With windows looking down onto the bustling streets of Glasgow city centre, the workshop is a den of activity where materials such as wood and metal are manipulated using fire, acid, and persistence to form, re-form, and transform raw material into Earthly treasures.

One such Artisan is Maciek.

After a formal education, including attendance at art school, Maciek joined the workshop as an apprentice to further develop his relationship with silver. The opportunity to experiment in this supportive environment meant he could learn by physically engaging with the bench, tools, and comrades around him. While being encouraged by strong Glasgow banter, Maciek introduces his own spin and spirit into his pieces. The space itself defies description, being a chaos of oxidised silver, dusted books, treasured photographs, and centuries old tools.

In the non-stop chat of the workshop, we are reminded of the importance of grounding oneself through interactions with others. Each individual possesses a variety of skills, approaches, and attitudes to both their craft and life. It is a space where differing ideas can react and synthesise, to produce new techniques and understanding.

For Maciek, the dynamic between apprentice and master is invaluable. It instils the importance of ' just giving something a go’, of remaining humble in times of success, learning from blunders, picking oneself up, and deriving satisfaction from a job well done.

It can be argued that each of Maciek’s pieces is the sum of these experiences. The finished object is marked by more than just a hallmark, it contains the laughter, sweat, stories and evolution of his skill during the time of its production.

Each piece is more than just its function, or even a deconstruction of its intended use. The creation of a physical item will always be a self-centred process since without the creator the created would not exist.