Hollis Chatelain - Textile Artist

Many people ask me what I am working on, where my work is being exhibited and how I am spending my time. This is a new addition to the website that will be updated monthly with the latest things that are happening in my life.

March is over and we are welcoming in the gentle warm weather before the heat hits North Carolina. Our grass is looking lousy (typical spring grass when you don’t plant a lawn and refuse to use fertilizer!). Soon the weeds will fill in and it will all be green. But the garden is full of birds, robins pulling worms, bluebirds building their nests in the houses, and those loud little wrens that build their nests in coat pockets and hanging baskets! The goldfinches have lost their bright colors, but the cardinals are brighter and cheekier than ever.

All of this is very distracting when work needs to be done in the studio!! So once again, I’m trying to figure out that balance between work and play.

March was a good month with lots happening. I finished “Exodus" and am happy with it. There has also been lots of interest in the traveling exhibit “Imagine Hope” (www.imagine-hope.com) which is very exciting. If you know of a museum, art institute, university or another venue that you feel would be interested in hosting this exhibit, please click here.

The exhibit was hung at Duke University March 30^th. Click here to see the invitation to the “Activism in Arts Day” on April 5, 2008. Please join us!!

As I mentioned earlier, “Exodus" is finished. I dreamed this piece almost two years ago. The dream was white. A woman was grieving and a line of refugees was walking away carrying their belongings. Far on the right was a village that was fading away. It was a village that was still intact, with life as it used to be. This dream was about Sudan.

The image of the woman grieving that I saw in my dream was an actual image from the newspaper that someone had sent to me. I wanted to do my drawing from that image, but couldn’t find the photographer to get permission. So I relied on several images that Mia Farrow took. I thank her for allowing me to use these photographs as inspiration for the grieving woman in “Exodus".

“Exodus" is now hanging in the chapel at Duke University. It will travel from there to the Museum of the American Quilter in Paducah, KY.

The exhibit "Hope For Our World" was hung last weekend in Duke University’s beautiful chapel. The exhibit features ten large monochromatic quilts "flying" from the triforium. Each piece examines a theme of social justice, such as water scarcity, genocide, and environmental issues. To see the pieces that will be there, click here.

The show at Duke opened to the public March 30^th and can be seen in the main chapel until April 14^th, 2008.

Saturday April 5^th will be “Arts in Activism Day” at Duke. The activities will start at 1:00 with a dialogue between Duke Chapel Dean Wells and myself. At 2:00, I will lead a guided tour of the artwork, speaking about each piece individually and answering questions. Afterwards, we encourage people to stay and visit information tables from local advocacy groups who will be there.

If you can’t come April 5^th, Duke Chapel is open to the public from 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM.

It would be wise to call ahead

(919) 681-9414

on weekends to make sure there are no other events planned.

This exhibit will eventually travel and will be called “Imagine Hope”. Check out our website www.imagine-hope.com

The Museum for the American Quilter Society in Paducah, KY has requested two of my pieces to be shown from April 20 – May 4^th, 2008. Both “Exodus" and “Hope for Our World” will be there.

An exhibit called “Creative Force: Masters”, which was curated by Martha Sielman, will be shown at the International Quilt Show in October 2008. The works of forty artists from the book "Masters: Art Quilts" will be shown in this exhibit. I will be represented by “Blue Men” (thank you Sally Davey for lending it).

The book called "Masters: Art Quilts" will be available for sale May 6, 2008. Forty artists were selected worldwide and are presented in an 8 page mini-retrospective, showing approximately 10 artworks from each person.
The book is already posted and available for pre-orders on the SAQA website and on Amazon.com

In April I will be teaching two Drawing I workshops in Durham, NC (just 15 minutes from my studio). We will be going to the exhibit “Hope For Our World” at Duke and visiting my studio since we are in the vicinity.

April 28^th- May 2^nd will take me to Paducah, KY to teach a 5-day dye-painting/quilting workshop at the Museum of the American Quilter. For more information click here.

In June I have been invited to speak at the Northwest Quilter’s annual quilt show in Portland, OR. June 7^th I will be presenting my lecture “Influences of Africa” and showing some of my larger quilts along with my exhibit “From Antiques to Abstracts”. For more information contact Janice Jones.

Jean (my assistant and buddy) and I have been dying fabric. Time to use up my dyes before they are too old. We will even have enough to sell! Here we are preparing the fabric. Here she is with Emma dressed up in the beautiful outfit she made for her.

We have giclee prints of “Exodus”, “Hope For Our World” and "The Gift", the two winning quilts in Houston in 2007. she is with Emma dressed up in the beautiful outfit she made for her.

There are also prints available of “The Grandfather”, “Sahel”, “Ecuadorian Girls”, “Captured”, “Precious Water”, “Fatima’s Son”, “School: It’s Never Too Late to Learn”, “Nature’s Gift”, “Blue Men”, “Burkinabe Mother” and “Untold Secrets", and they are all beautiful. Click here to check out all the prints and to learn more about giclee prints.

All of the threads that I designed for Superior Threads are for sale on the website. Living Colors and Nature Colors are sold in packs of 25 because I have found that quilters use threads in a more unique and exciting way when they have the opportunity to “audition” a number of different colors (just like we do with fabrics) before making their final choices. Click here

We have a secure system where you can order thread, fabric, prints and my artwork directly on line and pay by credit card or Pay Pal.