This series is written by Julia Welstead in partnership with the Scottish Islands Passport. The Scottish Islands Passport App can be downloaded from Google Play or Apple’s App Store. A physical copy of the Meet the Makers Travelogue is available in the shop.
We love the Scottish Islands Passports’ Island-Centred Ethos, especially how the app also highlights ways you can contribute to the islands you love.
From Barra to Lewis and back
My mission was to travel from Barra to Lewis interviewing artists, artisans, crafters, producers on behalf of isle20 and the Scottish Islands Passport.
Join me on my journey to meet thesae incredible Island Makers – from Barra to Lewis and back!
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Rowan Glen – Sea Tea, Kerrera
Rowan’s travels have taken her through a Conservation Biology degree at Aberdeen, a Journalism Post-graduate course in Glasgow, an illustration…
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From Barra to Lewis and back
My mission was to travel from Barra to Lewis interviewing artists, artisans, crafters, producers on behalf of isle20 and the…
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Corinna Krause – Sollas Bookbinding, North Uist
By Julia Welstead As I park alongside a sleek woodclad house, home to Sollas Bookbinding, a woman flits past the…
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Julie & Steve Olley – Croft 36, Harris
By Julia Welstead I’m in croft heaven. Twice-my-height willows sway and flex in the breeze all around me, thriving on…
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Eilidh Carr – Photographer & Coralbox owner, Berneray
By Julia Welstead Eilidh Carr remembers playing ‘shop’ as a kid, so setting up shop for real in her home…
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Emma MacKenzie – Weave-art, Lewis
by Julia Welstead Like so many island makers I am meeting, Emma MacKenzie is a multi-tasker extraordinaire. Her love of…
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Tina MacPhail, Grinneabhat Community Hub, Lewis
By Julia Welstead In a fate sadly common to many rural primary schools, Bragar school closed in 2012. Having opened…
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Heike Winter – Mustheb, Harris
By Julia Welstead “Fortune or luck is my theme” Heike of Mustheb tells me as we settle in for a…
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Pauline Prior-Pitt – Poet & painter, North Uist
By Julia Welstead We talk from the get go, from the gate, ‘sorry it’s closed, the sheep get in to…
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Kirsty O’Connor – Artist-maker, Berneray
by Julia Welstead I initially find out about Kirsty O’Connor through a Tiree friend who attended UHI (University of Highlands…
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Rebecca Hutton – Weaver, Harris
by Julia Welstead I’m told to look out for a shed in the garden behind a white house, and it…
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Margaret Anne Elder – Herring Girl Collection, Barra
By Julia Welstead Knitting is a skill often learned from a grandparent, with perhaps more time on their hands than…
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Cally Yeatman – Artist, North Uist
by Julia Welstead The day I’m due to meet Cally Yeatman she is still testing positive for Covid-19. I ring…
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Mhairi Law – Island Darkroom, Lewis
by Julia Welstead I’m not really supposed to be here, but my sister asked me to drop in on Island…
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Maria Rowan
Maria Rowan, Rowanberry Bute designs and sells knitwear accessories and lives and works in the beautiful island of Bute. She…
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Rosalind Jewell
For the latest Meet the Islander blog we have travelled to the Isle of Colonsay in the Inner Hebrides to…
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Sheila Hankin
Last week I paid a visit to Sandness in the West Mainland of Shetland to visit Sheila Hankin from SHetland…
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Ruth Brough
We’re heading up to Sanday in Orkney to meet fused glass artist Ruth Brough. Ruth makes a range of Orkney…
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Michelle Seviour
We are heading to the Isle of Skye to meet the islander – Michelle Seviour of Indigo Berry. Michelle is…
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Libby Galli
by Julia Welstead Eigg felt like home On a wild March day of wind, rain, hail and sun, I walk…
The Scottish Islands Passport project works with islanders from Unst to Arran to create beautiful things which celebrate our islands and our islanders and help you explore more!
Explore Scotland’s islands and meet the marvellous artists and makers who call them home with this beautiful travelogue. Designed to introduce you to new islands you might like to explore, the travelogue allows you to collect ‘passport stamps’ for the islands you visit, using a series of brass rubbing plates available on the islands featured.