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.

These last days have been very exciting. Two of my pieces were accepted into the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX, and both received awards.

It was a crazy and wonderful week. I was very busy because I had a full teaching schedule and I also wanted to be by my quilt to answer questions as much a possible. Click here to see photos of both of the winning quilts at the show.

“Winning Quilt Began as a Dream of World Peace” was the title of the article on the front page of the Houston Chronicle on Thursday 2. Maggie Galehouse wrote a great article and they even had a large color photograph of me in front of “Hope for Our World”. And I was “above the fold”!!! click here to see the article, and click here to see photograph.

The crew for CBS Sunday Morning News was also at the show. They will be airing what they filmed in December (I’ll put the date up as soon as I have it!).

It was especially wonderful to see so many friends and special people in Houston and to see the amazing variety of truly beautiful quilts!! Good things always happen in Houston!!!

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

I am now home for a couple of months. I will be working on the last pieces for the exhibit at Duke University. The one I am working on now is from a dream I had about 18 months ago about refugees and Darfur.

“Antiques to Abstracts” opened October 5^th at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. The show will be exhibited at this amazing facility until January 19th, 2008. There are 12 abstract pieces inspired by photographs of antiques that my son took. The show is beautifully hung and the photographs are also displayed. All of the work is for sale. Click here for more information, and click here to see the pieces.

The Tim’s Art Quilt Gallery in La Veta, Colorado is hosting a show called “Figuratively Speaking” that features art from Pamela Allen, Marilyn Belford, Lori Lupe Pelish, Joan Sowada and myself. This is an invitational show featuring the human image in quilts. The work will be up from August 31^st – December 1^st, 2007. Click here for more information.

This month was the big International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX and I taught almost everyday. All of my classes were full (Marketing, 2 Dye-painting, 2 Quilting Design) and the students were motivated and happy. It was a full, but fun week and I thank all of the students.

I am now home until January 2008 when I go to Hilton Head to teach at Jinny Beyer’s seminar. Click here for more information.

The Drawing I classes in Raleigh are almost full. There are two time slots available. The dates are April 7^th-9^th and April 14^th-16^th, 2008. Click here for the contact person.

We will also be visiting my studio and taking a field trip to the exhibit “Hope For Our World” that will be hung at the chapel at Duke University during the time of the workshops.

If you would like to know more about these courses, here is a little bit of information:

Drawing is my passion and I have been teaching how to draw 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 you will learn to draw in my classes. We started these classes eight years ago here in the states, and it has been growing ever since.

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, New Hampshire, & 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 students the confidence and skills to move forward and do what is in their hearts.

If you are interested in joining one of these courses, please check my website. We are going into our second year in San Antonio (it is possible to join on year #2), click here for the contact person. Also click here for the contact person for the Raleigh course.

Don’t hesitate to write quickly to the contact people because the classes fill fast!

There are also prints available of “The Grandfather”, “Sahel”, "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 and to learn more about giclee 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.