Team Scotland 2018

I was delighted to get the chance to design and make Team Scotland 2018 Awards for 10 gymnasts and their coaches. Scottish Gymnastics commissioned me to design an award that would represent the whole gymnastics team heading out to the Gold Coast for the Commonwealth Games 2018.  The design I chose for the awards was based on the Scottish Gymnastics logo of a thistle, but I wanted it to also represent an abstract form of a gymnast. The fused glass colours were chosen to represent the colours of the Team Scotland logo and to match the colours of the gymnasts team kit.

I had very tight deadlines to work to so it was long days and nights in the workshop but I am so pleased with how the final awards look.

Here is a little background into the making of these unique awards.

Making the fused glass sections.

When making these Team Scotland awards, I stared work on the glass section first. I start with a clear piece of glass cut to size, then I layer the coloured glass on top of this clear base glass. I use a mix of transparent and opaque glass to get a dramatic effect. Once all the glass is cut to size it is cleaned then put into the kiln to fire. The firing process takes 24hrs start to finish.

Making the wooden section of the award.

Once the glass has been removed from the kiln I start work on the wooden sections of the award.
I used kiln dried Scottish Ash and I selected 3 boards to work with. The Ash is cut to size and machined to the correct thickness. I used a ‘Y’ shaped template to draw on the rough shape of the awards. This ‘Y’shape is cut to size using a bandsaw. The outside edges are hand carved to give some textured detail. This carved edge is then smoked black to raise the textured carving. This edge is then sealed to prevent the front and back of the award from getting marked. The carved detail on the front and back of the award is based on the cross from the Scotland flag, to keep the Scottish theme.  The awards are then sanded to a very fine finish using different grades of sandpaper.

Being part of the team

I decided within my design that it would be good to represent all 14 awards as one big Team.  I designed the 10 gymnasts awards to link together to make one big circle with the 3 coaches and team manager awards in a smaller inner circle. The final effect is stunning and embraces the whole team.

Once the awards are assembled they now need to have 4 coats of oil applied over 4 days to seal the wood. Whilst the awards were drying I concentrated on engraving the fused glass discs with the Team Scotland logo. The logo along with Gold Coast 2018 was engraved and colour filled into each fused glass disc.  The last job was to engrave a plate for each award with the gymnast/coach name.  A personal reminder of an amazing opportunity in their life.

I am so proud to have been asked to make these awards and I wish all of the Scottish gymnastics team the very best wishes as part of Team Scotland at the Gold Coast Commenwealth Games 2018.

Click on the link below to see the finished awards

TEAM SCOTLAND AWARDS 2018 COMMISIONED BY SCOTTISH GYMNASTICS