Jane Keith (b.1972) is one of Scotland’s most distinctive textile artists, celebrated for her vibrant colour, exuberant pattern and masterful command of hand-printing. Working across hand-printed silkscreens, painted textiles and works on paper, she has developed a highly recognisable visual language that combines the traditions of textile design with the freedom and immediacy of painting.
Originally from Edinburgh and coming from a family of artists, Keith studied Printed Textiles at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, Dundee. Since graduating, she has balanced her own studio practice with a teaching career at Duncan of Jordanstone, where she has lectured since 1996. She lives and works in Ceres, Fife, where the rhythms of family life, the changing seasons and the surrounding landscape continue to inform her work.
Colour lies at the heart of Keith’s practice. Drawing inspiration from the abundant gardens surrounding her home and the rich agricultural landscape of Fife, she creates compositions that celebrate growth, movement and the vitality of the natural world. Flowers, foliage, seedheads and organic forms recur throughout her work, not as direct botanical studies but as vehicles for exploring colour, pattern and rhythm. Through layers of hand-printing and painterly intervention, these familiar motifs are transformed into richly textured surfaces alive with energy and spontaneity.
While rooted in textile processes, Keith’s work moves freely between design and fine art. Her hand-printed silkscreens demonstrate an exceptional understanding of colour relationships and composition, while her works on paper reveal a confident, intuitive approach to mark-making. Whether working on cloth or paper, she brings the same joyful intensity to her exploration of colour and form.
A longstanding member of The Scottish Gallery family, Keith has exhibited regularly with the Gallery since 1998. Over the course of her career she has established a reputation for work that is both deeply personal and universally uplifting, creating images that celebrate the beauty, abundance and restorative power of the natural world.
As the artist herself says, “I am a colourist at heart. Colour is at the core of everything.”
