Robert Chatelain

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Robert W. Chatelain was born in 1945 in Eagle Pass, Texas and grew up in Findlay, Ohio.  He received a BA in Chemistry from Earlham College in 1967 and another in Fine Arts from George Washington University in 1975.  Robert taught art at a private junior high school, worked in hospital labratories and for the postal service before beginning his professional woodturning career in 1985.  He lives with his wife Dianne, and their pets near Camel's Hump in the Vermont Green Mountains.

His first turnings endeavored to highlight the natural grain of native and exotic wood in classical forms, and then he began to combine different species and plastics by laminating.  This mixed media approach matured to include bowls decorated with metal bands and wooden wedge fasteners, and bowls with gold or silver leafed collars.  In 1988 he began to fill voids in burl bowls with resins mixed with artist's pigments, and within a few years this exciting technique became Robert's signature.  Chatelain's Hybrid Turnings are recognized throughout the world, are included in museum collections and are available at fine galleries and exhibits.

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