July 2026

Name: George Wilson

How did your creative journey start?

I suppose every human life is, in some way, a creative journey. We are all born with creative potential, although how it develops is shaped by fate, freedom and the choices we make along the way. 

Can you explain your creative process? How has it changed over time?

My creative practice has always had many different facets. From the beginning, I found new ideas irresistibly compelling and whenever something captured my imagination, I felt driven to explore it fully. That remains true today, even thought many ideas never process beyond their earliest stages. New concepts still arrive unexpectedly, often in the middle of practical work, carrying the same mysterious energy they always have. As a young craftsperson, this gave me great confidence. I would often take on project without fully understanding the techniques they required, trusting that, by the time I reached each stage, my subconscious would somehow have discovered the solution. 

Who influences you? Which other creatives’ work do you love?

I am most influenced by beauty, both aesthetic and spiritual, and I aspire to create objects that possess the power to enchant. I hope my work has a quiet beauty of its own: not literally alive, but never lifeless. One of the greatest pleasures of working with wood is the moment a plane releases its perfume. My sculptures, many carved from timber that is hundreds of years old, are best experienced slowly, in moments of silence and reflection. 

What advice would you give creatives who are just starting out?

No one can truly predict the future of creativity, especially now, as we stand on the threshold of profound intellectual and technological change. Artificial intelligence will undoubtedly influence and inspire many aspects of our lives. There will be benefits: freedom from repetitive tasks, advances in medicine and perhaps even solutions to problems that have troubled humanity for centuries. Yet I also believe there will be renewed value in craftsmanship. We may see a revival of the craft guild tradition, embracing handmade work in the spirit of Ruskin and Morris. This may sound idealistic, but I believe a renewed respect for making things by hand, grounded in human values and philosophy, will continue to sustain us. Whatever path technology follows, human creativity will always have its place. 

What can visitors expect when visiting your space during Falkirk Open Studios?

Visitors will receive a warm welcome to my studio. I will be exhibiting as wide a selection of my work as space allows, including my long-standing sculptures The Wood Nymph and The Water Nymph, inspired by the spirit of the Pre-Raphaelites.