In deepest lockdown, Jack Waygood did what many others did – he retreated to the garden shed to make something.

Before then he had been in New Zealand, putting his blacksmith’s talents to work creating metalwork props for the new Lord of the Rings television series.

Made redundant due to the pandemic, back in the UK without a forge to work with and in the solitude of his late grandfather’s old garden shed, he took a gas blow torch to a sheet of copper and hammered out a series of beguiling ‘masks’.

The sequence of copper faces – one with a curly moustache, another with a smirking pout, a grimace and what could be a scream or, perhaps, an uproarious laugh – his collection of metal puppets and delicate sculptures appear at odds with the usual image of a blacksmith’s art.

Yet according to Jack – who works under the name Jaxx Waygood – mastering metal using heat, hammers and brute force, doesn’t always have to involve the red-hot heat of the forge, even if all that bashing does bring a degree of pleasure.

“Everyone should have a go at heating up a bit of iron and hitting with a hammer,” he says. “There’s a lot of satisfaction in it.”

Plenty are willing to try: his next block of beginners’ blacksmithing classes at The Forge community makers’ space in Edinburgh are sold out, with more in the pipeline.

Jack, a journeyman blacksmith whose Work of Iron workshop is based in Ratho on the edge of Edinburgh, is among scores of expert craft artists whose skills are in high demand from the next generation of makers.

Having found themselves plunged into insecurity by the pandemic with retail outlets for their products closed, workshops bolted down or in some cases suddenly having to park their craft to home school children, they are now battling to keep up with demand from Scots anxious to learn their craft.

Next week makers from across the country will be answering the call, as Scotland’s craft community comes together for the second Craft Week Scotland, a showcase for their talent and chance to pass on their skills in a series of lessons and workshops.

Launched last year as a response to the challenges of the pandemic, this year’s week-long craft celebration includes workshops in everything from willow weaving in Edinburgh to ceramic repair using the ancient Japanese technique of kintsugi in Glasgow.

Dotted across the country will be taster sessions in enamelling and ceramics. In Dundee, there is the chance to learn how to make a silver ring, while knitters in Stirling can discover the fine art of how to create Shetland lace and in Banchory, sheets of paper will be turned into sculptures at one hour-long workshop.

Running from 24 to 31 October, Craft Week Scotland has been developed by Craft Scotland as a nationwide initiative to raise awareness of the vibrant craft sector, with exhibitions from internationally renowned and emerging makers working in everything from furniture to jewellery, ceramics, textiles, glass and more. Alongside, will be a series of online talks by leading craft practitioners and curators from around the world.

In Edinburgh, Jack’s two hand-forged 'acrobatic sculptures' and collection of copper repousse masks, titled - 'The emblem of the pandemic' – will be on show at Art and Craft Collective, Causewayside.

While learning blacksmithing is tricky without access to a forge – and to reach his level takes years of learning and travel - he says classes offer a flavour of what can be achieved.

“It’s quite safe, it’s fun – it’s like crafting therapy.

“People are going back to wanting to make things, there’s a resurgence across all crafts probably because people are spending so much time at computers, they want to try something different.

“Blacksmithing is a very physical activity, you become strong. It’s dirty, sweaty and physical – yes, you can get burnt – but there’s a real pleasure and satisfaction from moving metal under your hammer.”

Scotland has more than 3000 makers and businesses working in contemporary craft – not all as physically demanding as blacksmithing.

Among the craft workshops are furniture making sessions with contemporary maker Isabelle Moore at her Edinburgh studio.

There students learn how to make and weave a rattan cane or seagrass stool, bookshelves and the basics of furniture making. As part of Craft Week Scotland, she will join other furniture makers at an open studio in the city’s Albion Business Centre, showcasing their work.

“There’s huge interest from people wanting to learn this and other crafts. People want that provenance of knowing where something has come from, and I want to pass on my skills,” she says.

In Aberdeen, Fiona Hall of Camban Studio works in textiles inspired the natural environment of Scotland and the colours of Aberdeenshire. Having originally worked from her kitchen table – and surrounded by schoolbooks during lockdown as she home schooled her children – she now has a base at Deemouth Artists’ Studios where she runs textile craft courses.

She says there is satisfaction is seeing how her students develop their skills under her tutorage.

“People have found new skills or moved in different directions, and it has been exciting to share it with them,” she says.

“There’s no pressure to create anything amazing, it’s the simple process of stitching which is so meditating and calming.

“No-one has to be creating a masterpiece.”

Craft Scotland Director Irene Kernan said: “As the national development agency for craft, one of Craft Scotland's key aims is to promote high quality contemporary craft practice locally, nationally and internationally.

“The Craft Week Scotland  campaign is to encourage people to visit, engage with and buy from makers and craft destinations, including galleries, venues, independent shops and small businesses.

“We want to encourage Scotland to shop handmade and local, and we are keen to promote even more makers and venues across Scotland and showcase the breadth of contemporary craft that is happening today.”