When last week’s blog post ended, I was leaving Cedarburg, WI, where I had taught a 5-day class at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts. My friends, Nancy Blake and Joe Clark picked me up there to (eventually) get me to my next 5-day teaching venue—at Woodland Ridge Retreat—a few hours northwest in Downsville, WI. But first, a two-day stay at their lovely new home in Baraboo, WI—with their sweet, big ol’ golden, Cooper.
I first met Nancy years ago at Woodland Ridge when she collaged a portrait of her son’s dog, Chunk. Then again when she began a lovely fluffy spoonbill, and attended a 2-day Bugs, Butterflies, and Fish class, and in 2018 at Woodland Ridge as she began a portrait of her daughter, Chenoa. All these collages are included in the slideshow below—along with Nancy’s new fiber art studio and efficient storage system (don’t we all enjoy seeing how others store their stash?).
Above, a picnic at Devil’s Lake State Park in Baraboo with takeout from the Cheeze Factory (vegan) Restaurant. And below, Cooper meets Hector, my little post-Halloween-clearance croc, who joined my travels the previous week in Cedarville.
I’d have to say the highlight of my stay with Nancy and Joe was the surprise raku pottery treat. Joe is a long-time ceramic artist and former art teacher, and he saved out a few ready-to-decorate pots for my visit. I had one full day at their home, and first thing in the morning was pottery studio time for us to each complete decorative designs on our Naked Raku pots, see slideshow below. A couple hours later, Joe fired up the kiln and he and Nancy completed the raku firing. Very cool!
The next day was travel from Baraboo to Downsville. Nancy planned a scenic drive along the Mississippi with a few stops along the way. First, Olive Juice Quilts in Onalaska. Uh oh. Yes, I found some fabric. This was my first in-person quilt store shopping in two years! It felt so good!
With encouragement from Nancy and Joe (they took a liking to Hector), I took the little guy out of my back pack and posed him with a line of Jungle Paradise fabrics. The woman at the counter jumped right in with more photo op suggestions, so Hector made some friends with Fili Fox, Sue the Squirrel, and Randy Rhino. I figure Hector and I are giving folks things to talk about after we leave places.
Then it was time for some serious driving across Wisconsin—checking out Rieck’s Lake Park for migrating swans or pelicans (no luck), and then Stockholm Pie for Joe (it was his birthday!). Until we finally came to the Downsville turnoff.
At Woodland Ridge Retreat
Before returning to these in-person classes, I listened to an audio book, The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters , by Priya Parker. So I took her idea of opening a gathering with toasts—and brought along glasses and “bubble bracelets” for Day One of my WI classes. We all expressed our goals for the week(s) and toasted to each with glasses of bubbly.
Chris Daly (above), founder and owner of Woodland Ridge Retreat, also took a shine to Hector. We all hunkered down at the retreat center this week, with all our needs provided, including an on-site fabric store (more fabric for me to ship home!). I forgot to get photos of the hallway shelving filled with bolts, but you can check out Chris’ Dye Candy Etsy shop here.
Enjoy the excellent slide show below of all the fabric collage progress made over the course of our week together (with fabric scraps artfully scattered over the carpeting by the end)—what a dedicated and talented group of ladies and gentleman. Brew yourself another cuppa if needed, kick back and really examine the images. There’s so much to learn from what others accomplish.
Thank you to all my students for sharing yourselves and your time with me. When you’re ready, remember to send finished pics for the Finish Line!
Student Work Slide Show
Having taught at Woodland Ridge multiple years, there were a few familiar faces. From my last pre-pandemic class in November 2019 was Kate Jones, returning with her completed “Moose Bader Ginsburg,” (note decorative collar). Kate, please submit your moose for the Finish Line to tell your quilt’s story in a future post!
Submit Quilt for "Finish Line"
For this year, Kate decided to create a trio of collaged fish, getting a jump-start on all three, working on them in sequence over the week. See her progress in the slide show above.
Cathy Bandow, below left, was also in that 2019 class where she began her sun face. This week began with an almost completed first draft of the face, with a few open areas remaining. Over the days, the face took (an even more) stylized touch with extra emphasis on the features. It was fun to see how Cathy added those extra details, and then found the perfect fabric for her background in Chris’ on-site shop.
From a 2017 retreat, Becky Manske returned to finish the colorful portrait of her kids (below right)—with special emphasis on tackling her son’s hand. She did great. And lower right below, Nancy Bonkowski began a portrait of her pup, Bailey. Nancy was in another WI class this year—at MISA in June—beginning her collage experience with a black and white panda.
Remember, you can click on any photos to see them larger.
And most recently, a returning student… from the previous week! Kate Braus below left, is pictured in that WI Quilt Museum class with her projects of the week in front of her—a portrait of a young girl and, when she needed a break from the realism, a Day if the Dead sugar skull. Behind her are hanging pre-class exercises she completed as warm-ups to the collage process. She has taken her fabric collage instruction quite seriously.
In the photos to the right are images of where Kate began and ended this week’s progress of her portrait of the veiled girl. In the three days between classes, she studied the original photo and drew a hand as practice. With what she learned, she pretty much re-made the collage and found new fabrics to use. She’s honing her skills with each step.
I like the way that Kate gives herself play-breaks with subjects such as the sugar skull and this week’s garden gnome (based on a real-life sculpture in her grandchildren’s garden). The moon portrait is of her grandmother—we discussed how to finish it before the week was over.
Below, it was Sherri Cyra’s first in-person class with me, but we did have an online coaching session a week or so before this class. It gave us the chance to talk design and fabric choices prior to class—and I also got to meet the vivacious subject (and collaborator) of this fanciful portrait in that Zoom meeting—her 15 year old daughter. Sherri made great progress, but like her friend Kate, had also put in some earlier fabric collage practice with a large spiral and a smaller sun-portrait of her daughter, pictured below. Also below is one of the final photos I took this week, of Sherri’s excellent pinning job, awaiting the time for her to glue all those pieces down.
And after more than a full week with Joe and Nancy (Nancy helped Chris provide the week’s meals for all of us), it was time to say goodbye, for now. Joe was an excellent student—I felt like every time I came around to check on him and his crow, all I had to say was, “keep going.” Though once-in-awhile, I had an observation that seemed to help him. Working with fabric is a newer art medium for Joe, but he’s collaborated with Nancy in the last few years. I’m thrilled that he finally had the chance to bring his corvid vision to life in a collage, having waited through a couple 2020 cancelled classes. Be sure to check out the student work slide show above and take a good look at what Joe happened upon for the crow’s eye—quite serendipitous.
Out and About Around the Retreat Center
The week’s weather was kinda overcast and cool, so I wasn’t as inspired as usual to get up and out for morning walks, but I managed to get out a few times on a few easy trails through the woods behind the retreat. Besides, I had to give Hector a chance to get outside. I was well prepared with my Maine-made hand-knit blaze-orange hat for hunting season safety. My sister told me I had quite the getup.
The ponds and woods were stark but refreshing to walk around. The property is being brought back to its original wild prairie state. You can walk around with me (and sometimes Hector) in the slideshow below.
On the last day of class, most everyone left a little early due to an evening snow forecast. That, and it had been a very full week of creativity, so I think folks were ready to call it good and rest their brains. Therefore, it was a quiet evening to pack up for traveling the next morning. Hector turned out to be a hard-to-pack item, so he got tucked into my carry-on backpack. He actually looked happy about that—maybe it was time for me and my brain to get home too.
A light snow did fall overnight—enough to decorate the drive to the Minneapolis airport, and to entertain me one more time with a photo of Hector’s first time in the snow. 😉
Hector seems to be a great travel companion-quiet, non demanding, easy to get along with! Is that a kangaroo I see in Joe’s crow’s eye? It does look like a great week and I hope to be there in the fall!
Another great presentation and such talented devotees! I enjoyed coming along on your journey this week. So nice to get out and about.
Everyone did a wonderful job on their pieces!!
Joanne
I love Hector he makes me smile.
These class posts make me long for my chance to meet with you and other creatives at Asilomar, CA in March 2022. I’ve waited a couple years for it