Lindsey Gallacher

I found all these stones in the same spot, which is weird as the beach around the corner, just 1km away has a really boring selection with very little of interest in terms of variety. All the stones are very round including the large boulders, it’s a very nice place to visit. I’m not the only person to have picked up a shiny wet stone to marvel at the delicate white lines to pop it in my pocket and take home to add to the collection, only to find it has dried and turned a dusty, pale grey. Happily, after years of working with Caithness Flagstone and now, experimenting with beach and river pebbles, I have figured out a way to create a fine pendant that looks contemporary and isn’t just a stone with a hole in it. I can polish them up to regain their lustre that initially enticed me to pick it up.  Click here to buy I feel privileged to be tasked with the job or creating jewellery, whether it be cufflinks or pendants and stud earrings, from stone that holds such importance to my clien...

 I have been experimenting with the concept of using lichen covered stone.  It has been noted that lichen is a living thing and I've contemplated the problem with using it for my work for a while now.  This particular lichen is actually the very common Crabs Eye Lichen (Ochrolechia parella) It covers every piece of stone that exists in Caithness, there is as much of this lichen as heather on the hills or moss on the ground.  To protect the lichen from flaking off I have chosen to put a thin coating of resin over it and this has turned the white an interesting orangey yellow. What is of importance to me is that I don't go removing vital stones from the walls that surround the fields.  These walls have been here for hundreds of years, and the more I look at them the more I marvel at the shear scale of man power that went into building them. Hard graft and skill.  The walls have survived hundreds of years of powerful storms and sadly many of them are slowl...

What to do with these pieces... I love the delicate slices and their fine stripes but howrobust will they turn out to be?

The new stonecutter is giving me new ideas for display as well as jewellery. I've cut the Caithness stone and specially treated it to reveal its layers. Inspiration from the fossils found at an inland quarry near Spittal resulted in a new idea for jewellery, can't wait to see what I come up with next!

This week I finally received delivery of a new Rubi stone cutting machine with the help of Highlife Highland, Creative Scotland and XpoNorth who were responsible for awarding me partial funding so that I could explore the properties of my local stone. I have spent a year developing commercial jewellery using Caithness stone which has been very well received locally, and now I want to create more contemporary, experimental work. This is my first few slices of stone from an inland quarry near my parents home.

I love the simplicity of this design finished with a handmade t-bar connection. Also ready to order.

The product testing is done and this bracelet will be ready to order for the christmas season.

New work coming together nicely, these are the cufflinks and they will be available in silver, gold plated silver and if you're  feeling flush, 9 or 18ct gold.

My second attempt at trying to create facets in a relatively ordinary piece of Caithness slate. Polishing up this mudstone reveals delicate layers of silt that look like miniature landscapes. My next step is to combine gold into the design to compliment the stone, I'm having a lot of fun and making a lot of dust...

I've been drawing up at the quarry for some time now and at some point the idea of making some jewellery came into my head.  So I dusted down the  workbench and started experimenting. I've been up to Spittal quarry to pick their brains and now I have a whole new world of tools to buy... it's a dusty business this stone but it polishes up a treat!