He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

   Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
   Enwrought with golden and silver light,
   The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
   Of night and light and the half-light,
   I would spread the cloths under your feet:
   But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
   I have spread my dreams under your feet;
   Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. 

   William Butler Yeats

Installation. KateWhiteheadTextiles‬ © 2015 Kate

I am pleased to have been asked to do an installation

noun

1. 1.

   the action of installing someone or something, or the state of being installed.
2. 
   
3. Of my work at The Art Market in Holmfirth on Sunday 29th June. I will be in Istanbul but fortunately my family have offered to help.

Indigo Blues. KateWhiteheadTextiles‬ © 2015 Kate

I am going to Turkey in June, to spend two weeks on the coast for a much deserved break. Then I will travel to Mimar Sinan University Of Fine Arts in Istanbul to print for a few days, before I fly back to London to weave at Central Saint Martins. I am looking forward to searching for interesting yarns and fabrics on my trip. Yesterday was a perfect day to run an Indigo workshop. I used my new dye vat to dye some of my own fabric and string. 

Fragment. KateWhiteheadTextiles‬ © 2015 Kate

I am determined to draw more often. I find it easier to seek a quiet spot outside especially now Spring is here, away from every day distractions. My friend Kin Lee http://www.kinleeart.com/ paints plein air using oils. I enjoyed finding this fragment of Blue and White pottery to use in my doodle with ink and water colour pencils.   

1. • fragmentOf Blue and White pottery to use in my doodle with Ink and water colour pencils. 

 

Indigo. KateWhiteheadTextiles‬ © 2015 Kate

1. 1. 

      
      

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   indiˈɪndɪgəʊ/

1. indigo

   ˈɪndɪgəʊ/

   noun

   1. 1.

      a tropical plant of the pea family, which was formerly widely cultivated as a source of dark blue dye.
   2. 2.

      the dark blue dye obtained from the indigo plant.

      • 
        

        
        

   

   Choose languageAfrikaansAlbanianArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitianHausaHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKhmerKoreanLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalayMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianNepaliNorwegianPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSerbianSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSwahiliSwedishTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduVietnameseWelshYiddishYorubaZulu

   

indigo is the natural dye I have used the most this year.  Tinctorium  ran an Indigo workshop alongside the Boro exhibition at Somerset House. Although I have used Indigo to Over dye found, discarded and Vintage fabrics to use in my weave, it was a great space to take part in a work shop instead of running them myself.

Boro Threads Of Life. KateWhiteheadTextiles‬ © 2015 Kate

My love of Boro was the inspiration for my final collection at uni and continues to influence my textiles. I spent two happy hours at the Threads Of Life exhibition at Somerset House in April taking photographs and sketching. boro  translated to ‘rags’ in English, boro is the collective name for items – usually clothing and bed covers – made by the poor, rural population of Japan who could not afford to buy new when need required and had to literally make ends meet by piecing and patching discarded cotton onto existing sets, forming something slightly different each time they did so. Generations of Japanese families repaired and recycled fishermen’s jackets to futon covers, handing them down to the next and weaving their own sagas and stories through the threads.