The road from Two Laws

Journey 1 (detail) - Claire Ketteman

There will be an opportunity to Meet the Artists on Saturday 14th December 2019.  Meet in the gallery at 11.30am to hear more stories about the making of the exhibits.  As we continue our series of blog posts, Claire Ketteman discusses her thoughts behind the three wall hangings produced for Thread Running Through.  

Like many of their contemporaries, the Butterfield family rose from humble farmers to wealthy mill owners in a few generations.  Following their progress from farmhouse to Cliffe Castle, I realised that my own house is located on the same road on which many of Henry Isaac Butterfield’s family lived:  the poetically-named “Two Laws and Keighley Branch of the Toller Lane, Haworth and Bluebell Trust” a turnpike road constructed between Bradford and Colne.  I walked along the length of the road, sketching the views, the buildings and the gaps in between.

My wall hangings are constructed from strips of different fabrics and the composite cloth is hand-dyed.  Each surface texture absorbs the colour in a slightly different way giving natural pattern and interest.  The final process involves printing outlines of buildings using a bleaching paste.

Cloth 1 – Hob Cote

The first cloth is constructed from cotton and linen.  Textile weavers in Keighley started making cotton but switched to wool when it became more profitable.  Contemporary accounts of the textile trade, indicate that weavers often swapped between materials depending on demand and price.

The buildings are often grouped in small rows, comprising a farmhouse, workers cottages and some barns.  They are hunkered down in the landscape to gain some protection from the prevailing winds. 

I have continued the bleaching paste print using fronds of bracken harvested from the roadside and then embellished this with cotton organdie and stitch.

Cloth 2 – Oakworth village mills

The second cloth is constructed from woollen fabrics – the mainstay of textile manufacture in Keighley.

The buildings in the centre of Oakworth are a jumble of mills and houses ‘cheek by jowl’.  In between the houses and ginnels, an abundance of dandelions grow.

Dandelion leaves cut from woollen fabric, felt and cotton organdie have been appliqued along the base of the hanging.

Cloth 3 – Russell Chambers, Keighley

The third cloth is constructed from silk fabrics representing the aspirations of the Butterfield family as they move into Cliffe Castle.  When I first saw pictures of the Castle in its heyday, I thought it was a Disney-like fantasy house, aloof amongst the mills of Keighley.  However, when I walked around the town and looked up at the buildings, I realised that they shared a common architectural style.  I love the round tower and domed roof of Russell Chambers.

In modern-day Keighley, North Street is resplendent with fragile cherry blossom in the spring.  I have embellished the wall hanging with cherry trees: these are formed from bleached outlines of plants with scraps of silk and organdie fabric appliqued with silver thread trunks and branches.