Studio Update: January 2025
Monthly news straight to your inbox from David McDiarmid Studio
The moment has sort of passed now for a Happy New Year but Happy New Year in any case! January is usually a bit of a slow one for me but so far I’ve enjoyed giving my studio a massive tidy/clear out and have been working hard to squeeze in a new product for Valentine’s Day which is now available for pre-order! I’ve also been spending some time experimenting with new ideas which I thought would be nice to share some in progress shots with you. Apart from that I’ve just got the next instalment in my Foodie Book Club recommendations for you!
Pre-Orders for Valentine’s Day Heart-Shaped Ravioli!
I’ve added a new Heart-Shaped Ravioli for Valentine’s Day gifting to my website. These are available as either a fridge magnet or pin badge and available in both my Plain Glaze or red Tomato Sugo Glaze colours and will be shipped in time for Valentine’s Day!
Studio Clear Out & Freebies Available
I always like to start the year with a big tidy of the studio and clear out of things I don’t need. Us artists accumulate all sorts of random things and I never like things to go to waste when someone else could make use of them so I like to list my no longer needed materials, tools, odds & ends on Circular Arts Network!
Circular Arts Network (CAN) is an online platform designed to facilitate the sharing and redistribution of art resources, materials, and equipment within the creative community, embracing the principles of the circular economy. By promoting the reuse and repurposing of items, CAN helps reduce waste and extends the life cycle of resources, fostering sustainability. Find out more below!
Recent Experiments in the Studio
I’m looking to expand my product range this year so have been enjoying experimenting with new ideas in the studio recently and thought it would be fun to share my progress as I go. I’ve loads of ideas that have been floating around in my head for a while now so figured the best way to make some progress would be to more or less make prototypes for them all and see which ones made the most sense to take forward.
First things first, I’ve been testing some new glaze ideas for my pasta range to add to my current Plain Glaze and Tomato Sugo Glazes. Below you can see tests for new Squid Ink and Carbonara Glazes plus a stripey number for a potential bespoke order. I’m thinking of testing for a green colour Pesto Glaze next!
I’m working on launching new Giclee print reproductions of my Food Portrait Paintings range which should be ready soon and have been making prototypes for some pastry-themed products, such as this steaming hot Scotch Pie Incense Cone Holder…
My Newest Stockist
I’m delighted to announce my new stockist Hidden Store in Bath who’ll be stocking a range of my ceramic pasta fridge magnets very soon…
All of the items sourced for Hidden are made by UK based designers, makers and creators. Drawn to natural fibres and materials, textures and patterns which form the base of the store, the shop’s owner Natasha believed in mindful gifting - choosing items with craft and longevity that will be loved, cherished and handed down amongst families for years.
My Current Stockists
Here’s a list of my lovely stockists where you can find & shop a selection of David McDiarmid Studio products in person:
Alchemy Experiment 157 Byres Road, Glasgow
Bare Bones Chocolate 111 King Street, Glasgow
Hidden Store 2 Pierrepont Pl, Bath
Blackhill Bakery 1431 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow
Creative Strathaven 6a Common Green, Strathaven
Dundee Contemporary Arts 152 Nethergate, Dundee
FOLD The Barn, Burn O Bennie, Banchory
Hidden Scotland Shop Milton of Crathes, Banchory
Jeju Baked Goods 393 Victoria Road, Glasgow
Moon on the Hill 13c Angel Lane, Penrith, Cumbria
ÒR 4 Wentworth Street & The Green, Portree, Skye
Pophams 197 Richmond Road, London, E8 3NJ
Sunshine No.1 1043 Cathcart Road, Glasgow
Foodie Book Club
As you can imagine, I’m an avid reader of food-related books, particularly food history so I thought it would be fun to start sharing some recommendations with my subscribers each month in case you’ve been wanting to get clued up on things like…Rick Stein?
Swindled: From Poison Sweets to Counterfeit Coffee - The Dark History of Food Cheats by Bee Wilson
This is another cracker from Bee Wilson who also wrote Consider the Fork a brilliant history of cooking showing how new technologies - from the fork to the microwave and beyond - have shaped how and what we eat.
Swindled uncovers the many methods by which swindlers have tampered with our food throughout history. From the leaded wine of ancient Rome to the food piracy of the twenty-first century we see the extraordinary ways food has been padded, poisoned, spiked, coloured, substituted, faked and mislabelled everywhere it has been sold
Let me know if you decide to give it a go!
Until next time
Thanks for reading, I’ll be back with another newsletter in February!
In the meantime, remember as a newsletter subscriber, you get 10% off your first order with David McDiarmid Studio. Just enter the code ARTFORFOODIES2025 at checkout to redeem!