Obituary: Iain Gunn, founding member of North Lands Creative

CGS heard today the sad news of the death of Iain Gunn, at age 91. Iain was one of the founding members of North Lands Creative, and a driving force behind the development and expansion of the renowned glass school and facility that was based in Scotland.

Iain was born in Thurso in 1933. He was educated at George Watson’s College and the University of Edinburgh, where he read law and economics, and became a solicitor. He spent his career with the Shipping Federation in London, alongside a keen interest in the arts.

Iain was awarded an MBE in 2018 for services to the arts, heritage and the economy in Caithness. Viscount Thurso, the Lord-Lieutenant of Caithness, said: “Iain gave a huge amount back to his native county – not only with the founding of the Clan Gunn Society and museum, but also as a champion of the arts, heritage and tourism.

“He served as a Deputy Lieutenant with distinction, and will be remembered for his tremendous work as one of the creators of North Lands Glass. He richly deserved his MBE and his legacy will live on.”

CGS’s Administrator Pam Reekie, commented, “We send our warmest regards to Iain’s wife, Bunty, who is a joy to everyone she meets. I have so many fond memories of them both.

“Together they worked hard with Dan Klein, Lord Bob Maclennan, Denis Mann and Alan J Poole to start the amazing project in the far North of Scotland, something we tragically dearly miss.”

North Lands Creative was established in 1995 in Lybster, a small fishing village in Caithness on the far north-east coast of Scotland, to stimulate the growing interest in the possibilities of glass as an art form. From the start, it aimed to become an international centre of excellence in glass making, encouraging collaboration with other art forms.

The inspiration for North Lands Creative came from Robert Maclennan, at that time Member of Parliament for Caithness and Sutherland. He developed the idea of an international centre for glass in Caithness with Dan Klein, one of the world’s experts in studio glass, and Professor Keith Cummings of the University of Wolverhampton.

The first master class was given in 1996 by Bertil Vallien, the legendary Swedish artist, who returned to Lybster in 2002 to lead another class. Other master class leaders followed suit over the years, earning North Lands Creative an enviable reputation in the arts, and glass in particular, until its sudden closure in 2023.

Image: Iain Gunn, photographed in 2016. Photo: Angus Mackay Photography.