DES Talks with Susanna Beaumont

Welcome to our conversation with two artists who work with fabric, thread, form and colour. The Edinburgh-based Louise Bennetts and Laura Lees both delight in textiles and stitching, frequently inspired by the architecture that surrounds them, weaving in memory of place and the urban landscape. In their conversation with Susanna, they share stories from their early years - Louise studied at Edinbu...

Welcome to a recording of a discussion held at the National Galleries of Scotland, celebrating the tercentenary of the birth of the Edinburgh-born geologist, writer and farmer, James Hutton (1726–1797), and the exhibition inspired by Hutton, Earth Matters at Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. The panel discussion explores Hutton's influence on contemporary creative thinking and art....

Welcome to this conversation with Tania Kovats and Siobhan McLaughlin, two outstanding artists who have a deep curiosity in land and sea. We explore their ideas and influences and talk mapping, colour, geology, landscapes and the past and the present. And in particular we chat about their work in two exhibitions currently on in Edinburgh - Tania is showing in Earth Matters, an exhibition inspired...

Catch up with a panel discussion recorded at Edinburgh's Fruitmarket last month marking Earth Day. Chaired by Susanna 'glancing backwards into a time that far predates us' is a lively conversation celebrating two exhibitions: Ilana Halperin's What Is Us and What Is Earth (Fruitmarket) and Earth Matters (Inverleith House Gallery, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh) and the life and work of James Hutton...

Welcome to DES Talks, our podcast exploring creativity across Scotland, presented by Susanna Beaumont.    She looks forward to sharing with you inspiring conversations with some of the most adventurous, curious and brilliant designers, artists, makers and curators. We talk ideas and inspiration, challenges and influences, the contemporary and the historic.  In this episode, we explore the life and...

Welcome to DES Talks, Design Exhibition Scotland’s lively exploration of making and creating. We talk ideas and inspiration, challenges and influences and of course the joy of creativity with artists, makers, designers and curators from across Scotland.  In this episode Susanna meets makers Viv Lee and Jonathan Wade in their workshop within Glasgow Ceramic Studio. We talk about their recent reside...

Welcome to DES Talks, lively conversations celebrating creativity from Design Exhibition Scotland. In this episode Susanna explores the life and work of the outstanding artist Donald Locke who studied at Edinburgh College of Art in the 1960s. Born in Guyana in 1930, Locke's work in ceramic, on canvas, in sculpture and film meld together materials, ideas and politics. It's radical, powerful work. L...

Welcome to DES Talks! In this episode Susanna is out and about in Edinburgh's port Leith, which lies to the north of the city. It is where the Water of Leith from its source 20 miles south in the Pentland Hills, flows into the Firth of Forth and the onwards into the North Sea. It was once a place of ship building, trade, sea transport and travel - a place of glass works and bottling, soap factorie...

Welcome to DES Talks In this episode of DES Talks, Susanna explores the exhibition Thread Memory: Embroidery from Palestine, which is currently on at V&A Dundee until April 26th, 2026.    To discuss this beautiful and powerful exhibition, Susanna is joined by Thread Memory curator Rachel Dedman, writer, art historian and since 2019 the Jameel Curator of Contemporary Art from the Middle East at...

Welcome to DES Talks, our lively exploration of making and creating from across Scotland. In this episode we celebrate Harvest . A showcase of work by 80 makers and designers, Harvest is a thrilling new initiative from Craft Scotland . From furniture to jewellery, ceramics to basketry, woodwork to glass, Harvest is an ambitious exhibition which champions both rich craft traditions and the energy,...

He was visionary, energetic and exacting. He delighted in colour, texture and the great outdoors. He pushed boundaries and challenged conventions. In our latest DES podcast , we chat to Gráinne Rice about all things Bernat Klein , the Serbian-born textile designer and artist who for over 60 years lived and worked in the Scottish Borders.  Gráinne has long immersed herself in the life and work of B...

Cara Guthrie is a studio potter based in the town of Dunkeld, Perthshire. Born and raised in Scotland, she first studied Human Geography before a chance encounter with clay at a pottery taster class in London in her late 20s convinced her that this was the material she wanted to further explore and work with. Cara went on to become an apprentice in the celebrated studio of KHWurtz in rural Denmark...

The Hugo Burge Foundation is a brilliantly energetic and ambitious charity supporting the arts and crafts. Located in a green and lush stretch of the Scottish Borders, near to the town of Duns, the Foundation was launched last year and celebrates the life of the late Hugo Burge, a dynamic and passionate entrepreneur and supporter of creativity. Over the last 10 years of his life, Hugo turned his h...

The Marchmont Workshop's Rich Platt & Sam Cooper are celebrated as the saviours of the rush-seated chair. A centuries-old art, the craft of rush seating was by the late 20th century in steady decline. Rich & Sam's journey in rush-seated chair making began in 2018 when they became apprentices to Lawrence Neal, one of the last remaining rush seaters in the UK. In 2020 thanks to an invitation...

Welcome to DES Talks, a new podcast from Design Exhibition Scotland where Susanna Beaumont celebrates making and creating in a series conversations with designers, craftspeople, makers and artists, who share insights into their working life, delights, influences and ideas. In this episode, Susanna talks to architect Chris Dobson and Guy Philips, founder of Highland Heritage Woodworks who discuss t...

Welcome to DES Talks, a new podcast from Design Exhibition Scotland where Susanna Beaumont celebrates making and creating in a series conversations with designers, craftspeople, makers and artists, who share insights into their working lives, delights, influences and ideas. Stefanie Ying Lin Cheong is a Glasgow-based designer and maker who explores geology and rock formations. Curious about materi...

Welcome to DES Talks, a new podcast from Design Exhibition Scotland where Susanna Beaumont celebrates making and creating in a series of conversations with designers, craftspeople, makers and artists, who share insights into their working lives, influences and ideas. In our first DES Talks, Susanna chats to Frances Priest, the Edinburgh-based artist maker and designer who works in ceramics. A grad...