Illustration: Elaine Carstairs: Filigree circle vessel using a mixture of crochet, metal and sculptural perspective.
It is interesting to note the number of consummate multi-disciplinarians that were a common feature of nineteenth and early twentieth century design, whether in the decorative or more formal arts, such as architecture. Individual design careers often spanned architecture, textiles, ceramics, glass, jewellery and many others including book decoration, furniture, fashion and theatre design. Many of these multi-disciplined designers had no formal training outside of their chosen career, but in many respects the lack of formal training had little effect on the results, as intrinsic design skills were what really mattered, and could be used largely irrespective of the discipline.
There is no conceivable reason why a designer should not be able to cross over into a number of areas, depending of course on the innate skill of that designer. A number of designers could equally work well in textiles, jewellery, ceramics or glass and even though they may have some element of formal training in one discipline only, what they bring to another is always intriguing and creatively dynamic, taking the discipline in a direction that may not have been foreseen by those directly trained within that speciality.
