Born on the East Coast of Scotland in 1909, Helen Kathleen Ramsay Whyte was an embroiderer and textiles teacher at schools including the Glasgow School of Art. Following a career dedicated to the development of higher education courses in the UK, she was awarded the MBE for outstanding services to Scottish Art Education in 1969. As a hugely influential figure in Scottish history we are proud to name our fabric ‘Whyte’, designed in a detailed fancy twill structure.
Throughout her early life and career Whyte spent a large amount of time living and travelling abroad. As a child she moved with her family to India where the vibrant culture and colours would later come to largely affect her style of embroidery.
Whilst studying at Gray’s School of Art (1927-1932) she was influenced by one of her teachers named Dorothy Angus. Angus herself was a prominent figure in transitioning British embroidery away from the traditional style which focused on accuracy and discipline, and instead into a new art form characterised by self-expression and creativity.
After pursuing a career in education, she taught at the Glasgow School of Art from 1948 until her retirement in 1974 as Head of Embroidery and Weaving. Joining at the time of an embroidery revival in Glasgow, she revitalised the department at GSA through an emphasis on experimentation, new techniques and by encouraging students to develop their own ideas. To facilitate this, she allowed only history and technical books into the department – embroidery books were banned. She was respected by colleagues and students alike for her enthusiasm and dynamic teaching style.
Due to her work on assessing and evaluating the new Diploma in Art and Design courses in English art schools, she was invited to serve on the Dip AD visiting panel as the embroidery expert.
In her own creative practise, she received many prestigious commissions including work for the Church of Scotland designing communion cloths and embroidering a stole for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother as a gift to commemorate the opening of the Tay Road Bridge. Many of her designs, drawings and papers can be found in the Glasgow School of Art Archives and Collections
In both her teaching and designing, Whyte broke traditional conventions of embroidery by combining known techniques with modern design. In her book ‘Design in Embroidery’ (published in 1982), Whyte states ‘Ingenuity is a quality which should permeate the whole activity of embroidery’, ‘Ingenuity is a necessary part of all design thinking’.
Photo credits to Glasgow School of Art Archives and Collections.
Painting of Whyte by Carole Gallaher
