John Grayson

• Honorary Research Fellow, University of Birmingham
• Centre for Printing History and Culture (CPHC)
• History of the Printed Image Network (HoPIN)

• PhD, ‘South Staffordshire Enamels: The Lost Craftsmanship of Eighteenth Century Copper Substrate’, Birmingham City University
• Post Graduate Certificate in Research Methods, Birmingham City University.
• MA in Wood, Metal and Plastics, University of Wolverhampton
• Post Graduate Certificate in Art Education, University of Central England
• BA(Hons) Wood, Metal and Plastics, Wolverhampton Polytechnic

• Craft
• Design
• Craft curation
• Metalwork
• Enamel
• Print

• Eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Midland metalworking trades
• Early transfer printing in the Midland ceramic and enamel trades
• Museum object-based research
• Craft research

• Printing for the Workplace, conference subvention from the Bibliographical Society (2018)
• Enamel and Enamel Boxes and methods of manufacture around South Staffordshire in the 1700-1800s, STEAM Scholar Doctoral Research Training Grant, Birmingham City University (2016 – 2018)
• Craftsense - Making Connections, AHRC small Grants. Sole Researcher investigating methods audience engagement methods with contemporary craft through local industrial heritage (2004)

Undergraduate - Foundation art and design

• Two and three-dimensional design processes
• Drawing
• Design theory
• History and context

Printed Publications

Grayson, J. (2020) Imperfect Printed Enamel Surfaces: Interpreting Marks of Eighteenth-Century Midland Craftsmanship in Midland History. Taylor and Francis, 45(2), pp. 190-207.

Grayson, J. (2018) South Staffordshire Enamel – HOW…Did They Make That? The Value Of Contemporary Craftsmanship In Revealing (Absent) 18th Century Metalworking Skills In Literary Sources, in Making Futures Journal, Vol. 5.

Grayson, J. (2016) Hacking the Enlightenment - Knowledge Exchange Through Collaborative Automata Making in Papadimitriou, I., Prescott, A. and Rogers, J. (ed.) Engineering the Future: Digital Design Weekend 2016. United Kingdom: Uniform Communications Ltd., pp. 102 - 105.

Grayson, J. (2013) Automata: Serious Craft Genre or Frivolous Amusement, Craft Research. Bristol: Intellect, 4(1), pp. 103-114.

Alvarez, A. Durbin, L. and Grayson, J. (2005) Celebrating the Conservation of the Bilston Enamels, Conservation News, (95), pp. 22-23

Exhibitions (Recent/Selected)

Sharing is Caring, Munich Jewellery Week, Germany (2020).

Enamel | Substrate, (solo) touring exhibition co-curated with Ruthin Craft Centre. Toured The Vittoria Street Gallery, Birmingham City University; Ruthin Craft Centre; Wolverhampton Art Gallery (2018 -19).

Made in the Middle, Craftspace touring exhibition, launched at The Herbert, Coventry, toured various venues across the East and West Midlands, UK (2016 – 17).

A Curious Turn, Crafts Council touring exhibition, launched at Habitat, London King Road, toured various UK venues (2016 – 17).

Digital Design Weekend, London Design, Festival Victoria and Albert Museum, UK (2016).

Georgian Enamels: Piecing Together A New Narrative (solo), Bantock House Museum, UK (2015)

Automata, Ruthin Craft Centre, UK (2014).

Unravelling The Vyne, The Vyne National Trust House, UK (2013).

Once Upon A Time In The Midlands, Bilston Craft Gallery, UK (2013).

Meer Seen, Craft 2eu, Germany (2012).

Tall Stories, Devon Guild of Craftsmen, UK (2010).

Les Mecaniques du Bonheur, Automates Galerie, Belgium (2009)

Playing with Fire, Devon Guild of Craftsmen/British Society of Enamellers touring exhibition, UK (2009).

Origin, presented by the Crafts Council, Somerset House, UK (2008).

Made in the Middle, Craftspace touring exhibition, UK (2008).

Craftbox, Bilston Gallery, UK (2007).

Jahresmesse für Kunsthandwerk, Museum für Kunst und Gewerb, Germany (2006).

Commissions (Recent/selected)

Burger, Chips and Wigornia to Go, a pop-up museum art project for the Museum of Royal Worcester (2021)

Kotura, Lord of the Winds, nested enamel story telling boxes commissioned by Mythstories Museum, University Centre Shrewsbury (2019)

The Discombobulated Brexiteer, digital enamel automata for the Crafts Council’s The Curious Turn exhibition and Crafts Council Collection (2016).

Georgian Enamels: Piecing Together a New Narrative, commissioned enamel automata and objects for Bantock House Museum. Funded by Arts Council England and Wolverhampton City Council (2015)

Gate Gate, enamel automaton for Unravelling The Vyne exhibition at The Vyne. Hampshire (2013).