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.

It is hard to believe that it is February already!! January zipped by. I spent a good deal of the month working in my studio. We did get a couple of inches of snow which was beautiful. It was good to see normal January weather, not the 70 degree weather January has brought us these last couple of years that brings the buds out too early.

I’m thrilled to say that there will be an article about me in the March/April issue of Quilters Home Magazine. It will appear on the news stands this month or you can subscribe at www.quiltershomemag.com . If you have never seen this magazine, Mark Lipinski makes it fun and it is not your typical quilting magazine.

I can’t believe I was actually chosen to be part of a new book called "Masters: Art Quilts". It 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

We are still waiting to know more about The CBS Sunday Morning Show. I will let you know as soon as we know!! (please look back at January’s newsletter).

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

My “white piece” about Darfur is progressing. I find it quite challenging to work with just the light values of thread in the quilting.

I was afraid that I might feel dispirited while working on this piece, but I haven’t. Even though it is a painful subject, the incredible spirit and resilience of the people within the piece takes precedence. I feel sorrow, but a quiet strength from them. Click here to see the progression. Click here to see a detail of the quilting. The image is difficult to see without the quilting because the painting is so light. We had to enhance it a bit to be able to see it clearly in these images.

In my dream, part of the image was disappearing…as have many of the villages in the Darfur region of Sudan. It was surprising to dream in white and I tried to understand what the dream meant when I woke up. As time has passed, I’ve come to realize that not only does white represent death in many cultures, but this piece is about the genocide of a people. It will be part of the exhibit shown at Duke University in April.

I am progressing on a new piece that will be donated to an art initiative called "Through Her Eyes". This is a project that benefits women in war torn countries through Women for Women International . This new piece will be for sale with 50% of the retail price going to the organization. If you are interested in having more information about this piece, please email me.

The exhibit "Hope For Our World" will take place from March 30 - April 14, 2008 in Duke University’s beautiful chapel in Durham, NC. Ten pieces promoting social awareness will be shown in the exhibit. Each piece is monochromatic and most are from my dreams. To see some of the pieces that will be there, click here . Click here to access the website for the chapel at Duke.

Duke will also be hosting a “day of activism” April 5^th starting at 1:00 PM. Organizations working with the subject matters in my artwork will come to the chapel. These organizations will be there to educate the public and give them a means to help. Stay tuned for more information.

This exhibit will eventually travel throughout the country and will be called “Imagine Hope”. Our new website www.imagine-hope.com is now up and running.

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).

I just got back from Jinny Beyer’s seminar which is just a class act. No other way to put it. The facilities are beautiful. The students are great. And I can’t speak highly enough of Jinny and her staff. Click here to learn more about it.

In February I will be returning to San Antonio to teach two classes of Drawing II. There are several openings in each class. So if you are interested in joining us, click here for the contact person.

We actually had some snow in the month of January. It was beautiful waking up to a crystal blue sky and the trees heavy with snow (I know, to the northerners this is not heavy!!). Check out these photos of Oscar playing in the snow and of our backyard .

I have finished a new piece called "Goddess of the Dance". You can also see all of the pieces from the “Antiques to Abstracts” exhibit. They have arrived back home now that the exhibit is over.

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.