Lindsey Gallacher returned to Caithness a few years ago. A highly successful and award winning jeweller Lindsey uses as inspiration and materials the very bedrock of Caithness with her Caithness Stone Jewellery. Caithness Stone or flagstone as we call it in these parts is incredibly hard and notoriously difficult to work with yet Lindsey manages to shape and file it to the smallest of stones to incase in beautiful skilled jewellery. Lindsey is not just a jeweller though, she is also a very talented artist having featured with her innovative scratch board art on Sky’s Portrait Artist of the Year her work captures Caithness scenes and people of old and new with attention to the landscapes and life of Caithness.

Originally opening her own shop and studio in 2018 in Thurso she has recently moved to larger premises in Brabster Street which has enabled her to extend space for Jewellery making workshops and create a space for other talented artisan makers and crafters, all of which have a focus on quality in their work. The new space is a delight, not only will you find Lindsey’s beautiful jewellery and art the work of makers and artists such as Helen Moore, Andy Bunn, Alice Calder and a host of quality craftspeople. You really have to visit the new shop to appreciate the quality and work of the carefully curated products being stocked.

We grabbed a few minutes with Lindsey to tell us all about the new space and the importance of shopping locally. Over to Lindsey in her own words.

“I opened on the 1^st September and so far the feedback has been great, the new space is bright and contemporary and I love showing other      craftsmen and artists work along side my own.  I have more space for my jewellery workshops now, every one has their own work bench. There is space for 4 students, but at the moment I am working at reduced capacity; I can take two individuals or a family group, I’m looking forward to the day I can have a group workshop again.

I decided to fill a gap in the market, Thurso desperately needs a place for craftsmen and artists to show their original pieces. I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes by selling the work that was already being shown in Thurso so approached makers I knew that were skilled and didn’t have a place to show their work nearby.  I like functional, beautiful pieces so you are likely to find a lot of useful pieces to buy.

I am also working most days at my bench to make jewellery for the cabinets, predominantly from silver and Caithness stone, I sometimes produce work for other galleries and exhibitions, every month is different.

I choose makers and artists by considering a number of factors; how they are connected to Caithness, what experience they have in their chosen field, and whether their prices are appropriate to sell in a commercial environment as opposed to selling as a hobby.  It’s really important for me to advise makers of the best way to price as I have been their myself as someone who has sold to a variety of places from the local craft fair to The Victoria Museum in Melbourne.  I want to help people who are interested in building a proper craft and art business through the experience I have gained over the past 20 years.

I can feel the change in people’s shopping habits already by the way they are visiting the studio, they often mention that they want to shop local, which is very encouraging.  What’s better than to shop local and buy items that are also locally made.”

Full credit to Tracey Inkson Photography for the beautiful images.