Erin Lale

Erin Lale of Henderson, Nevada has been creating various types of art and crafts as long as she can remember.  Erin got into fabric dyeing and painting when she decided there were fabrics she wanted for her quilts that were hard to find, and soon she was also doing fabrics for costumes, and that led to wearable art.

Erin Lale considers herself a folk artist.  None of her teaching experiences had anything to do with art.

Erin does most of her fabric painting on a card table in the back yard, with the fabric or pre-made wearable flat on the table surface.  She uses brushes, sponges and small cups.  Erin likes to pour the initial colors on and manipulate them by tilting the surface, bunching and folding the fabric with her hands, and mixing colors directly on the fabric.  Erin then adds details with brushes or dust on pigment powders.  She usually works with heat-set water-based fabric paints, but Erin likes to experiment.  Sometimes she works with natural dyes, both traditional, such as sawdust powders, and her own creations, such as dyes based on rose petals.

Erin has both mental and physical disabilities.  She's an integrated dissociator, has asthma, PCOS and wears glasses.  Erin says the first three affect her art indirectly by prompting her to try to turn pro because it is difficult for her to hold a regular job.  She does most of her painting outdoors because of the asthma.  Erin has to be very careful about working with chemicals and mixing pigment powders. 

Wearing glasses actually turns out to be an advantage for Erin.  She never has to use a reducing glass or a ruby beholder, she just takes off her glasses when she wants a different perspective.  Erin has a special relationship with color because for a long period when she was a child, she did not have (but needed) glasses and the visual world existed to her only as color, totally without shape or definitive line.  It was a formative period for Erin's inner vision.

Artist statement written by Henderson artist, Erin Lale.

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VSA arts of Nevada Please direct questions and comments about VSA arts of Nevada to meh@vsan.reno.nv.us

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