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.

Happy New Year!!! 2009 is upon us. Let us hope this year will bring more peace, tolerance and unity to our troubled world.

The International Quilt Festival in Houston was wonderful. The quilts were amazing, my classes were full with enthusiastic students, and most important, I was able to see many friends that I only see at this celebrated event.

Right after Houston, the election was upon us and boy, were we all caught up in that!!!

Since we are now empty nesters, I can bury myself in my studio. This is the main reason I have not communicated. It has been cold outside and I’ve been keeping warm in my studio, quilting my latest piece.

Pokey Bolton interviewed me for Quilting Arts magazine. You can find the interview in Issue Number 36, December 2008/January 2009. Click here for more information.

Try to watch for Program 305 on Quilting Arts TV where I talk about my exhibit “Imagine Hope” www.imagine-hope.com . For more information click here.

The piece I’m working on now is called “Protection”. I had started the drawings for this one back in 2003 after going to Charleston, SC, but never had the time to move beyond the drawings. The wetlands are so important to our environment and to the balance of our climate. As development encroaches, our wetlands diminish and we subject ourselves to more Katrina situations. We need to care for our wetlands because they protect us, thus the name “Protection”. I painted an abstract black background and am creating the image entirely with threads. Protection measures 48”H x 93”W.

The exhibit “Creative Force: Masters”, curated by Martha Sielman, will be shown next at the International Quilt Festival/Chicago in Rosemont, IL April 17^th-19^th, 2009. Click here for more information. It will then travel to California. The works of forty artists from the book "Masters: Art Quilts" will be shown in this exhibit. I will be represented by “Blue Men” .

The book "Masters: Art Quilts" is a beautiful book and has been extremely popular. Forty artists were selected worldwide and each one is featured in an 8 page mini-retrospective, showing approximately 10 artworks from each person.
The book is available on the SAQA website and on Amazon.com .

In October I traveled to Berkeley, CA for my seventh year of teaching the same wonderful group. This time we spent five days working on different quilting techniques to bring out the best in our work. It was a tough workshop, but we all loved being together and sewing, sewing, sewing these challenging exercises.

I was also in Houston at the International Quilt Festival in October where I taught and lectured. It was a full week with enough stimulation to keep me going for months!

January will be spent in my studio, but in February, I will travel to San Antonio for year #3 of my ten-year course. We will be studying The Art of Color for five days. For more information, contact Charlotte or Leslie.

Ever since our children flew the coop, they keep telling us that we have filled the void with animals. Our lovely golden retriever finally passed on to a better place in October. She let us know it was time as she approached her 12^th birthday. We miss her, but our other animals remind us that we are not alone. Click here and here to see our Bloodhound/Plott hound puppy who is now approaching 10 months old and weighs over 60 pounds. She is a runner, a jumper and keeps us laughing with her goofy personality!

Please check out my website www.imagine-hope.com where we continue to add more details about my exhibit “Imagine Hope”. This exhibit will have textile pieces speaking about worldwide issues and black & white photographs from prominent photographers dealing with the same subjects.

We have giclee prints of “Hope For Our World” and "The Gift", the two winning quilts in Houston in 2007. 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 click here . 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.

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.