On the Road: MISA at Tanque Verde, Tucson, AZ

If you are an artist, especially if you enjoy attending art workshops, you might have heard of Madeline Island School of the Arts. MISA is headquartered on an island off the coast of Wisconsin in Lake Superior. The school offers classes in plein-air painting, photography, fiber arts, writing, and of course quilting among other topics. It’s a wonderful place to get away from it all and concentrate on creating.

However, as I myself have experienced, it’s difficult to convince people to come to northern locations, such as Maine or Wisconsin, in the middle of the winter. For some reason… I can’t imagine why….

At any rate, the Madeline Island location is seasonal. When cold weather strikes, MISA moves to warmer climes, following the snow birds to the Southwest. They call the retreats MISA West, gathering at Tanque Verde Ranch Resort just outside of Tucson, AZ. That’s where I spent the third week of January, teaching fabric collage to a group of 19 students. It was nice to escape the cold here in Maine for a while, though being located in the Sonoran Desert, the temperature got down to freezing at night, though it warmed up nicely during the day. At least I thought so. For some reason, I didn’t have any takers to join me for lunch outside in the sun by the heated pool. It wasn’t shorts weather maybe, but it was a nice break for me.

It was an unusual retreat for me as mine was the only quilting class among three creative arts selections. I often meet up with familiar faces of quilting colleagues. In this case, the other classes were writing and plein-air painting. It was an interesting change of pace.

Tanque Verde is a dude ranch, so it had some amenities that other places just don’t have. Before and after classes—and during since there were others besides MISA attendees—they offered such things as a nature walks, horseback riding, and cowboy poets in the DogHouse Saloon. Wednesday night was the Cowboy Cookout BBQ in Cottonwood Grove. Complete with cowboy singer guitarist. Lots of cowboy hats and boots to be seen.

Tanque Verde Ranch Slideshow

 

 

A prickly pear greeting walking from our classroom to the dining room for lunch.

 

The ranch seems to be nestled into the landscape, and this big ol’ tree is nestled into the ranch.

 

Western themed landscaping included old wagons,…

 

… and more old wagons.

 

My bedroom suite for the week was the little pink adobe building on the right in the center of the ranch cluster.

 

Colorful flowers!! It’s January and we’re definitely not in Maine anymore, Toto.

 

Evening walk on arrival day and an outside view of my classroom.

 

In order to get a morning walk in I had to start right before dawn.

 

Not much later I was greeted by this sunrise.

 

Another morning walk in the Sonoran Desert.

 

Looking back onto the ranch accommodations.

 

Quaint old building on top of a little knoll. Possibly the destination for the morning breakfast ride.

 

A framed view of the desert and mountains beyond with heavy clouds.

 

I learned that rattlesnakes don’t necessarily hibernate, though they’re a bit sluggish if encountered in the winter. That’s good.

 

Loved those prickly pears—made a good specialty margarita too!

 

An old ranchhand in the lobby.

 

Well, not quite. But he is kinda quirky.

 

If I remember right, there’s close to 200 horses on this ranch.

 

My student, Sonja, is greeted by one of them.

 

A curious fellow.

 

I just couldn’t resist this photo.

 

What a gorgeous day to be in the middle of this part of the country.

 

Another of my students, Sharon, looks like she captured a piece of the sky to wear.

 

Ceiling architecture of tree trunk beams ans saguaro cactus spines.

 

A dead saguaro cactus left standing outside the main building, shows what those spines look like.

 

On my way to my “secret” lunchtime hangout.

 

Not a bad spot to put up my feet, listen to some birdsong (and falling water), and catch some rays at lunchtime.

 

Sharing my banana and coconut dessert with a banana-colored wasp. She really appreciated the treat!

 

Native to the area are javelinas. Garden statuary are the closest I got to any.

 

A javelina skull in the Nature Center. I hear they can be a little grumpy at times.

 

Javelinas—they’re peccaries, not pigs! And don’t forget it.

 

In the summer, visitors are instructed to “shake out your boots before putting them on.” A precaution against scorpions and spiders.

 

Same scorpion as previous photo—this time appearing day-glo under a laser light. Cool!

 

On a scheduled birding walk. This is the nest of a cactus wren, built into a cactus nicknamed the “teddy bear cactus.”

 

From a distance the cactus looks fuzzy. Actually, those needles will “jump” at you if you get too close. I didn’t try it, but safe place for a nest!

 

The pyrrhuloxia bird eats the desert mistletoe and spreads the seeds around, as nature does.

 

These odd cup-like things are the nests of Gila woodpeckers. Essentially the scabs formed when holes are pecked into the saguaro cactuses.

 

That explained what the heck this unusual wreath was made of!

 

The afternoon light was captivating on the desert.

 

The desert wasn’t blooming yet, but there was some color.

 

And look at this color! With mesquite trees in the background.

 

Along the ranch trails.

 

A stream bed running with some recent rain.

 

The next day it was about half this volume.

 

Textures,…

 

… textures,…

 

… and more textures.

 

Yikes!

 

Sunsets were pretty nice too.

 

Evening at the ranch.

 

Sunset reflections on the eastern clouds.

 

On the way to the Cowboy Cookout.

 

Cottonwood Grove in the daytime.

 

Cottonwood Grove on Cowboy Cookout night.

 

I was a little late arriving, but just followed the sound of the cowboy music.

 

Adios amigos.

Desert animals of a pronghorn and wild cat with their makers, Carlotta Brandenburg and Denise Withrow.

But of course it was during class that the real action was taking place. I had students with a pretty typical mix of subject matter: some people, some pets, and some other animals. I hadn’t taught in a few months, so it was a pleasant way to get back into the swing of things as my schedule heats up between now and July. It also reminded me of why more and more I insist on teaching for five days whenever I can. Five days gives me the time to gradually deliver the information and skills students need without feeling like I’m force-feeding it to them through a funnel. Of course, I expect that even so, at least some of my students still felt like there was a lot to absorb.

Student Work at Tanque Verde

 

 

Charlie Alolkoy

 

Charlie Alolkoy

 

Charlie Alolkoy

 

 

Carlotta Brandenburg

 

 

Carlotta Brandenburg

 

Jil Deheeger

 

Jil Deheeger

 

Esther Dungan and Peanut

 

Esther Dungan and Peanut

 

Karen Fisher

 

Karen Fisher

 

Karen Fisher

 

Karen Fisher

 

Karen Fisher

 

Kira Freed

 

Kira Freed

 

Kira Freed

 

Debra Fried Levin

 

Joe Hayes and Charlie

 

Joe Hayes and Charlie

 

Joe Hayes and Charlie

 

Hope Kirsch

 

Hope Kirsch

 

Hope Kirsch

 

Hope Kirsch

 

Kenci Lewis

 

Kenci Lewis

 

Kenci Lewis

 

Kenci Lewis

 

Joyce Maggard

 

Joyce Maggard

 

Joyce Maggard

 

Marchon Miller

 

Marchon Miller

 

Marchon Miller

 

Jane Munsell

 

Jane Munsell

 

Jane Munsell

 

Jane Munsell

 

Beth Sprague and Brutus

 

Beth Sprague and Brutus

 

Beth Sprague and Brutus

 

Beth Sprague and Brutus

 

Beth Sprague and Brutus

 

Laura Steiniger and Kahlua

 

Laura Steiniger and Kahlua

 

Laura Steiniger and Kahlua

 

Laura Steiniger and Kahlua

 

Sally Carruth

 

Sally Carruth

 

Sally Carruth

 

Sharon Waggy

 

Sharon Waggy

 

Sharon Waggy

 

Sonja Winter

 

Sonja Winter

 

Sonja Winter

 

Denise Withrow

 

Denise Withrow

 

Denise Withrow

As always, it’s a bittersweet goodbye to my attentive and hard-working class. A lot of bonding happens in five days and everyone looks forward to the updates and finished photos that eventually make their email rounds. In the meantime, thanks to more photos from Joe of his worktable on day one and then again on day five, I’ll fondly remember the wonderful fabric mess that they all made.

In September 2018 I will be teaching with MISA again, this time at their Madeline Island, WI location. They are already taking registrations, so if you’re interested here’s the link: Madeline Island School of the Arts–Susan Carlson Class.

You might consider bringing along a friend or spouse (or someone who is both), as there are other classes running concurrently if they are not interested in fabric collage (though I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t be). Also, my husband Tom says that the Apostle Islands are a world famous paddling mecca. He’s planning a kayak tour while we’re there.

We’re making steady progress toward our goal on Patreon, the website I’m using to collect contributions toward supporting this blog and my ongoing efforts in developing an online class. It’s never too late follow this link (or click on the button in the sidebar) to read my pitch and browse the incentives (called “rewards”), such as freebies and individualized project feedback. If you think this blog is worth supporting, I urge you to contribute at whatever level you think appropriate. Thanks.