As part of their 'Crafts Lives' series of oral history, Alison Kinnaird was one of the artists selected to record their lives in a series of in- depth interviews for the Archive Collection of the British Library. Alison found it a fascinating experience, as the interviewer, Frances Cornford, encouraged her to speak about her life in art and music. The interviews, lasting 9 - 10 hours, were spread over 3 days, and discuss her experiences from her earliest childhood, through her career as an established artist and musician.

In 1998, Alison Kinnaird was awarded an Inches Carr Trust Bursary, in order to experiment with cutting glass into shapes on which to engrave. Beginning with the use of diamond wheels and sandblasting, she has recently developed the use of water-jet cutting to create multiple images. These repeated figures, each individually engraved, feature in her work 'Unknown' ( 2010 - 2011 ), a glass army of more than 50 soldiers. This piece, which will be shown at the Dovecot, combines the concepts of the fragility of humanity in war, the practice targets on a firing range, reference to the Terracotta Army, and the uniquness of the individual within a regimented group.

The show will celebrate the work of all the makers who have received the Award (including, incidentally, Alison's niece, the jeweller Grainne Morton ), and will run from November 3 - 26 2011.

Unknown (Detail) 2010 - 2011
Optical glass, water-jet cut, engraved, LED light. Each soldier 40cm high

The Europaisches Museum fur Modernes Glas in Coburg, Germany, is holding a major exhibition of the work of a number of British glass artists, and features a group of Alison Kinnaird's 'Apartment Blocks' in optical glass and resin which has been cast off the engraved surfaces. The exhibition ends in November, 2011.

In 2010, Alison Kinnaird was inducted into the Hall fo Fame at the Scottish Trad Music Awards. These awards are made to individuals who are judged to have made a major and lasting contribution to the world of Scottish music

Alison Kinnaird's work is a focus of the first exhibition in a new glass gallery in Johansfors, Sweden. Converted from a former glassworks, the exhibition has been initiated and organised by Duncan and Liz Timms, who are great enthusiasts for Scottish Glass, and engraved glass in particular. The show will last until late autumn 2011.

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is currently closed for a major refurbishment. It is scheduled to re-open in November 2011. Alison Kinnaird has been commissioned to design and engrave the 'Sponsors Window'which will pay tribute to those who support the Portrait Gallery, and the window will be installed in summer 2012.

Portraits of major sponsors will feature in a stained glass window which will acknowledge their contribution. It will be the modern equivalent of an existing window on the same stair which shows the original sponsors of the Portrait Gallery when it was first built.

The image above shows a detail of the Portrait of Roy Dennis by Alison Kinnaird, which was commissioned by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2003

Alison Kinnaird will be the tutor at the harp weekend at beautiful Blackhills house, near Elgin in Moray. This annual course is an informal teaching course with the atmosphere of a friendly houseparty, as the guests of the Stephanie and John Christie, who own Blackhills.

Early booking is recommended as numbers are limited to 15 participants.

You can find more information about the course at
www.blackhills.co.uk/harp
and you can contact Steph Christie by e-mail at steph@clarbo.com
by telephone on 01343 842223
or by mail at Blackhills House, By Elgin, Moray, Scotland. IV30 8QU

Alison Kinnaird has been commissioned to design and engrave two windows for the North porch of Dornoch Cathedral. This follows a succesfull commission for her 'Praise Window', in memory of the organist and choirmaster, which was installed in 2004.

Alison worked on the large window with Patrick Ross-Smith and will be collaborating again with him again on the two new windows, which are expected to be completed in late 2012.

You can view a larger and more detailed image in the glass gallery of this website here

In 2008 Alison completed a major commission for the Royal Museums of Scotland. The installation is titled 'Maze' and is composed of engraved optical glass panels, 1.3 metres long, with programmed LED lights, dichroic colour and painted textile.

Mazes are symbolic in many cultures of both life & death, Paradise or Hell - the difficulty of finding a path through life. The circles in the background are formed by the natural drying process of some liquids, and represent both deacy & regeneration. The figures are linked by a golden line, which is programmed to appear as if running through the piece. The golden thread was often used in legend to find a way out of the maze, and symbolises the line of life.

You can view a larger version of Maze & some details here in the glass gallery

As the museum is currently udergoing a major refurbishment, 'Maze' will not be installed in it's permanent position until the works are complete in the museum.

After a successfull exhibition at the Red House Cone, Stourbridge, with the Guild of Glass Engravers, the Glass Engraving Trust purchased two of Alison's pieces - 'Adam' & 'Eve' - and presented them to the Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead. They are now on show in the fine collection there.




You can read more about this on the Shipley Gallery website here

and you can see both 'Adam' & 'Eve' in more detail in Alison's gallery