Occasionally after I’ve done a live demo in class or online, one of my fabric collage students will say “Wow, I wish I could be a fly on the wall in your studio and just watch you work!”
Well, starting in October 2022, you’ll have that chance.
I’ve been doing fabric collage for over three decades. For the past few of years I’ve felt compelled to spend most of my time teaching—either in-person or online—which means I haven’t been able to give my own artwork the attention I would like to.
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’ll be taking 2023 off from traveling to teach. I’ll still be teaching online. But just as importantly, I’ll be using this precious time to pursue some of the many ideas for fabric collage that have been collecting in my head.
One evening a week in four-week series throughout the year, I’ll invite you into my studio—to be the proverbial fly on the wall—as I work on my fabric collage quilts.
Register for the next Fly on the Wall: Susan Carlson Studio Watch
Registration is now open for two upcoming Fly on the Wall: Susan Carlson Studio Watch series. Join me live in my studio as I work on my lace polar bear “Winfrieda” in this continuation of a series begun in October.
• December: Winfrieda the Lace Polar Bear #2
December 1, 8, 15, 22, 2022
$78
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Each Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time
Special Introductory price for the four-week series: $78
All those who sign up for this December Fly on the Wall series will be given access to an hour-long video combining the four opening slideshow presentations from the October Winfrieda series #1 (see beginning and end photos above). This will allow those who may have missed the first series to easily catch up to where the second series will begin.
• January: Sunshine Oma
January 5, 12, 19, 26, 2023
$98
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Watch—and work along with me—as I create a collage portrait of my lovely mama (a.k.a. Oma) as a radiant sun face—to have ready for her 90th birthday at the end of January.
For those who wish to try their hand at a sunface portrait, in addition to the slideshow, demo, Q&A, and full recordings of the four presentations, registrants will also receive all of the following:
• A free PDF of my Sun Portrait pattern.
• Free access to the Thursday Night in My Studio Live! recorded presentation (see preview below) that explains how to adapt my Sun Face pattern to a photo of a particular person.
• And a $20 discount for a one-on-one coaching session scheduled for January or February 2023—in case you’re interested in specialized help with your own work-along creation.
Fly on the Wall Format
All sessions are held via Zoom.
Each evening starts with a short slide show (15 minutes or so) in order to catch you up on the progress I have made in the previous week.
Then I work for 45-60 minutes live. While I work, I talk about the decisions I’m making, give pointers on cutting and gluing, and perhaps go off on tangents unrelated to fabric collage. You never know where my brain might wander off to—I certainly don’t!
After the work period, I invite questions from viewers (15 minutes).
Because of numerous requests, a recording each week’s session is made available to registrants 24 hours later. This means as long as you register, if you miss a meeting you can catch up before the next week.
A FREE Fly on the Wall Introduction
On Thursday, September 29 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, I held a free live introduction to my Fly on the Wall: Susan Carlson Studio Watch via Zoom. I presented a brief slideshow to introduce my viewers to the first collage in this series (whose name by the way is Winfrieda). They also got to see how I work on this eight-foot tall image, aided by construction scaffolding. And I showed off my hoard of lace fabrics, which is the material I have chosen to create this piece.
Watch the video recording below to see what it was like.
Presenting “Winfrieda”
My quilts tend to have a long gestation period, during which my brain works unconsciously as it decides how best to approach a subject. This polar bear collage is one that I have had in mind for a few years. Since I began my series of animal quilts, which has been gathered into the collection of “Specimens” quilts, I have been concentrating on creatures that are rare, extinct, or in danger of becoming extinct due to human influence. In a list of top ten animals endangered by climate change and not expected to survive in the wild, the polar bear came up as number one.
So while I knew a polar bear would make a good subject for me, I didn’t immediately “see” how to approach it. What fabrics would I use? What would be the composition, on four feet or upright on two? Where would I find photos to use?
I addressed these questions and others during the Free Introduction (above) and throughout the ongoing four-week Fly on the Wall Studio Watch series.
Register for the next Fly on the Wall: Susan Carlson Studio Watch
Join me live in my studio as I work on my lace polar bear “Winfrieda” in this continuation of a series begun in October.
• December: Winfrieda the Lace Polar Bear #2
December 1, 8, 15, 22, 2022
$78
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Each Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time
Special Introductory price for the four-week series: $78
In the Future
I plan to present other 4-week series and subjects throughout my “sabbatical” year. I have soooo many ideas and look forward to sharing some of them with you as I work through them.
What a wonderful idea. I would love to be a fly on your wall!! It’s perfect timing for me too. My squirrel has been staring at me since I was with you at Asilomar, patiently watching me play with African fabrics in an entirely different way – which happened due to the tip from you, Susan! It’s been a fun side step but I do plan on getting back into fabric collage in October so the timing is perfect! I’m signing up today!
This is so exciting, but the wrong timing for me. Thankful you plan on other sessions, especially the monarch. I’ll be looking forward to your posts.
Hi Susan, I too saw you play with African Fabrics at the Quilt Africa Summit, and am signed up to do the turtle class online with two buddies. I can’t watch the Fly on the Wall intro live on the 29th. Will it be recorded for future viewing?
Hello Helga! Yes, the Thursday the 29th free intro will be recorded and we’ll send out the link in the Saturday blog post a couple days later! And thanks for joining me on all the endeavors! 🙂
Hi Susan. I would so love to be a fly on the wall but I will be away and not able to see two of the weeks. Is there a way to sign up and watch them later? Thanks,
Sandi
Hi Sandra! Yes, we’ll be recording all the Fly on the Wall sessions and currently plan to (probably) make them available as a single edited video available after all four have run. Or we may release them individually, we gotta see how it all plays out! But we’ll keep everyone informed.
Susan this new format sounds very interesting and with it being recorded will make it very user friendly. Will be trying it Sept. 29th and may join in the future. Your work is inspiring,
I love this idea. I have learned so much from your master class and would love to watch you work. Financially your several day classes are not feasible for me, so this will be a great affordable option. I’m especially glad it will be taped and can be viewed later because two of these days I will not be home to watch. This polar bear looks incredible. I also can’t wait for the monarch butterfly.
Susan, I hang on everything you say. As I said before, you are the true “quilt whisperer.” Getting to be a “fly” is exciting. Looking forward to my second online class in November. The online class is great and I highly recommend it. It’s worth every dollar!