Hollis Chatelain

April 17, 2026
Susan Brubaker Knapp
Blog, Fiber Art, Painting, pigment and ink, Textile

Hollis Chatelain

Textiles – Hillsborough

This is one in a series of posts about artists in the Orange County Artists Guild.

What is your medium? Why do you love it?

I work in textiles, creating textile paintings that are quilted with hundreds of colored threads. My love for textiles started when I lived in Africa for 12 years, where I collected the beautiful African fabrics. This eventually led to teaching myself to sew and quilt, and then creating a technique to paint with thickened dyes. I’ve taught drawing since the 1980s and was a professional photographer for ten years, so I combined my photography, drawing, painting, and quilting to make my own unique art.

What are the main subjects in your artwork?

Much of my work is influenced by my dreams or what is happening in the world. My subjects are women, children, the environment, animals, and social events. I lived in Africa for many years working for humanitarian organizations. This influenced my way of seeing the world and carries over into my work regularly.

Describe your process or technique.

I start with drawings that I do based on photographs (as many as 10 photos for one piece). Using an overhead projector, I enlarge my drawings to the finished size first on paper, then trace the drawing onto cotton fabric. From there I paint my image with thickened dyes, which can take up to six months to complete. Once the painting is completed, the excess dyes are washed out and I put a backing and batting on the washed out painting to create a quilt. From there I machine quilt the piece using hundreds of different colored threads.

Do you have formal training in your medium?

I have a degree in Interior Design from Drexel University but taught myself to draw, sew, quilt, and came up with my own technique to paint with thickened dyes on cotton.

Do you teach classes?

I have been teaching drawing, design, color, dye-painting, and quilting since the 1980s and have taught throughout the USA and in Canada, New Zealand, Africa, Australia, Switzerland, and Spain. Since Covid, many of my classes are on Zoom or I teach out of my studio in Hillsborough.

Where has your work been featured?

My work has been featured in numerous magazines, books (https://www.hollisart.com/recognition), blogs, websites, and TV. I was also featured in a 90 minute documentary movie called “Stitched, The Film.”