Nora Rickey, Textile Center Member & Teaching Artist
For Nora Rickey, member, student, and teaching artist at Textile Center, social distancing has created more time to focus solely on her art practice.
“I spend long hours each day working on my art without any time crunches or deadlines,” she says “and this freedom has allowed me to grow through reflection. I love being able to wake up and work on my art all day, every day. I also love taking breaks from art making and not feeling guilty for stepping away from precious art-making time. And because the world outside my apartment is chaotic and uncertain, I love creating a beautiful retreat within my art practice.”
During the past months, Nora worked on a series of tiny daily weavings that she shared on her Instagram account. “I kept a set schedule of making a tiny daily weaving in the morning and a drawing before I went to bed. These tiny weavings will be sewn together in a ‘Quarantine Quilt,’ an embroidered portrait of my late mother, multiple summer clothes sewing projects and sewing underwear for embellishment, and creating tutorial videos on different fiber arts skills.”
She has recently been busy with a new job for Wintergreen in Ely, Minnesota. “We have been working tirelessly to make hospital gowns, fulfilling large orders by the state and other organizations in Minnesota.
One of Nora’s takeaways from this time of the pandemic is, “that not having a plan or certainty in my future doesn’t define me as an artist or teacher.”
When we are able to reconvene on the other side of this pandemic, Nora is looking forward to making art with friends and sharing fiber art skills with others in person.
Instagram: @noradolora
