Demos – 11:00am – 5:00pm
Workshop – 4pm – 5pm
Demos – 11:00am – 5:00pm
Workshop – 4pm – 5pm
All ages
Blakey Moor Terrace
Demos – Drop in
Workshop – Sign up on the day
Demos – Free
Workshop – £10
Step inside the fascinating world of encaustic tile making and try your hand at one of Britain’s most endangered crafts.
Led by award-winning tile maker and QEST Scholar Craig Peebles, this hands-on workshop offers a rare opportunity to experience the centuries-old process used to create some of the nation’s most iconic decorative floor tiles. Beginning with a short introduction to the history and revival of the craft, participants will discover how coloured clay is inlaid into the body of a tile to create patterns that are literally built into the surface.
Guests will then become part of the making process themselves. Using traditional techniques, participants will infill designs with coloured clay slips and experience the magic of revealing a pattern through the process of cutting back the surface.
Part workshop, part demonstration and part living heritage experience, this session offers a unique insight into a craft on the brink of disappearance and the contemporary efforts being made to bring it back to life.
No previous experience required.
About Heritage Crafts
The Heritage Crafts Red List of Endangered Crafts, first published in 2017, was the first report of its kind to rank traditional crafts by the likelihood they would survive to the next generation, based on intangible cultural heritage safeguarding principles, led by Heritage Crafts, the only UK UNESCO-accredited NGO working primarily in the domain of traditional craftsmanship.
About Craig Peebles
Craig Peebles is an award-winning encaustic tile maker, designer and heritage craft specialist based in Edinburgh. With more than thirty years of experience in the tile industry, he is at the forefront of a contemporary revival of encaustic tile making; one of Britain’s most critically endangered crafts.
Born into a family of master tile setters, Craig began his apprenticeship at the age of thirteen, learning traditional geometric layout and installation techniques from his father, Brian Peebles. After graduating with a BA (Hons) in Art and Design from Edinburgh College of Art, he combined his heritage training with contemporary design practice, eventually establishing Welby & Wright Tileworks.
His work explores the intersection of historic craftsmanship, architectural ornament and contemporary culture, creating handmade encaustic tiles that range from faithful heritage reproductions to bold contemporary artworks.
Craig is a recipient of the Heritage Crafts Endangered Crafts Fund and a QEST Julia Rausing Trust Scholar, recognised for his work researching and re-engineering traditional encaustic tile making techniques for the twenty-first century. Through making, mentoring and public engagement, he is committed to safeguarding and sharing a remarkable craft tradition, ensuring that the knowledge, skills and stories embedded within each tile continue to inspire future generations.
These should stand out because many festival bios simply list achievements; this version tells a story and establishes you as both a practitioner and a custodian of a rare craft.