, but to explore the contemporary art scene. I visited with Gordon Munro who runs the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop. They will begin building a new building with apartments for visiting international artists, studios and exhibitions spaces this year. I hope to be one of those artists in the future. We also discussed some possibilities for student exchanges with Edinburgh College of Art and SA+AH.

From there I walked along the North Sea to the Leith area where I met with friends of mine that work at the Coburg Studios. I met Frances Priest last year through my dear friend Tony Franks, fellow member of the IAC and former dean and professor from Edinburgh College of Art. Frances has a studio at Coburg and it turns out a previous acquaintance of mine through the University of Dundee ceramics program, where I taught a workshop some years ago, Craig Mitchell, does too. This is a large building with many artists’ studio of all media, an exhibition space and a special section just for ceramics. Frances had phoned up Tony and I was able to visit with them all and see the studios.

I found work of another acquaintance of mine, Ken Eastman, from Glasgow School of Art at The Scottish Gallery. This is new work was made at Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company.

By the second day it was cold and rainy in Edinburgh – just like it is supposed to be in Scotland this time of year. A welcome change from Florida weather.