Susan Carlson Fabric Collage: Fly on the Wall: Sunshine Oma Fanciful Portrait Work-Along

Starting January 5: Come be a “Fly on the Wall” of my studio as I work on a fabric collage portrait!

In January, I’ll host a special, 4-week “work-along-with-me” Fly on the Wall. For those interested in fabric collage portraiture, I think this series will be a perfect introduction to the form. While I work on a fanciful portrait of my mom, “Sunshine Oma,” I invite you to work on your own version of a sun-face portrait.

To help you along in the process, I’ll provide a video of how to integrate a photo of your own into my sun face pattern, a copy of the pattern, and a $20 discount on a future fabric collage coaching session (in case you get stuck).

The purpose of each Fly on the Wall series is to provide an over-the-shoulder view of how I work. Each Thursday for four weeks, after I catch viewers up with how the fabric collage got to the point where it’s at, that’s just what I’ll do: let the camera roll as I work, all the while commenting and explaining the fabric and collage choices I’m making as I cut, pin, and glue. A short question and answer period from viewers will follow each work session.

It’s also not too late to register for my current Fly on the Wall: Winfrieda the Lace Polar Bear #2 series, which ends this evening, Thursday December 22nd. By registering you will receive links to recordings of all four December sessions which then completes the major collage construction of this eight-foot-tall creature. Plus you’ll receive a slideshow of the previous Winfrieda Fly on the Wall series from October, demonstrating the previous progress from the beginnings of this polar bear portrait.

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Register for Fly on the Wall: Susan Carlson Studio Watch 2022-2023

Registration is open for my two Fly on the Wall: Susan Carlson Studio Watch series.

• 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.

• December: Winfrieda the Lace Polar Bear #2

December 1, 8, 15, 22, 2022
$78
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

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.

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Fly on the Wall Format

All sessions will be held via Zoom.

Each evening will start 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 will work for 45-60 minutes live. While I work, I’ll 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’ll invite questions from viewers (15 minutes).

A recording of each week’s session will be 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.

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A FREE Fly on the Wall Introduction

On Thursday, September 29 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.

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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 eight-week series.