Hello from the Heart of Scotland. My name is Tamzin Macdonald and eight years ago I embarked on a 2 year Jewellery and Silversmithing course at the University of the Highlands and Islands. Without realising, it was to gift me a creative outlet for the inspiring landscape that surrounds me every day.  While living in Scalpay I discovered what a particularly beautiful and unique place the Hebrides really are. The Lewisian gneiss represent the oldest rocks in Britain and date back to around 3000 million years ago and the Machair is one of the rarest habitats in the world (Machair is a Gaelic word meaning fertile low lying grassy plain). With temperatures mild enough to grow palms, azure oceans and powder white sand, alongside the wind and rain that keep the hills and mountains rugged and covered in heather, the peatlands full of life, and lochs full as far as the eye can see, inspiration is abound. Home to deer, otters, sea eagles, whales, sheep, and Highland cattle, it really is a truly majestic environment with a history that stretches back for millennia. And so it is that I try to interpret all of that history, beauty, colour, texture, and life, into my pieces of jewellery. I use age-old techniques alongside contemporary design elements at my bench, at home, in rural Perthshire.