Colour is the second of four audio essays created as part of Botanical Colour: The Redpath Way, a community heritage project by Makepeace Studio CIC, led by artist Abi Makepeace with project support from Daisy Buckle. The audio essays are intended to be experienced alongside the accompanying publication, produced in an edition of 2,000 copies and first distributed as part of the Botanical Colour: The Redpath Way exhibition.

Through narration, oral history interviews, and poetry, this audio essay explores the history of natural and synthetic dyes, and considers colour as both a material process and a vehicle for healing, memory, and emotional connection. Alongside reflections on Margaret and David Redpath's dyeing practice, the essay brings together perspectives on colour from artists, makers, and members of the Redpath family.

Contributors include artist and natural dyer Elizabeth Haines, poet Hana Wilde, who reads her poem Bright Water, Katharine Rastall, Stephen Redpath, Susan Martin, and textile artist Bettina Becker. The narration was written and spoken by Abi Makepeace.

The interviews were recorded during 2026 in Pembrokeshire and online as part of the project's oral history programme. Together with newly commissioned narration and poetry, these recordings form part of a wider body of research exploring the cultural, material, and personal significance of botanical colour.

00:00:00   Elizabeth Haines, interviewed at her studio in Rhosfach, Pembrokeshire, by Daisy Buckle, April 2026

00:02:22 "Bright Water" poem by Hana Wilde, Margaret and David Redpaths grand-daughter, read by Hana Wilde at Kate Redpath's home in Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, recorded by Abi Makepeace, June 2026

00:03:34 Abi Makepeace, Narration written and spoken by Abi Makepeace

00:07:45 Katharine Rastall, Margaret and David Redpath’s daughter, Interviewed by Abi Makepeace and Daisy Buckle at Pencoed Farm Studio, Lawrenny, 2026

00:08:12 Abi Makepeace, Narration written and spoken by Abi Makepeace

00:09:29   Elizabeth Haines, interviewed at her studio in Rhosfach, Pembrokeshire, by Daisy Buckle, April 2026

00:10:09 Susan Martin, Interviewed at PencoedFarm Studio by Abi Makepeace, 2026

00:11:08 Abi Makepeace, Narration written and spoken by Abi Makepeace

00:15:41 Bettina Becker, Interviewed by Abi Makepeace at Pencoed Farm Studio, Lawrenny, 2026

00:16:00 Katharine Rastall, Margaret and David Redpath’s daughter, Interviewed by Abi Makepeace and Daisy Buckle at Pencoed Farm Studio, Lawrenny, 2026

00:16:22 Abi Makepeace, Narration written and spoken by Abi Makepeace

00:18:10  Stephen Redpath, Margaret and David Redpath’s son, Interviewed online by Abi Makepeace, 2026

00:19:14  Elizabeth Haines, interviewed at her studio in Rhosfach, Pembrokeshire, by Daisy Buckle, April 2026

00:19:24 Abi Makepeace, Narration written and spoken by Abi Makepeace


Credits

Narration: Abi Makepeace
Interviews: Abi Makepeace and Daisy Buckle
Music and sound design: Sam Bardsley
Sound mastering: Sam Bardsley and Ulrich Janczyk