When she was a little girl Jasmine Linington loathed the slippery, slimy feel of seaweed when she ventured into the cool waters of the beach near her home.

The feathery fronds that hid beneath the surface brushed against her legs; the dried seaweed on the beach looked alien with its blackened, hard bubbles and wispy strands. There was little, she remembers, that she found attractive about it.

“I was a little bit scared of it,” she recalls. “It just wasn’t the nicest, and I really did not like it.”

Yet now she is hunting it out: drawn by its intricate features, varied colours and diverse shapes, she harvests seaweed found on the shores near her Edinburgh home to turn into eye-catching textiles, embellishments, artworks and jewellery.

Her intriguing use for seaweed is now set to be launched on the international stage: her collection has been chosen to represent Scotland in a showcase of the nation’s best craft and design.

Known as Seaweed Girl – a nickname acquired at Edinburgh College of Art for her kelp-strewn studio - Jasmine’s creations will join those of ten other Scottish makers who have uncovered inventive ways of using materials as diverse as unwanted plasterboard retrieved from a waste yard, iron, and 3D printed nylon which is turned into jewellery by a maker with an aerospace engineering degree.

They have been selected from makers and designers from across Scotland to represent Craft Scotland at Collect 2022, a major international craft fair to be held in London in February.

Regarded as the craft sector's premier showcase, it brings together galleries, artists and collectors in one of the leading gatherings of its kind.

Craft Scotland will have its own dedicated gallery space to showcase artworks in silversmithing and goldsmithing, furniture making, ceramics, textiles and blacksmithing from the 11 artists chosen as leaders in the sector.

Previous Craft Scotland showcases at the event have resulted in a number of commissions and high-profile acquisitions by prominent museums and galleries.

Jasmine’s kelp collection takes inspiration from the various textures, colours and shapes found on the seashore, and also uses real seaweed for dyes and to create seaweed sequins and coloured beads to adorn textiles.

Part of her process involves working with a fibre called SeaCell – a seaweed and eucalyptus cellulose – which enables the seaweed to be constructed into textile pieces and fabrics.

The idea came while studying at Edinburgh College of Art when, stuck for ideas during lockdown, she was walking along a beach when she saw seaweed and noticed for the first time the mix of rich colours, shapes and textures.

“I started to see the seaweed as a material and I was fascinated by the textures and colours,” she said.

“Now I go with my books, bags and pair of scissors at low tide and forage what I can find that’s available to me and I will also collect seawater which is part of the process.”

While she scours the beach for seaweed, in Fife, Steven and Ffion Blench of Chalk Plaster use demolition waste plasterboard retrieved from a reprocessing plant to create modern plaster furniture pieces.

The pair, also chosen to represent Scotland at Collect 2022, combine contemporary craft with the centuries’ old techniques used in their other role restoring plaster features at some of Scotland’s grandest rooms.

Their contemporary designs include using an early 16th century scagliola technique developed in rural Germany as a means of imitating marble on plaster. Their version uses pigment drawn from locally sourced natural specimens collected along the Fife coast.

“We use traditional plastering techniques but try to use them in different ways, producing our own contemporary designs or using slightly different materials,” said Steven, who has previously worked at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace cataloguing decorative works.

“It’s really hard to get hold of raw gypsum unless you buy tonnes of it, so we use demolition waste from a waste management company.”

The makers selected for Collect 2022 include Moray-based furniture maker Duke Christie, whose sculptural pieces reflect the mountains and rivers outside his studio.

Using power and traditional hand tools including spokeshaves, gouges, rifflers which have either been adapted, or purpose made, he uses local responsibly sourced timber to make sculpted forms with hand carved textures.

While celebrated Glasgow designer Lynne MacLachlan Eastwood, a qualified aerospace engineer, uses 3D printing techniques to transform nylon into striking jewellery which has been worn by supermodels including Gigi Hadid.

Eileen Gatt’s jewellery, meanwhile, is inspired by a scholarship working with Inuit stone carvers in Alaska, and features tiny polar bears, snowflakes, Arctic hares and ice blue ‘icebergs’.

Last year’s Collect showcase featured 32 international galleries representing 400 artists from 35 nations, spanning from the UK to Senegal, Japan to the USA.

Craft Scotland Director, Irene Kernan said: “Showcasing work on an international platform is incredibly important for Scotland whose global reputation as a destination for high quality craft needs to be maintained despite the challenges of Brexit and the impact of the pandemic on international markets.

“The opportunity to see beautiful tactile pieces up close will allow visitors to appreciate the value of design-led Scottish contemporary craft and understand the master craftsmanship that goes into creating these objects “With sales averaging £30,000 across the four days of the event in recent years we hope the makers will enjoy financial benefits as well as professional ones.”

Jessica Bonehill, Creative Industries Officer (Crafts), Creative Scotland said: “Collect 2022 offers Scotland’s top contemporary, design-led craft makers a fantastic opportunity to connect and trade with international art consultants, interiors specialists, collectors, museum curators and designers. The ambitious and thoughtful work selected, represents the innovative ways makers in Scotland are re-imagining the genre and enriching our understanding of what it means to make craft today.”

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The 11 makers selected for Collect 2022 are: Chalk, run by plasters Ffion Blench and Steven Blench, who use historic techniques and materials to create contemporary plaster designs and furniture.

Blacksmith Daniel Freyne, who makes striking iron vessels and bowls using traditional ironworking skills.

Duke Christie’s locally sourced timber is sculpted into forms reflecting the rolling landscape using traditional tools and scorching methods.

Eileen Gatt was inspired by her work with Inuit stone carvers in Alaska. Her nature-themed jewellery reflects concerns over the changing climate.

Contemporary jeweller Heather Wood uses precious metals and chain patterns to create intricate and flexible pieces.

Seaweed foraged from Scottish shores is turned into fabric, natural dyes and embellishments by Jasmine Linington.

Lara Scobie’s ceramics reflect botanical forms and use striking colours.

Lynne MacLachlan-Eastwood uses 3D printing technology to create brightly coloured accessories that have been worn by supermodels.

Designer Naomi McIntosh uses her architectural background to create intricate wood pieces spanning jewellery to large installations.

Contemporary jeweller Susan Cross’s designs are inspired by plant forms and feature pearls and semi-precious stones.

Susan O’Byrne’s ceramic animals celebrate the role animals play in imagination through myth, stories and cultural traditions.