Kate Greenhalgh: Weaver

Kate Greenhalgh died after illness on May 2nd at the age of 46. She specialized in artist-designed and hand-painted silk and velvet scarves, purses and garments. Born and raised on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, her textiles are inspired by the beauty of her home. Many of her creations spring from nature. Kate has traveled extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico and the Caribbean, where she recorded many of the images in her sketchbook to be used as inspiration for her designs. These themes are the threads throughout all of her art.

According to Kate, "It is a rare day that I don't love being in my Wellfleet studio with a paint brush in my hand for eight or more hours!"

Kate worked in various textures and types of silk, including chiffon, crepe de chine, habotai, and the newer devore satins. She also paints her designs on velvet, both devore and solid. Each piece is unique and painted freehand using special silk dyes. Her soft and tranquil colors, as well as textures are especially evocative of the ocean near her Cape Cod home.

Painting on fabric since the age of 13, Kate studied textile design at the Rhode Island School of Design and worked for the fashion industry in California before starting her own business. Kate started LEAVE IT TO WEAVER in 1993 as a weaver and silk painter. She is also a certified art teacher and taught at the Cape Museum of Fine Arts. Kate won the Merit Award from the Buyers Market of American Craft in 1999 when she started wholesaling her scarves.