Welcoming new Guild Companions

We are delighted to have received applications for Guild Companionship from a wide variety of people, and parts of the world, so far this year. They join the more than 200 existing Companions, drawn from 12 countries around the world. On this page some of our new Companions introduce themselves.

Hannah Balsdon

I am a dress and fashion historian as well as an aspiring costume designer. In 2025 I completed an MA in Historical Costume at Arts University Bournemouth and plan to go on to further academic study. I am particularly interested in fashion history, textile crafts, medieval material culture and sustainable fashion. I was born and raised in Sheffield and would not have been able to achieve all that I have without access to the city’s cultural institutions such as the Ruskin Collection. With all this in mind, I admire Ruskin both as an art historian and a champion of sustainability and social justice.

Kellie Channing

I am Climate & Environment Advisor and Water Contract Manager with the National Trust. We live at St George’s Farm in Ruskin Land and I’m lucky to work at National Trust properties across the Midlands. It means that both my home and my job are in places that reflect what I care about. Every day I’m surrounded by landscapes and communities that share the values I believe in, and I feel fortunate to live and work in environments that make those values part of everyday life. I’m also busy turning my garden into a natural food source and habitat for garden birds, and when it’s too dark or the weather is too awful to be outside, I like to knit, read, or watch Cary Grant films. Becoming a Companion felt like a natural step in becoming a Guild tenant, and a chance to better understand Ruskin’s values and principles.

Richard Channing

I am the woodyard manager for the Wyre Community Land Trust, and a craftsperson. My role with the WCLT involves providing an income from the woodland owned by the Guild. I have become a Companion because of my links through Ruskin Land and my interest in John Ruskin.

Calum Dobie

Jo Guile

I am a London-based multidisciplinary sculptor whose practice uses glass as both subject matter and medium. My work examines our relationship with screens and their integral relationship with glass, sometimes using its unique interaction with light to explore colour and digital technologies, and sometimes using its qualities to recreate screens that occur in nature.

My work has been exhibited both in the UK and internationally, including at the John Ruskin Prize (2026), the Stanislav Libenský Award, Prague (2025–2026), and Venice Glass Week (2025). I am a Member of the Royal Society of Sculptors. Alongside my studio practice, I work as a Sculpture Technician at the Slade School of Fine Art and have lectured on my research into glass, light and colour in both the UK and the United States. I look forward to meeting and learning from fellow Companions.

Helen Joy

Some of the things I have been include printer, HR manager, off shoring lead, pig farmer and intermittent artist. I recently moved from Wales to the Highlands to concentrate on my art practice and am running the Picturing Sutherland project, preparing an art installation collaboration for the Inverness Fringe, creating a series of works based on carcasses and working on another collaboration looking at masks and gargoyles made from earth. I am proud to be a SSAFA case worker, a Golspie High School mentor and a volunteer within the school art department; community radio presenter and general helper-outer. I am interested in supporting projects connecting people more deeply with place, craft and a sense of shared responsibility. I have a large white dog and a small tabby cat, a house and garden I love and I live in a community which couldn’t have been more welcoming.

A chance encounter recommended me to the Guild and good use of its resources and courses have given my work substrate and credence. Ruskin teaches us not just how to draw but how to see the world and how to behave within it. His business was to improve our quality of life and this seems very much the intention of the Guild. It feels natural to want to use any skills and experiences I may have in order to contribute to the community of the Guild by way of thanks. Through my career portfolio, I have practical skills in writing, organising, teaching, farming, community building and fine art. I tend towards a strategic outlook. For me, this is an opportunity to engage with a remarkable and diverse community where ideas, practice and knowledge can be enriched through conversation, challenge and encouragement.

Ikuko Kurasawa

My name is Ikuko Kurasawa, and I teach at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, Japan. I also serve as Project Manager at the Ruskin & Morris Center of Osaka, where we explore the ideas of John Ruskin and William Morris through programmes, workshops, and international collaboration.

I am especially inspired by Ruskin's belief in the Intrinsic Value of people, nature, and craftsmanship, and I believe these ideas remain deeply relevant in addressing the challenges of contemporary society.
It is a pleasure to be part of the Guild of St George, and I look forward to learning from fellow members while strengthening connections between Japan and the wider Ruskin community. I hope our shared interests will lead to new conversations and collaborations.

The Ruskin & Morris Center of Osaka : https://osakarmc.org/
Community Design Learning Center : https://cdlc.osakarmc.org/

Yonghyup Oh

Yonghyup Oh (Dr.) is a visiting professor affiliated with the University of Antwerp. He is occasionally invited to give lectures in the KU Leuven and the Vlerick Business School in Belgium. He has advised public policy makers while working with the CEPS (Brussels), the KIEP (South Korea) and the Club of Rome (Brussels) and taught undergraduate and graduate students at the Seoul National University and the Paris School of Economics. He visited the London School of Economics and the Collège d’Europe where he made significant progress in his work. He published over 70 policy and academic papers and reports, the topics of which include the world with the G-20, foreign aid in Africa, international capital market integration, the determinants of cross-border financial flows and of real business cycles. His most recent publication before this book was on sustainability valuation of business.

Joseph David Rodrigues

Eiji Yoshida

I am a staff member at studio-L, the Community Design Learning Center, and the Ruskin & Morris Center of Osaka in Japan. I organise programmes on Community Design and the ideas of John Ruskin, creating opportunities for people to learn together, reflect, and work collaboratively. Community Design is a practical approach in which local people take the lead in shaping the future of their communities, and one of its intellectual roots can be found in John Ruskin’s principle, “There is no wealth but life.” I am particularly interested in connecting Ruskin’s thought with contemporary social and environmental challenges. 

I joined the Guild because it offers the opportunity to meet and learn alongside others who share Ruskin’s vision. I look forward to exchanging ideas, building friendships, and collaborating with Companions around the world.

The Ruskin & Morris Center of Osaka : https://osakarmc.org/
Community Design Learning Center : https://cdlc.osakarmc.org/