Elin Noble at the Schweinfurth

A few unusual turn of events and I found myself with a free evening last night and the opportunity to drive over to Auburn, New York to hear Elin Noble speak at the Schweinfurth Art Center. There was a record crowd for Elin's talk, due in part to Schweinfurth's sponsorship of Quilting by the Lake where Elin is currently teaching. The Schweinfurth is currently exhibiting Fold & Unfold: The Cloth and Quilts of Elin Noble.

When I heard that Elin was giving a talk on her work, I immediately went to her website to learn more about what she is currently doing. It took only a few minutes of browsing her website and photos of her works to know that I wanted to hear her speak. While you have missed the talk, if you are able to visit Schweinfurth before August 19, I would encourage you to go see her works in person.

Some are quilted, some are sheers either against a background fabric or hung over a rod and draped from ceiling to floor. All are powerful images. It is obvious that Elin has been 'dyeing for the past 30 years' as she explained in her opening remarks.

As I was driving home last night, I thought about what stood out for me in Elin's talk. She went into a good amount of detail on process and why she created the series that are displayed. But, what I found myself focusing upon were several basic statements that can be appreciated by all artists:

1. A true sense of gratitude for all that she has been blessed with and that allows her to create her works
2. The basic rule that in creating her works, her decision process is always to go with what pleases her.
3. Finally, that her journey to where she is today has evolved from many, many hours of experimentation and practice, practice, practice.