Marcus J Wilson

Director, Pooka & Co Ltd

Marcus is director of Pooka & Co – a Scottish web design and development agency working with cultural and third sector clients.

Prior to this he worked in marketing and development in the cultural sector across the UK for 15 years – including work with theatres in London, festivals in Yorkshire and development agencies in Scotland. He is a former Broadband Britain award winner for web development, and has advised the Scottish Executive and Creative Scotland on major online listings and cultural ticketing projects.

He is a skilled trainer and project manager.

Alison F Bell

Fibre Artist, Researcher

Alison is a fibre artist/researcher and studied at Glasgow School of Art and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in the 70s. Her interests concern the ways in which creative process has the potential to reveal a deeper self-understanding. In 2018 she gained a PhD from the University of the West of Scotland: “Exploring the embodied experience of ageing through creative practice”. She also lectured in Critical Theory at the university from 2007-18.

Prior to this, she lived and worked on the Isle of Arran for 25 years, where she ran her studio – Arran Fine Art Silks.

She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, has published in academic journals, won many awards and has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally. She served on the Board of Craft Scotland, was a Specialist Advisor (Crafts) to the Scottish Arts Council and was Chair of Arran Visual Arts.

Pamela Conacher

Pamela has over 35 years experience supporting the development of creative careers, enterprise and the creative economy in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and beyond. She achieves this by nurturing creative talent and businesses through general and specific support, including mentoring, training, advice, networking, project development and consultancy.

She provides advice to organisations and individuals to develop and support creative talent in the wider rural economy and believes in the sustainability of rural communities through a strong and professional creative economy.

Through her previous posts with HI~Arts and HIE/XpoNorth and as a founding director of Emergents CIC, Pamela is currently a freelance consultant working with a wide range of organisations including Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Creative and Cultural Skills, High Life Highland, Craft Scotland, British Crafts Council and Business Gateway. Pamela is also an advisor for RIO (Really Interesting Objects) and a Director of Glenuig Community Association and GlenuigNet CIC.

Helen Voce

Independent Project Manager, Programme and Event Producer

A supporter of creative people and creative industries, Helen’s professional specialism and personal interest is contemporary craft and design. Working locally, nationally, internationally and voluntarily, she designs, facilitates and produces opportunities, initiatives and spaces in which creative practitioners, micro-businesses, projects and organisations can realise their full artistic and business potential.

Current and previous clients and roles include Tashkeel (Dubai) facilitating the Tanween Design Programme for emerging designers based in the UAE and as AAS’s Communications Officer. Previous clients and roles include, Fife Contemporary as Deputy Chair, Make Works Scotland as Co-Project Lead, Cove Park as Craft Programme Producer and Creative Scotland as Open Fund Assessor (Craft). Previous roles include Events Programmer at Cultural Enterprise Office, Craft Development Officer at Dumfries and Galloway Council and the Crafts Council, where she worked primarily in Business Development.

John O’Neill

Accountant, Financial Advisor

John trained as an accountant with Ernst & Young (now EY) in Glasgow, remaining with the firm for 10 years. He then moved to EY in Los Angeles to broaden his experience.

Upon returning to the UK John he took up the role of finance director in a TV commercials production company.

In 2004 he set up his own practice – The O’Neill Partnership – acting as an accountant/advisor to businesses in the small and medium sized market. He currently acts for a range of clients, in predominantly the creative sector, advising for example on tax, accounting and cash flow.

Carol Sinclair

Ceramist

Carol is a ceramic artist and graduate of Grays School of Art. She has been running her own studio for the last 32 years, formerly in Edinburgh before moving to Forfar in Angus in 2017. Her creative practice has a focus on sustainability, equality and wellbeing, and she is a founder member of AAS Closing the Loop Group.

Carol has been a member and supporter of AAS since 1990, and in her role as Chair, she has steered the organisation through significant periods of change and growth. Key recent projects include CraftToolkit – a digital business development for craftspeople on behalf of British Council, Shift – a collaborative exchange project bringing Scottish Makers together with partners in Canada and Iceland, and the Resilience Programme – a mentoring programme for Scottish makers in partnership with Craft Scotland.

Carol has been working as a creative business adviser and trainer for the last 20 years, with clients including Cultural Enterprise Office, NESTA and the British Council. She represents craft on the Creative Industries Leadership Group reporting to the Scottish Government, was a specialist adviser for the Scottish Arts Council (now Creative Scotland) and was a member of Creative & Cultural Skills Council employers groups, Scottish and Crafts. She is currently a Director of Really Interesting Objects CIC, Chair of Craft Exhibition Scotland and Co-Chair of Angus Creatives. She is also a Lay Member of the Court of Queen Margaret University.

Ann Marie Shillito

Jeweller, Researcher

Ann Marie, Anarkik3D‘s co-founder/CEO and continues her contemporary jewellery practice using digital technologies. Her practical knowledge guides Anarkik3D a haptic (‘virtual 3D touch’) 3D modelling software for applied artists.

Anarkik3D spun out from Ann Marie’s AHRC funded Tacitus Research Project (Edinburgh College of Art/Edinburgh University) investigating haptics for more intuitive digital 3D interaction.

She has taught at honours degree level, is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths (by redemption), Honorary Research Fellow, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and author of ‘Digital Crafts: Industrial Technologies for Applied Artists and Designer Makers’.

As an established older applied artist she remains curious and adventurous, unafraid of change, and loving using digital technologies.

Barbara Shearer

Jeweller

Barbara is a Scottish maker of contemporary jeweller. With a professional background in Environmental Management Barbara strives to minimise the hidden costs to the environment, by using recycled silver and recycled or ethically sourced gemstones, without compromising the sense of quality in her jewellery practice.