Susan Carlson Fabric Collage: Summer Plans

Wow, what a year we’ve had already, wouldn’t you say? It’s hard to believe that it was only four months ago that the whole world changed. If all had gone as scheduled, I would have just returned from my third round of traveling and teaching for the year—six classes at four different locations—having taught somewhere around a hundred students. I would have been looking forward to a summer break at home in Maine, trying to jam as much as could into the state’s few warm-weather months, before packing the ol’ bags again in September. Well, needless to say, that didn’t (and won’t) happen. All our lives have been upended—no one had a pandemic in their plans—we’re going through all of this together.

There was a lot of uncertainty earlier this year—still is. But for my own plans, I now know I won’t be traveling to teach this year at all (all my classes have been rescheduled or cancelled), but at least I have some clarity to move forward. I know that I’ll be home until March of next year when, if all goes well, my travels and in-person teaching will be starting up again.

And that’s what this blog post is about—stepping back and taking stock on where we are—in life, in art, and in business.

So where are we? Summer at least, has not been cancelled or postponed. Speaking for ourselves, some of our usual activities are limited by our efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. But there’s always gardening, walking, and sea kayaking—three things we enjoy—so we have it better than many.

But here’s the biggie for us, while we’re not calling it a vacation, because we do have work planned, Tom and I have decided to take four weeks off from both producing new blog posts for Saturdays and from new Thursday Night in My Studio Live! presentations. Our break begins after next Saturday’s blog post, from July 12 to August 8.

There’s a couple reasons for taking the break from creating new material, but primarily we need to regroup, refocus, and re-energize. Here’s what we’ve realized: if you put your head down and just do the work you can’t see very far ahead. That’s true in business and in art. When I’m working on a fabric collage quilt, it’s imperative that every now and then I step back and view the piece from a distance. This gives me perspective and a chance to change course if I need to.

We’ve been very happy with the recent pandemic-induced online additions we’ve added to our offerings—the Thursday Night in My Studio Live! and Online Fabric Collage Coaching. Thanks to everyone who has given those a try already.

And to all my readers, I hope you are in the position to take a step back once in a while—from all the changes that are bearing down on us. I wish you the space to pause and gain perspective on your own direction, whether in your art, your life’s plans, or even your daily to-do lists.

What You Can Expect During Our Break

For our loyal readers and supporters in “Online Land,” have no fear, you will continue to receive a blog post as scheduled each Saturday for your morning, or evening, cuppa. Since I’m not traveling at all this year to teach fabric collage and therefore am not producing any new On the Road Teaching posts focused on my travel-teaching, I’m going to find a few juicy past posts with a summertime flair to them for re-visiting on those Saturdays. You can travel back to those destinations with me and to the classes I taught in those fond past times when we gathered together for group photos and didn’t wonder who had the coolest fabric… for their face masks.

The Throwback Thursday posts will also continue.

And here’s an invitation to you to submit any special requests for favorite posts you’d like to see again—travel or otherwise. Just mention them in the comment section at the end of this post and we’ll add them to the list.

Otherwise, it’ll be business as usual (it’s not like we’re going anywhere) in terms of our online offerings. Orders of books—Serendipity Quilts—will continue to be shipped. The eWorkshops will still be available for sale. Recordings of the Thursday Night in My Studio Live! will be available for viewing (after next Thursday, there will be 12 of them!—see photos below). And Tom will still be providing technical support. It’s only producing new stuff that we’re taking a break from—except the Collage Coaching—I’ll be keeping a few Monday-Wednesday slots available.

What We’ll Be Doing Instead of New Blog Posts During Our Break

Aside from taking time to appreciate the pleasures of summer in Maine, and taking time to refocus, we’ll finally be able to tackle a task I’ve been wanting to do for awhile now. The Fabric Collage Online Master Class Manual is now two and a half years old. It is past time for another update. We’ll be looking for where we can expand or further clarify the material. We’ll also see if any of the blog posts we’ve written in the last couple of years can be adapted to enhance the online class.

If you already own the Master Class, any updates will be available at no additional charge and you will be able to continue to use the Master Class without interruption. When we are finished updating, you can be assured that we’ll let you know exactly how we have improved the Fabric Collage Master Class Manual.

When We Return

When we get back to writing new posts in mid-August, we’ll also begin the fourth series of Thursday Night in My Studio Live! presentations. Starting August 13 and continuing each Thursday for a total of four weeks—August 13, 20, 27, and September 3—the series will cover aspects of fabric collage portraiture that weren’t covered in the previous portraiture series: Improvisational Faces. I’m calling this next series Faces: Filling in the Gaps. The schedule is listed below—with sign up and access to any or all presentations to be found here on my website: www.susancarlson.com—just scroll down the front page to the Thursday Night section.

Thursday Night in My Studio Live!

Faces: Filling in the Gaps

August 13: Necks and Hair

August 20: Child vs. Adult Faces

August 27: Glasses

September 3: Smiles with Teeth

A final image to leave you with: My mom getting her beautifully silver hair braided by my niece Maia. Face mask lowered for photo purposes and hands were washed soon after. Take care everyone.