Dye Painting with Hollis Chatelain

Sue was fortunate last week to take a 3 day workshop with Hollis Chatelain, learning to paint with thickened dyes and her method of quilting that brings her amazing images to life.  Hollis spent 12 years in Africa with the Peace Corps, so much of her work features the people of Africa; do go to her website to view the galleries of her work, it is absolutely incredible!

We had a very intense 3 days of instruction, painting, discussion, and more instruction.  Most of us painted two 18 x 20 inch images; a few finished just one.  The intention was for us to begin the quilting on one of them, but we only got as far as discussing and beginning to draw the quilting lines. It is a multi-step process and our brains were so busy digesting new information.

Sue's friend Paula works on painting her crab.

Sue's first piece was this photo of a day-lily.

This is the finished day-lily before washing.  After painting, the dyes need to "cure" for 12-24 hours.

This is the after-washing photo; as you can see, quite a bit of the dye washes out, though the lighting may make it appear more faded than it really is.  Thread will add additional color and dimension.

This is the start of image number 2. Painting a person was a bit more intimidating.

The painted image, before washing.

And after washing.  The colors here are more true to life.

Here Hollis is discussing quilting lines, which are drawn on a tissue paper overlay, and possible thread color choices.

Auditioning threads by laying a strand out on the fabric is the best way to determine the appropriate selection.  Hollis often uses unexpected colors to achieve her effects.

At some point in the future there will be another post about the quilting on these pieces, but no promises as to when that will be!