Holly Guertin is a fiber artist and textile designer based outside of Philadelphia with her husband and four sons. Holly creates sculptural, textural fiber art pieces that add dimension and interest to beautiful spaces. She explores the qualities of wool by mixing different textile processes, particularly crochet and felting. 

Holly grew up in suburban North Carolina and studied Fibers at the Savannah College of Art and Design. From finding endless interest in the toile wallpaper on the walls of her childhood dining room to discovering an entire course of study for fibers and textiles at SCAD, Holly has always been drawn to the beautiful and tactile objects that surround our everyday experience. 

During her time at SCAD, Holly truly immersed herself in the wide breadth of possibilities within fiber arts. Every new technique and process brought her delight and awe as she uncovered the history and science at work beneath her hands. The foundation was laid for all of her future work when she first worked with wool, She felt a deep connection to the relationship between sheep, shepherd, wool, and work. 

All the while, Holly was slowly undergoing a spiritual conversion from evangelical Protestantism to Roman Catholic. Throughout her college years, she was a leader at an all-girls Catholic high school in Savannah for a non-denominational discipleship ministry called Young Life. This ignited her love for ministry. Her exploration of wool in the Fibers program greatly informed her spiritual life and maturation. In the Catholic faith, Holly has found a rich language, artistic precedent, and treasure trove of theological concepts to deepen her understanding of wool and sheep and their window to the sacramental worldview. Agnus Dei by Francisco de Zurburan (1635-1640) exemplifies her adoration and appreciation for sheep and their wool. 

Holly's most known for her "Sheepskin" series of crocheted artworks, which have been commissioned for SCAD's Permanent Collection and displayed internationally. They are sculptural wall hangings with crocheted domes in a variety of tone, size, and depth resembling the fleece of a sheep freshly shorn. Each dome is filled with raw, virgin wool and is connected to the muslin base using quilting stitches. Each sheepskin calls to mind the redemptive action of Christ, as the Lamb of God (see John 1:29), for all of us by taking on our nature (as sheep, see Isaiah 53:6). Her wool felt artworks are designed to resemble marble reliefs and often depict lambs and abstract tactile surfaces. 

Today, as a young mother to four sons, Holly balances her artistic endeavors with mothering in an ever-changing, always-thrilling lifestyle. Alongside her, you can often find her sons embroidering, felting, or generally playing in the background. She finds great value in modeling the Benedictine principle of Ora et Labora, “pray and work" to her sons, allowing them to see their mother thrive in a working role. She is excited to share a similar work ethic and experience with the students at Martin Saints!