[10][11] Hutton first garnered attention in mainstream newspapers when she entered the Daily Mail's 1920 Exhibition of Village Signs, placing third out of 617 entries.
[12][8][13] In October 1920, Hutton, together with a group of other northern artist-craftspeople living in London who wished to show their work in Manchester, launched an exhibition at Houldsworth Hall.
[14] The initiative was very successful, leading to the formation of the Red Rose Guild of Artworkers by printmaker Margaret Pilkington OBE in January the following year.
She also sold greeting cards that she designed, marketing them under the Holly Bush label, as well as tags for Christmas presents and place names for children's parties.
[18] Through her gallery, Hutton championed and platformed many emerging craftspeople who would achieve notability, such as Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher, Enid Marx RDI, Katherine Pleydell-Bouverie,[19] Ethel Mairet RDI, Michael Cardew CBE,[20] pioneering studio potter Frances Emma Richards,[21] John Paul Cooper[22] and Bernard Leach CH CBE.
[42] Hutton's Three Shields Gallery, described as "pioneering" by the British Council, is recognised as an important development in Britain's interwar arts scene, bringing many positive impacts for women artists and gallerists.
[43] According to Helen Ritchie of the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, Hutton was one of "a number of progressive and pioneering women [who] established successful and influential ... galleries in interwar London.
[45][46][47] Jerwood Arts identifies the Three Shields Gallery as one of "a number of important outlets for designers wanting to sell high quality craftwork ... women ran many of these.
"[48] Ritchie notes how Hutton and her peers "actively sought out new work, created a market for it, and carefully curated their spaces, acting as tastemakers and as conduits between the artist and the public.
This complex and mutually supportive network of female artists and gallerists enabled its participants to live and work independently in new and non-traditional ways, often outside of the heteronormative sphere.