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.

August is hot and dry in North Carolina. Our garden is withering. Chapel Hill hit 104 degrees today. I bet that is a record. I’ve been working, working, working in the studio. The deadline for “Antiques to Abstracts” is fast approaching and I have also been quilting like crazy on my new Tuareg piece.

I’d like to mention a project that a friend of mine has been working on. This is a great initiative and I feel that we can all help her.

You might have heard about the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative, a grassroots, Internet-driven effort by Ami Simms to raise awareness and research dollars. It has two parts. The first is a 52-quilt traveling exhibit called "Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece by Piece" (with exhibit book and CD). Quilts interpret Alzheimer's in fabric. More than 175,000 people across the country have had the opportunity of seeing these quilts which will continue to tour until the summer of 2009. The second part is the Priority: Alzheimer's Quilt project. Mini-quilts of any theme, measuring no more than 9" x 12", are auctioned or sold with 100% of the selling price going to fund Alzheimer's research. The AAQI started in January 2006 and so far they've raised more than $82,000 for research!

Ami has a dream of getting the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative on national television so that more people can become involved in the project. I think the Oprah Winfrey show would be a great match and we can help make it happen. I have written an email to Oprah's producers suggesting that they feature the exhibit quilts AND the smaller "Priority" quilts. I urge you do to the same. Here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/qr6q.

If you've seen the Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece by Piece exhibit, either at one of the venues or you've purchased the book or CD, tell Oprah how the quilts made you felt.

If you have donated, bid on, or purchased a "Priority Quilt," tell Oprah that you support this project.

If you would like to see a show about the power of quilters making a difference in this world, tell Oprah to visit www.AlzQuilts.org and call Ami Simms at 1-800-278-4824.

Enclosed you will find the August newsletter. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.

I finished painting a new commission piece about the Tuaregs last month. I am now quilting it. The Tuareg people are nomads who live in West Africa. They traditionally carried the goods from North Africa to sub-Saharan Africa on their camels. With the tremendous droughts that have struck Africa in the last 20 years, many nomads have been forced to settle down because they have lost their beautiful herds. Theirs is a lifestyle that is disappearing. This piece is blue and has imagery typical of the Tuareg traditions. An image of the finished piece will be up in the September newsletter.

The work for “Antiques to Abstracts” is coming together. Three pieces are completely finished and seven others are pieced. Click here to see three that are finished.

July was a month at home in the studio. The next workshop I teach will be a color class in New Hampshire in September. Email Michele Koppelman for more information.

We are in the process of setting up the dates for a new five-year art course in Raleigh. If you don’t know about these classes, here is a little bit of information: I have been teaching drawing for 17 years. It started when I lived in Africa. My students have been from all nationalities and from ages 7 to 86. If you can write your name and have a desire to learn to draw, I guarantee that I can teach you. About eight years ago, students here in the states were interested in my drawing classes and this has grown from two years to six years, or more.

How it works: Once a year I go to an area and teach a workshop that lasts from 3-5 days (we now have groups ongoing in Berkeley, Cape Cod, & San Antonio, but I have also taught groups in Los Angeles, Montana, Wyoming, Indiana, Illinois, Atlanta, & Oregon). The first year is three days of drawing, second year is again three days of drawing, third year is three days of drawing-portraiture, fourth year is five days of color, and fifth/sixth years are four day design classes where everyone works independently creating quilts (based on a challenge from me). We don’t even touch fabric until year #5.

These classes are organized by individuals (not guilds or conferences) and have a maximum of fifteen students. They are intense and you really learn. They are my favorite classes to teach because they give the students the confidence and the skills to move forward and do what is in their hearts.

If you are interested in joining one of these classes, please check my website or click here for the San Antonio dates (it is possible to join on year #2) which are in February 2008. Keep checking back for when the newest one starts (hopefully April 2008 in Raleigh, NC, click here

If you are interested, don’t hesitate to write immediately to the contact person because the classes fill fast!

Turchin Center for the Visual Arts at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC has invited me to do a solo exhibit October 5, 2007 – January 19th, 2008. The exhibit is called “Antiques to Abstracts” and will show 12 abstract pieces based on photographs of antiques that my son took. This is the first time in twelve years that there has been a show of my abstract work with all brand new pieces. The opening reception will take place October 5^th, 2007 from 7:00 -9:00 PM. Please come!! Click here for more information.

We now have giclee prints of “The Grandfather”, “Sahel”, “The Gift”, "Ecuadorian Girls", "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.

All of the threads that I designed for Superior Threads are for sale on the website. They 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.