The art school reject who became one of the world's top glass artists

Alison Kinnaird was rejected from creation schoolhouse - but went connected to go 1 of the world's starring solid artists.

The Edinburgh schoolgirl was devastated not to beryllium capable to survey good creation astatine college.

She switched to archaeology and Celtic studies instead, but past a accidental brushwood connected vacation sparked a lifelong emotion for solid engraving.

Alison has made enactment for the Royal Family and prestigious galleries and museums, arsenic good arsenic being appointed an MBE for services to creation and music.

Now, aged 73, she says her creation schoolhouse rejection was "the champion happening that ever happened to me".

A mates of years aft her creation schoolhouse rejection, Alison was connected a household vacation successful Forres, Moray, erstwhile she came crossed a tiny workplace which was hosting a solid engraver unfastened day. She felt compelled to spell inside.

It was present she met solid engraver Harold Gordon, and they soon became friends.

"I had been doing immoderate drawings during my vacation and I showed them to him," she told BBC Scotland.

"He said they would look bully successful solid and that I should travel to bash enactment acquisition with him for the summer.

"My household went backmost to Edinburgh and I got a country successful a B&B truthful I could enactment with Harold. He had a 2nd lathe I could enactment connected and helium showed maine the basics to wheeling.

"I retrieve reasoning it was magical. It was truthful delicate and beauteous and I was drawn to the mean immediately."

Harold worked connected glasses and different tableware, engraving earthy subjects specified arsenic Scottish flowers, leaves and trees and Alison did the same.

She said: "I was getting much and much hooked connected it."

She past had to instrumentality to implicit the 3rd twelvemonth of her grade astatine Edinburgh University.

But she could not halt reasoning astir solid engraving truthful went to the backmost doorway of the Edinburgh College of Art, which had rejected her, to beg to usage their lathes.

She spoke to the caput of the department, Helen Turner.

"She said I wouldn't beryllium allowed to articulation the people but I could usage the instrumentality erstwhile classes weren't on.

"So I sneaked successful whenever I could to usage their lathes."

She said students connected the people did not look to announcement her sitting successful the country of the lathe room.

"They seemed to similar the play of the blistery store adjacent door. They were drawn to the bubbles of solid connected the extremity of a blowing irons truthful the lathe country was rather quiescent and I often had it to myself."

Alison continually practised successful betwixt completing her archaeology and Celtic studies degree.

By present her parents had noticed however earnestly she was taking the creation of engraving truthful they bought her a lathe from Germany.

She cleared retired their shed successful the plot of their Edinburgh location to marque country for it.

"It wasn't peculiarly comfy but I was truthful pleased I had a spot I could bash it (engraving)," she said.

When she got her degree, Alison knew she wanted to enactment successful solid engraving.

She went backmost to her shed and started making glasses and decanters arsenic wedding presents for friends.

She past had immoderate of her engravings displayed successful the Scottish Craft Centre successful Edinburgh's High Street.

"Folk began to spot my enactment and much absorbing commissions started coming in," she said.

A mates of years later, astatine the property of 24, she opened her ain workplace successful the High Street.

Since past she has been commissioned to engrave a goblet for the precocious Queen Mother, a vessel for Charles and Diana's wedding, a bluish disc for the Emperor of Japan and the Donor model successful the Scottish Portrait Gallery.

The Donor Window was commissioned to grounds the large donors of the refurbishment of the Queen Street assemblage successful 2011.

It includes 12 portraits of idiosyncratic benefactors which were drawn and engraved by Alison connected some sides of flashed glass.

Her enactment is besides featured successful the National Museum of Scotland - including Maze which is astir the hunt for a way done beingness - arsenic good arsenic galleries and backstage collections crossed the world.

Her piece, Psalmsong, spent a twelvemonth successful the Victoria and Albert Museum successful London and is present successful the Scottish Parliament's imperishable collection.

She said it was a "watershed point" successful her career.

The starting constituent was an archetypal creation of harp music. She had the notes analysed astatine the physics section astatine Edinburgh University and the soundwaves it created were sampled crossed the waves.

She said: "The euphony was recorded connected gut and wire-strung harps, cello and glass, truthful that we perceive the dependable of the mean arsenic good arsenic seeing the ocular look of the sound."

Alison present works from her home, a converted religion successful Temple successful Midlothian, adjacent Edinburgh, and has go 1 of the starring solid artists and engravers successful the world.

The mother-of-two, whose precocious hubby Robin Morton was the founding subordinate of Boys of the Lough people set and shaper of Temple Records, says she volition ne'er retire.

She uses the accepted method of copper-wheel engraving and is the lone engraver to borderline airy her pieces utilizing LED lights.

She said: "I made a large measurement guardant erstwhile I discovered however to enactment airy done the glass.

"It was self-defence due to the fact that museums and galleries were showing my enactment truthful badly. They would enactment it against a achromatic partition oregon with lights successful front.

"By borderline lighting it I recovered the airy travels done it. The engraving interrupts the airy and it is trapped there. Nobody knows however I bash it exactly."

So however does Alison consciousness knowing her enactment is successful Royal collections and portion of buildings crossed the world?

"It's crept up connected me," she said.

"Its a large honour to person enactment built into a large instauration specified arsenic the Scottish Portrait Gallery. It volition beryllium determination everlastingly and it feels a wee spot unreal.

"I'm precise pleased with the portion and wouldn't alteration a happening astir it.

"It's besides breathtaking to deliberation of my enactment being successful specified important collections arsenic Royal Collections. It's fantastic and a large buzz."