DES Talks with Susanna Beaumont

Design Exhibition Scotland
  • 4.9 (17)
  • DESIGN

DES Talks, a new podcast from Design Exhibition Scotland in which we explore through conversation the lives and work of designers, makers and artists from across Scotland. https://www.designexhibitionscotland.co.uk/

  1. Celebrating the artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham

    29 APR

    Celebrating the artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham

    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 work of the brilliant artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham with Rob Airey, director of the Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust and Mark Cousins, the renowned Edinburgh-based Northern Irish filmmaker. We discuss her work and the making of Mark's extraordinary film, A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things, which celebrates her life and mind. Willie, as she was known throughout her life, was born in St Andrews in 1912 and studied at Edinburgh College of Art and went on to live in Cornwall's St Ives within its celebrated community of artists and writers. Exploring landscape and pushing towards abstraction, it was a trip to Switzerland in 1949 to climb the Grindelwald glacier that promoted Willie to dive ever more deeply into texture, colour and form. She died in 2004. Explore Willie's work on the Barns-Graham Trust website. Watch A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things on BFI player. There is soon to be released a Blu-Ray / DVD version of the film. Read Mark Cousins interviewed by the BFI.Earth Matters at Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh until 1 November Wilhelmina Barns-Graham - Nature in Motion at Museum Belvédère, the Netherlands 20 June - 20 September 2026 Wilhelmina Barns-Graham at Tate St Ives 24 October 2026  - 11 April 2027 Thanks so much for listening to DES Talks. Please do spread the word, share, subscribe and rate and rave! We really want to share these conversations far and wide.  And don’t forget to explore our previous 12 podcasts such as Viv Lee and Jonathan Wade talking clay and the making of Earth Becoming for Earth Matters, the exhibition I curated with Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh at Inverleith House or our conversation on the work of Donald Locke, the Guyanese artist who studied at Edinburgh College of Art in the 1960s whose solo show is currently on at Camden Arts Centre, London.    Huge thanks to musician Malin Lewis for Cycle Lane which accompanies DES Talks and Ryan Scott Media for production.

    45 min
  2. Viv Lee & Jonathan Wade talk wild clay

    5 MAR

    Viv Lee & Jonathan Wade talk wild clay

    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 residency at the Hugo Burge Foundation in the Scottish Borders where they collected wild clay and explored a landscape once farmed by the 18th century revolutionary thinker, James Hutton and author of the Theory of the Earth. We talk about their early years - Viv grew up in Hong Kong and was always happiest outdoors. Later she studied law in London and it was not until she studied at Glasgow School of Art in her thirties, that she first encountered clay. Whereas Jonathan who grew up in rural England encountered clay at an early age, thanks to an art teacher at school and went on to study at the Royal College of Art. Both Viv and Jonathan talk about their own practices - Studio Viv Lee & Ingot Objects - but how collaborating together can unleash new possibilities and an exciting sense of adventure. This is the only the second time they have collaborated on a project, the first being for Bard, a craft gallery in Leith, Edinburgh a few years ago. And we chat about their new work Earth Becoming. A series of wild clay lidded boxes and their delight in working closely with clay they have collected with their own hands.  Earth Becoming is soon to be seen at Earth Matters, an exhibition curated by Susanna and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh which celebrates Hutton in the tercentenary year of his birth. Earth Matters at Inverleith House runs from 20 March to 1 November. https://www.studiovivlee.com/https://www.ingot-objects.com/ Thank you so much listening to DES Talks. Please do spread the word, share, subscribe and rate and rave! We really want to spread DES Talks far and wide. And don’t forget to explore our previous podcasts such as our conversation about the work of Donald Locke, the Guyanese artist who studied at Edinburgh College of Art in the 1960s or our exploration of Thread Memory: Embroidery from Palestine which is currently on at V&A Dundee or hear more about the life and fabulous outfits of textile designer, Bernat Klein who lived in the Scottish Borders.  Huge thanks to musician Malin Lewis for Cycle Lane which accompanies DES Talks and Ryan Scott Media for production.

    39 min
  3. Celebrating the artist Donald Locke

    30/12/2025

    Celebrating the artist Donald Locke

    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. Locke died in 2010. Susanna is joined by Brenda Locke, Locke's wife and manager of the Donald Locke Estate and curator Tiffany Boyle. Tiffany, co-founded of the curatorial agency Mother Tongue, curated Revisiting the Work of Black Artists in Scotland Through New Collecting at the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow in 2022. The exhibition which included ceramic work by Locke, vitally raised awareness of his work. Locke's work has since been acquired by Glasgow Museums, National Museums of Scotland and the University of Edinburgh. A brilliant retrospective exhibition of Locke's work, Resistance Forms, is currently on at  Camden Arts Centre, London until 30 August 2026. It was previously at Spike Island, Bristol and Ikon, Birmingham. Further reading / viewing Curator's talk - Robert Leckie on Resistance Forms Panel discussion - Hew Locke, Giulia Smith & Robert Leckie on Resistance Forms  Guardian review of Resistance Forms Mother Tongue on GoMA: Revisiting Black Artists in Scotland Through New Collecting  Tiffany Boyle's article in Map magazine Donald Locke Foundation Thank you for listening to DES Talks. Please do spread the word, share, subscribe, rave and rate. We are new to this game and keen to reach as many listeners as possible, far and wide. And do explore our previous podcasts - we explore V&A Dundee's exhibition Thread Memory: Embroidery from Palestine with V&A curator Rachel Dedman and artists Leena Nammari and Aya Haidar; we talk Harvest, Craft Scotland's recent showcase of contemporary craft with curator Stacey Hunter and potter, Samuel Sparrow and weaver, Julia Rebaudo. Or tune into Frances Priest or Cara Guthrie talking about clay and Gráinne Rice discussing the pure beauty of the clothes designed by the visionary textile artist, Bernat Klein.  Design Exhibition Scotland was founded by Susanna Beaumont in 2018 to celebrate and champion making and creating through exhibitions, conversations, commissions and now podcasts. Production Ryan Scott Film Music Malin Lewis

    46 min
  4. Exploring Bard, Custom Lane & Brown's of Leith

    12/12/2025

    Exploring Bard, Custom Lane & Brown's of Leith

    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 factories and barrel makers and warehouses. Today many of these former spaces have been transformed into artist studios and workshops. There’s Coburg House Studios, Cyan Clay Works, SilverHub Studios, Mote exhibition space and Leith School of Art.  Our focus today is on Custom Lane, located beside the Water of Leith and behind an imposing early 19th century building, Custom House. We explore Custom Lane, its gallery space and the exhibition Feminine Literacy; we talk craft, materials and making with Hugo Macdonald, founder of Bard, an intimate haven for the hand-made and we chat to Gunnar Groves Raines, architect and founder of GRAS Studios, who has turned Custom Lane in a thriving space that celebrates art, craft and making.  And we hear more on Gunnar's new venture, Brown’s of Leith. Until recently, home to the engineering company, George Brown and Sons, it is now a place to meet, eat and drink with visionary plans to transform the upper spaces in to showcase for craft and design.  We hope you enjoy DES Talks.  Bard is at 1 Customs Wharf Leith Edinburgh EH6 6AL and is open Friday - Sunday 11am - 5pm or by appointment. Brown's of Leith is at 4 - 6 Shore Leith EH6 6QS and is open Thursday - Sunday 8am - 8pm. Feminine Literacy was curated and presented by Doyenne Studio. Thank you for listening to DES Talks. Please do spread the word, share, subscribe, rave and rate. We are new to this game and keen to reach as many listeners as possible, far and wide. And do explore our previous podcasts - we explore V&A Dundee's exhibition Thread Memory: Embroidery from Palestine with V&A curator Rachel Dedman and artists Leena Nammari and Aya Haidar; we talk Harvest, Craft Scotland's recent showcase of contemporary craft with curator Stacey Hunter and potter, Samuel Sparrow and weaver, Julia Rebaudo. Or tune into Frances Priest or Cara Guthrie talking about clay and Gráinne Rice discussing the pure beauty of the clothes designed by the visionary textile artist, Bernat Klein.  Design Exhibition Scotland was founded by Susanna Beaumont in 2018 to celebrate and champion making and creating through exhibitions, conversations, commissions and now podcasts. Production Ryan Scott Film Music Malin Lewis

    37 min
  5. Thread Memory: Embroidery from Palestine - V&A Dundee

    26/11/2025

    Thread Memory: Embroidery from Palestine - V&A Dundee

    Welcome to DES TalksIn 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 V&A, London; together with two contemporary practitioners whose work features in Thread Memory. Aya Haidar is a London-based Lebanese artist and Leena Nammari, is a Palestinian artist and printmaker based in Edinburgh.    Walking into Thread Memory at V&A Dundee, you are greeted by an array of long-sleeved women's robes, dating mainly from the late 19th and early 20th century. One is overwhelmed by colour, intricacy and beauty. Fiery reds, magentas and oranges and sometimes deep blues often stitched onto dark-coloured cotton. Then there are eye-catchingly bright striped robes in yellow and green. Exquisite detail and the decorative are brought together. Each stitch marks time and place and the skilled, deft movement of numerous hands and fingers.   This is tatreez, the ancient art of elaborate embroidery stitched by Palestinian women for Palestinian women.    Thread Memory: Embroidery from Palestine is at V&A Dundee until 26th April 2026. You can find out more about the work of artists Leena Nammari and Aya Haidar here.  Thread Memory: Embroidery from Palestine was developed in close partnership with our colleagues at the Palestinian Museum in the West Bank, Art Jameel in Saudi Arabia and V&A South Kensington. The exhibition draws on diverse historical sources and the expertise of our partners. All interpretation text about the history of Palestine is based on information researched and written by the United Nations. For information on the history and significance of tatreez, these books may be informative:  Rachel Dedman, At the Seams: A Political History of Palestinian Embroidery, 2016Wafa Ghnaim, Thobna: Reclaiming Palestinian Dresses in the Diaspora, 2023Widad Kawar, Threads of Identity, 2011Hanan Munayyer, Traditional Palestinian Costume: Origins and Evolution, 2020Margarita Skinner, Palestinian Embroidery Motifs: A Treasury of Stitches 1850-1950, 2007Shelagh Weir, Palestinian Costume, 2004 (1989)For more on the politics of Palestinian dress, and the intersection of resistance and cultural heritage:  Rachel Dedman, Stitching the Intifada: Embroidery and Resistance in Palestine, 2023Simona Sharoni, Gender and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The Politics of Women’s Resistance, Syracuse University Press, 1995Tina Sherwell, 'Embroidering the Motherland: The Fabric of Palestinian National Identity', Reinventing Textiles, vol. 2, Winchester, 2001, pp. 117-130The Subversive Stitch – Rozika Parker 1984 Ursula K Le Guin’s 1984 essay The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction, instead of the weapon, it was the vessel for carrying, or the plastic bag, the shopping bag.  Useful links  https://www.kettlesyard.cam.ac.uk/whats-on/material-power-palestinian-embroidery/https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/gallery/2025/aug/18/a-symbol-of-palestinian-presence-and-identity-the-personal-and-political-world-of-tatreez-in-pictureshttps://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/tatreez-the-ancient-art-of-palestinian-embroidery?srsltid=AfmBOoo709NQ6C0xb-jUKlJss04WMLNItbBqHO36IvyXS0IgRAWao6yp Thank you for listening to DES Talks. Please do spread the word, share, subscribe, rave and rate. We are new to this game and keen to reach as many listeners as possible, far and wide. And do explore our previous podcasts - we talk Harvest, Craft Scotland's recent showcase of contemporary craft with curator Stacey Hunter and potter, Samuel Sparrow and weaver, Julia Rebaudo. Or tune into Frances Priest or Cara Guthrie talking about clay and Gráinne Rice discussing the pure beauty of the clothes designed by the visionary textile artist, Bernat Klein.  Design Exhibition Scotland was founded by Susanna Beaumont in 2018 to celebrate and champion making and creating through exhibitions, conversations, commissions and now podcasts. Production Ryan Scott Film Music Malin Lewis

    36 min
  6. Harvest - a celebration of contemporary craft from across Scotland

    09/10/2025

    Harvest - a celebration of contemporary craft from across Scotland

    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, innovation and skill of contemporary makers from across Scotland. Harvest celebrates the power of the hand to craft and create, to fashion and form and to work with an inspiring array of materials. In this conversation, Susanna welcomes Harvest curator, Stacey Hunter along with potter Samuel Sparrow who creates beautifully pared down tableware and in the small town of Thornhill in Dumfries and Galloway and Julia Rebaudo who lives along with her flock of sheep in the Scottish Highlands, where they provide wool which she transforms into rugs and wall hangings. Their conversation explores the ideas that have inspired Harvest and Samuel and Julia's journey to becoming makers.  Harvest is at City Art Centre, 2 Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DE, just across from Waverley train station. It is open daily from 10am - 4pm, Saturday 11 – Sunday 19 October. All welcome and free of charge. Getting there information here. For more information on the 80 makers, workshops and events do head to Craft Scotland's website or follow on Instagram for updates and images of the exhibition. And to explore more fully the work of Samuel Sparrow, head to his website and to find out more about Julia Rebaudo's sheep and weaving process, do visit her website. Thank you for listening to DES Talks. And please do spread the word, share, subscribe, rave and rate. We are new to this game and keen to reach as many listeners as possible, far and wide.  Design Exhibition Scotland was founded by Susanna Beaumont in 2018 to celebrate and champion making and creating through exhibitions, conversations, commissions and now podcasts. Production Ryan Scott Film Music Malin Lewis

    41 min
  7. Bernat Klein - Gráinne Rice talks the life & times of the visionary textile designer

    18/09/2025

    Bernat Klein - Gráinne Rice talks the life & times of the visionary textile designer

    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 Bernat Klein. She first came across the designer and textile manufacturer in 2001 as a young researcher and has since gone on to acquire many of his exquisitely tailored outfits. She talks to Susanna about Klein's early years, his influences and his ideas  . . and she shares her favourite Klein outfit, a glorious 1970s kaftan coloured in a swirl and whirl of purples! Klein who was born in 1922 in Serbia, moved to post-war Britain to study textile technology at the university of Leeds. In 1950, together with his new wife, collaborator & knitwear designer, Margaret Soper, he moved to the Scottish Borders, where their collective energy and vision produced truly beautiful and ground-breaking textiles. He innovated, wove velvet with mohair, brought colour and contours to printed fabric and in turn wowed the Paris catwalks.  And Klein's delight in the contemporary was brilliantly exemplified in his and Margaret’s commissioning of the modernist architect, Peter Womersley (1923 – 1993) to build firstly, their home High Sunderland in 1957 and then a neighbouring studio in 1972, in the Borders near to Galashiels. Bernat Klein died in 2014. Dr Gráinne Rice is Adult Programme Coordinator in the Learning and Engagement team at National Galleries of Scotland. She is a Board Director of Uplands CIC and The Steven Campbell Trust. To find out more about Klein, head to Bernat Klein Foundation, read The See-Through House by his daughter, Shelley Klein or visit online the National Museum of Scotland's Design in Colour. Find out more about Margaret Klein's often overlooked role as a knitwear designer in Fleece to Fashion. Read more about the Bernat Klein Fellowships at Cove Park, in Argyll. Find out more about Womersley's studio which was acquired in July by the Bernat Klein Foundation, National Trust for Scotland and the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust, who plan to renovate, restore and reopen this magnificent modernist masterpiece. Thank you for listening to DES Talks - this is our seventh podcast - and do spread the word, share, subscribe, rave and rate. We are new to this game and keen to reach as many listeners as possible, far and wide. And huge thanks again to those who have helped make the first and now this second series happen. In particular, thanks to Malin Lewis for the music accompanying our DES Talks and Ryan Scott Film for production. Design Exhibition Scotland was founded by Susanna Beaumont in 2018 to celebrate and champion making and creating through podcasts, exhibitions, conversations and commissions. Production Ryan Scott Film Music Malin Lewis

    42 min
  8. Studio potter Cara Guthrie talks clay, the personal and the political

    30/08/2025

    Studio potter Cara Guthrie talks clay, the personal and the political

    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 before returning to the UK where she worked with the Anglo-Japanese, Cumbria based potter, William Plumptre. Back in Scotland, she set up a studio in the Pentlands, a range of hills just south of Edinburgh, before moving to Dunkeld on the fringes of the Scottish Highlands. Her thrown ceramics of simple forms and muted tones can found in restaurants such as Inver on the west coast's Loch Fyne and Edinburgh's Little Chartroom - an early commission from homeware and fashion company, Toast brought her much critical acclaim. In this episode of DES Talks, Cara share insights into her early years, the primal joy of working with clay and her latest work, an installation entitled PRODUCTION - on show at Custom Lane gallery in Leith, Edinburgh until 5th September. It is a new brilliant new departure for Cara, it is a conceptual work comprising 1800 milk-white porcelain vessels set over 12 industrial shelving units. Each vessel represents an hour spent breast or chest feeding an infant. It is a poignantly beautiful timepiece recognising time spent feeding. Do join Susanna and Cara as the talk about the power of the hand, the personal and the political. Linkshttps://www.instagram.com/caraguthrieceramicshttps://www.caraguthrieceramics.com/@wasteclaynetwork https://customlane.co/event/2811/ Thank you for exploring DES Talks - this is our sixth podcast - and do spread the word, share, subscribe, rave and rate. We are new to this game and keen to reach as many listeners as possible, far and wide. And huge thanks again to those who have helped make the first and now this second series happen. In particular, thanks to Malin Lewis for the music accompanying our DES Talks and Ryan Scott for production. Design Exhibition Scotland was founded by Susanna Beaumont in 2018 to celebrate and champion making and creating through podcasts, exhibitions, conversations and commissions. Production Ryan Scott Film Music Malin Lewis

    43 min
See All (13)

4.9
out of 5
17 Ratings

About

DES Talks, a new podcast from Design Exhibition Scotland in which we explore through conversation the lives and work of designers, makers and artists from across Scotland. https://www.designexhibitionscotland.co.uk/

Information

  • Creator
    Design Exhibition Scotland
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Design Exhibition Scotland
  • Show Website
    DES Talks with Susanna Beaumont

You Might Also Like