This Summer (and into Autumn) we are delighted to have been joined by Camille Biddell, Harriet Rose Morely and Sam Dransfield as Technicians during our busy period.
Camille, Harriet and Sam are all highly skilled and technically brilliant artists and makers as well as truly generous in their approach to working with others. They have brought huge enthusiasm and new insight to SSW and have thrown themselves into all aspects of living and working here onsite.
Find out a bit more about Camille, Harriet and Sam, and their time at SSW below.
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Camille Biddell
Camille Biddell is an artist and potter working from her shopfront studio ‘Slip House’ in Glasgow. She makes contemporary slipware and uses terracotta to hand build most of her pieces – each slab is embossed with pattern and decorated with colourful slip before taking form. She studied at Clay College in Stoke-on-Trent where she developed an interest in the heritage of ceramics, from studio pottery to industrial production. She makes objects that playfully straddle function and decoration, mixing references into something decadent and fun. Camille first came to SSW in 2019 as the Programme and Communications Intern.
‘Whilst at SSW I looked after the ceramic studio – packing kilns, glazing work from school groups and supporting Open Access Residents with their projects amid the day-to-day upkeep of the studio. Highlights were being on hand when Ceramics Subscribers were in on Thursdays and Fridays, welcoming group residents on their first week, and weekly community lunches and group sharings. SSW is such an inclusive and supportive place and I loved my three weeks here.‘
Harriet Rose Morley
Harriet Rose Morley is an artist, maker and educator based between the UK and the Netherlands. Her practice explores the social and material conditions of making, with a particular interest in workshop cultures, technical knowledge, labour and access. Working across sculpture, metalwork, publishing and workshops, she is interested in how knowledge is shared and the often invisible systems and labour that support making. The current iteration of this ongoing research titled, ‘Hard Work, Soft Work’, not only explores “Hard Work”; referring to the “hard”, technical skills both taught and exchanged during these processes of learning, but also thinks about “Soft Work”, referring to the often less valued, less acknowledged and rarely seen “soft” skills of communication, organisation, mediation and solidarity– skills that are proven integral to working collectively.
Harriet first came to SSW in 2024 as part of the Group Residency programme. She returned in 2025 during her Rijksakademie Tech Fellowship as part of her research to inform her recent publication Waste Not Want Not.
‘I was so happy to return to SSW, this time as Summer Technician. It was an opportunity to explore new ways of enabling access in workshops alongside the residents. Every workshop works differently, with its own approaches to learning, safety and sharing knowledge. It was lovely to learn more about how Technical Director Ruaridh and the rest of the team approach this, and to contribute my own ideas to the ways of working.
Exchange and dialogue were central to my time there. Working with the residents and the team at SSW opened up questions about how we make, how we learn and how we support one another in the process. It was a joy to see the residents’ confidence and skills in metalworking develop, and to learn alongside them.
Alongside my time in the metal workshop, I fitted in lots of karaoke, walks and also experimented with using slag in glazes, making connections between workshops and exploring new possibilities for materials.’
Sam Dransfield
Sam Dransfield is a (usually) Glasgow-based, freelance sculptural fabricator working with carpentry, metalwork and casting. When Sam’s not working he likes to be wild swimming, cycling or working on linoprint & sewing projects.
I’m very excited to be working at SSW for 5 weeks as a freelance technician. So far I’ve helped with the Metal Fabrication Intensive course and supporting artists on residency realise their ideas in the metal workshop, as well as assisting with general maintenance tasks and in the ceramics and casting workshops. In my time off I have been experimenting with throwing pots in ceramics, and exploring the landscape around Lumsden; I’ve found some great lichen, moss & mushrooms in the woods.
The team is super welcoming and supportive and I’m really enjoying the social aspects of being here with the team and artists. Highlights include pot luck meals, wood fired sauna, meeting the Ceramics Subscribers and the range of different ways people can participate in the programme here. SSW’s approach really centres accessibility, sustainability and the local community.
