Biography | Resume | Artist's Statement

Biography

Holly Knott is a Finger Lakes, NY artist who could never call just one medium her own. In 2004, she "retired at a young age" from a 17-year career as an interactive systems designer and usability testing specialist in Princeton, NJ, and moved from beautiful Bucks County, PA, to equally beautiful upstate NY so that she could devote 100% of her time to her fine art. She spends her free time working in a wide variety of media, including contemporary art quilts (landscape quilts and pictorial quilts are her favorites), photography, watercolors, hand-painted furniture, and website/graphic design. She is co-author of the book "Quilted Garden Delights," released by C&T Publishing in February, 2008. See her "Our book" page for more information. Holly was also co-owner of two artisan's galleries for a 3-year period, bringing more business experience to her resume.

Inspiration for her work comes from her surroundings, including her love of local colonial and Victorian architecture, cityscapes, rural landscapes, historical sites, cottage gardens, nature, and the enchantment of nearby riverside and lakeside towns.

Holly's contemporary art quilts and photographs have won awards, and her work is exhibited in juried art shows, quilt shows and galleries nationwide. Her work has appeared in several publications, including 500 Art Quilts (2010, Lark Books), The Quilting Arts Book (2008, Interweave Press), and Innovative Fabric Imagery for Quilts (2008, C&T Publishing). Central New York’s Summer 2007 issue of Life in the Finger Lakes magazine featured her artwork in their "Off the Easel" section, and her work was published on the cover of Quilting Arts magazine (Summer 2005), in the International Quilt Festival's 2004 Chicago show brochure, and on the cover of 2004 St. John's University alumni brochure, Conversatio (see images and links below for more information on all of these). She also wrote an article for Quilting Arts magazine, and her art quilts have been included in several slide presentations given by other fiber artists in the U.S. The Alliance for American Quilts included Holly in their "Quilters' - Save Our Stories" interviews. You can read her interview here. Her artwork has been purchased by admirers in Singapore and various locations across the U.S.

In 2008, she was chosen to represent NY's 25th Congressional district to paint an ornament for the White House Christmas tree. Click on the images of the ornaments on the right to view them larger.

She holds an A.A.S. in Advertising Design from Mercer County Community College, NJ, where she received scholarships and awards for artistic excellence. She is a member of SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates).

Holly lives with her husband, Paul, and their cats on a small "farmette" with pond and wildlife to inspire.

Exhibitions:
(each listing refers to an art quilt unless otherwise indicated)

2011
"Paintings With a Fabric Palette," Baltimore Woods Nature Center, Marcellus, NY (invitational solo exhibit), January 3 - February 25, 2010
Great Lakes Seaway Trail Annual Quilt Exhibit, Sackets Harbor, NY (invitational), March 19-20, 2010

2009
Skaneateles Artisans group exhibit, CNY Blooms Flower Show, Syracuse, NY (invitational)
"Fiber Art Show," Delavan Art Gallery, Syracuse, NY (invitational)

2008
"A Personal Landscape: Contemporary Quilts," Tyler Art Gallery, State University of New York at Oswego, Oswego, NY (invitational)

2007
"Expressions in Fabric and Paint," Cayuga Museum of History and Art, Auburn, NY (solo exhibit of paintings [~9] and quilts [25+])
"Wildflowers of the Oregon Trail," National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, Oregon (invitational) ["Purple Coneflowers in August"]
"Thread, Cloth and Art," Ithaca, NY
"Pawcasso" at The Warehouse Gallery, Syracuse, NY
Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, Hampton, VA

2006
May Memorial Art Gallery, DeWitt, NY
International Quilt Festival (IQF), Houston, TX
National Small Art Quilts Exhibit, Main Street Gallery, Groton, NY
Art Quilt Alliance of NY trunk show (including various guilds and quilt shows, such as quilt guilds in NY; the Schweinfurth Center, Auburn, NY; Quilting by the Lake, Morrisville, NY)
Group exhibit - "Painting With a Fabric Palette," Delavan Art Gallery, Syracuse, NY

2005
Quilts of Central NY, Avenue Art Gallery, Endicott, NY
Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza (PNQE), Ft. Washington, PA
Central NY Visual Artists Showcase at WCNY Studios, Syracuse, NY

2004
The Art and Soul of Quilting, Anderson Arts Center, Kenosha, WI
Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival (MAQF), Williamsburg, VA
Quilter's Heritage Celebration, Lancaster, PA
NJ State Quilt Guild show, Edison, NJ
Quilt Odyssey, Hershey, PA
Tactile Architecture - traveling exhibit, displayed at Int'l Quilt Market and Festival, 11/04 Houston, TX; International Quilt Festival 03/05, Rosemont, Illinois; & Spring Quilt Market 05/05, Kansas City, MO
International Quilt Festival (IQF), Houston, TX

2003
Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ juried art show (photographs and art quilts)
Annual Peddler's Village quilt show, Lahaska, PA
Quilt Odyssey, Gettysburg, PA
My World in Black & White - online challenge exhibited at the Museum of History and Art, Ontario, CA
Tactile Architecture - traveling exhibit, displayed at Int'l Quilt Market and Festival, fall 2003 Houston, TX; Spring Quilt Festival 03/04, Rosemont, Illinois; & Spring Quilt Market 05/04, Pittsburgh, PA
Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza (PNQE), Ft. Washington, PA

2002
Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ juried art show (photograph)

Awards:

2004
NJ State Quilt Guild show, Edison, NJ
     Honorable mention in Art Quilt/Innovative category for "Poppies"

2003
Annual Peddler's Village quilt show, Lahaska, PA
     3rd place in Creative category for "Reaching for Autumn"
My World in Black & White - online challenge exhibited at the Museum of History and Art, Ontario, CA
     Honorable mention for "My World is a Palette"

2001
"Be a Tourist in Your Own County" contest sponsored by Inter-County Newspaper Group, Bucks County, PA
     1st place in "Color" category for "Autumn in Bucks County" (photograph)

Bibliography:

2008
Authored "Quilted Garden Delights" published by C&T Publishing
2004
"Purple Coneflowers in August" published on the cover of Quilting Arts Magazine, Spring 2005 issue.
Article on using Caran D'Ache Neocolor II watercolor crayons on fabric written and published in Quilting Arts Magazine, Spring 2005 issue.

Publications:

2008
"Buttercup" and "New Hope, PA, Reflections I" were published in "500 Art Quilts" by Lark Books.

2006
"Birch Grove 2" has been published in the Syracuse Cultural Workers' 2007 Women's Datebook. 2005
"Begonias & Ivy" was published in the International Quilt Market's Spring 2005 Buyer's Guide, in May 2005.

2004
"St. John's Abbey" was published on the front cover of the St. John's University alumni journal, Conversatio, in March 2004.

2003
"New Hope PA Reflections I" (part of the 2003 Tactile Architecture exhibit) was one of 3 quilts featured in the IQF (International Quilt Festival) Chicago Spring Show brochure in October 2003.
Holly's website was featured in the Quilter's Newsletter, November 2003 issue, in Myrna Geisbrecht's "Quilter's Web" column (a column that highlights about 5-6 quilt-related websites).

Lectures:

Quilter Jean Biddick included "New Hope PA Reflections 1" in her 2003 slide lecture on quilters inspired by architecture.
Quilter Maria Elkins included "Poppies" and "Soldier's Path" in her 2/2004 slide lecture titled "Introducing art quilts to traditional artists."
Quilter Ann Fahl included "A Study of Hosta" and "Soldier's Path" in her 2004 slide lecture about art quilters inspired by the seasons.

Affiliations:

SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates)

Artist's Statement

I love exploring locally, taking daytrips and documenting what I see with my digital camera. Some of my photos stand on their own as art, and others provide me with reference material for working in the other mediums I enjoy.

In 2004, moved from my "roots" in the central NJ/Bucks County, PA area, to the incredibly hilly and scenic upstate NY Finger Lakes region. The areas in NJ and PA where I spent most of my life are rich in early American history, and the scenery is inspiring to me - the architecture of old stone houses from the 18th and 19th centuries and Victorian homes, Philadelphia cityscapes, rolling hills of farmland, scenic twisting and turning Delaware River drives, river towns full of cafes, art galleries, and quaint gardens (including our own), that were, and are, home to many Bucks County impressionists and artists - all of these find their way into my art.

Sadly this landscape is vanishing rapidly. My artwork tends to create a tangible trail of my explorations, and I enjoy recording small segments and closeups of what I see - an old window with wavy glass and colored shutters, a closeup of an unusual piece of Victorian gingerbread on a porch, the pattern of the veins on a leaf – as well as wider angle landscapes.

Here in the Finger Lakes region, the farms aren't being developed nearly as rapidly, the hills are higher, the lakes are crystal clear (Skaneateles Lake being the most fabulous shade of aqua), and while the architecture isn't as old as I'm used to seeing, there is plenty of inspiration for me up here. All elements of design appeal to me, including color, texture and line, and the play of light.

Creating art quilts is a medium I began exploring in 2000. I consider contemporary art quilting to be a method of "creating paintings with a fabric palette." The wide variety of "painterly" fabrics available, such as the batiks and hand-dyes, helps provide me with a wonderful palette. You can create layers of color and add sparks of light just as you would in a painting. There's a challenge in creating a piece of art with only commercially available fabrics, but if I can't find fabric to fit my needs, I paint my own with textile paints and acrylics. After the initial design is completed, I quilt the piece using a variety of colored threads to add another layer of color, texture and design to the piece. I also occasionally include my photographs in my work by printing them directly onto fabric, as well as incorporating my hand-dyed fabric into my pieces.