Fiona Allardyce-Lewis

Fiona studied printmaking at Glasgow School of Art and says, about her work in the early days, ‘it was mainly figurative and two-dimensional – but I wanted to create something that was as useful as it was decorative...

…something you could do something with. I treat each piece as if it were a painting on paper, first drawing then painting with watercolour. Details are picked out in pencil or inks to give depth and the whole thing is given several coats of hard-wearing varnish.’

With support from the Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust she set up her studio in rural Dumfries and Galloway in 1989.

'The main inspiration for my designs comes from historic imagery – Medieval tapestries and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales – this is evident in the highly illustrative and humorous decoration in which I often depict scenes of lavish interiors and revelry.

Many of the commissions I work on contain personal elements specific to the commissioner; for example a candlestick commissioned for presentation to HRH The Prince of Wales depicted caricatures of both the Prince and his Private Secretary playing musical instruments of their choice. Similarly personalised was the mirror created for Dame Muriel Spark where the library room featured every title in the author’s lengthy catalogue.'

Fiona exhibited her work for the first time at Chelsea Crafts Fair from 11 to 16 October 2005.

She comments on her achievement: 'Taking part in Chelsea provides me with the opportunity to take my work from Scotland to this prestigious craft fair and experience first hand visitors' reaction to my work.

Being selected for Chelsea has given me added confidence and I have focused on exploring further the three-dimensional qualities of my forms and also the use of different types of woods to produce pieces specifically for the event. As this will be the largest number of people to see my work at a single event, I am very excited yet at the same time apprehensive!'