Today’s post is all about the work and words of the “Spice of Life” ladies, so named because their subjects were quite varied, and as we all know “variety” is the Spice of Life. The word “spice” also brings to mind a boldness of flavors—interpreted in fabric as a variety of colors and print styles—which Brenda Carter has illustrated quite well in her ram collage, photo above.
I’ve come to believe that a live online class will of course be different than an in-person class, but neither is necessarily better than the other. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, and in an online class, my husband Tom and I, try to emulate the teaching experience as close as possible to an in-person class.
For instance, just as with in-person classes, there are morning group meetings (via Zoom when online) to answer questions. In-person, I give an hour or so demo of the “fabric collage topic of the day.” For online classes, I’ve recorded those topics and demos for students to view at their convenience (helpful with the various time-zones we’re tuning in from). Then at the beginning of our class day, we discuss the topic but save the demo time, moving directly into our workday instead.
For this particular online class, we began the workday by keeping everyone together in the “big classroom” for awhile longer. This way I could visit each person’s work in turn for a quick check-in, making sure that no fabric collage fires had developed overnight. Everyone had a chance to ask one or two quick questions to help them get their own day started.
After that, as in any sort of class, I meet with students individually throughout the day. But I think that enabling everyone to see where their classmates were collage-wise and to hear some of their questions was helpful and a good way to re-connect after time off to work on their own. This will be one of the online class “updates” we’ll continue to include.
The big classroom is then broken into three subgroups, or “breakout rooms” as Zoom calls them. This week we’re featuring the Spice of Life—last week was the Zookeepers (featured previously), and the Wild Things will be featured next week.
[Variety is the] Spice of Life
A few of our pets made cameo appearances in class. Above, it wasn’t unusual to see Mary’s pup Harry, in her lap—or Teresa’s Missy, in hers—or one or more of Nancy’s golden retrievers climbing the stairs behind her. Every so often my own cat Djinni’s tail would pass between me and my screen as she attempted take my attention away from my students. And below, Milo Sturgis wants a look at what’s going on as he obliterates Mary’s view during our morning session!
Nancy Hayes
See more of Nancy’s work in these posts: Finish Line: March 2019, April, 2021, December 2021, and February 2022.
“Splash,” in-progress, by Nancy Hayes
Spice flavor: sweet with a touch of floral essence
Tom and I send out class surveys at the end of each week’s class. We’re sure it gets a bit tiring to those repeat students, such as Nancy and almost everyone else in this class, who get the same questions again and again. However, one question that can get a different answer each time is, “Why did you choose the subject you worked on? What is its story?”
Nancy’s answer:
My darling Splash is a “pink” kinda girl. If she was a person, she would wear pink every day. I wanted to capture that part of her personality.
And the question, “What was your favorite moment of class?”, can also vary in answers from class to class and helps us improve the online experience along the way. Such as in recent classes, we’ve made it possible for students in one breakout room to “follow me” in to another breakout room to listen in on the feed-back I give to others—which is what Nancy is referring to below.
I love listening to all the critiques. So helpful! I did really enjoy being able to go to other rooms to listen to the critiques.
Brenda Carter
See more of Brenda’s work in this post: May 2021.
Ram, in-progress, by Brenda Carter
Spice flavor: African medley with pinches of Indonesian indigo
From Brenda:
My first collage was the ‘Psycho Moth’. It wasn’t intended to be that [psycho] but was a fun experience and project! The second was my Ram.
In our pre-class coaching session, I admit I cringed when I saw Brenda’s photo, above. It was obviously a special snapshot memory for her, but such a challenging photo to interpret into fabric. However, when someone tells me this is on their “bucket-list,” we need to find a way to make it happen. So first, “cropping is your friend,” and Brenda said that focusing on a big ‘ol ram’s head was fine.
Second, once I saw the great job Brenda had done on her own with a portrait of an African woman, below, I asked how she felt about using bold African fabrics for her ram. She was up for the challenge. Brenda’s initial fabric selection is pictured below left, some of her African fabrics are below right.
Click on any photos to see them larger.
From Brenda:
Susan helped me to put the ram in perspective and made it more practical for my learning skills. Adding the African flare was a bonus to this collage. I took [last July’s] African fabric workshop that was to referred by Susan.
Teresa Wasick
This was Teresa’s first class with me as a newbie to fabric collage, and she jumped right in to it using one of my fish patterns. Simpler designs are great to learn the fabric collage process—promoting playtime with your fabrics—seeing where the colors and patterns lead you.
Fish, in-progress, by Teresa Wasick
Spice flavor: a blended earthy mix with dashes of farm, floral, avian, and pre-history
In our pre-class coaching session, Teresa sent in photos, above, of her initial fabric selection and a practice spiral. Below, is the fabric palette she ended up pulling from for her fish—much more pattern oriented and fun novelty-sort of fabrics to work with. Look close at her palette and at the resulting development of her fish—an eye-spy exercise including old barns, peacocks, and dinosaurs!
Mary McKay
See more of Mary’s work in these posts: January 2019, Finish Line: August 2019, March 2021, April 2021, September 2021, Finish Line: September 2021, December 2021, Finish Line: December 2021, May 2022, Finish Line: September 2022, and Finish Line: February 2023.
“Frank” and “Oliver,” in-progress, by Mary McKay
Spice flavor: colorful and well-traveled
As you can see from the listing of past posts that contain Mary’s work, she has immersed herself in this fabric collage process for the past four years. It’s quite interesting to compare where Mary began and where she is now. Since I also have been working with Mary through fabric collage coaching, she had my blessing to work further on her portrait of Frank, and to begin the portrait of Oliver during this class.
From Mary:
I chose to do Frank because he is my soulmate. Oliver is a giant tortoise from the Galapagos and someone I enjoyed meeting.
From our survey, “Were you ever frustrated with the class?”
No, this time I did not get frustrated because I set realistic goals for myself and did not attempt to finish anything in one week.
“What was your favorite moment of class?”
All of them.
Any other comments?
The next online class will be equally epic.
I agree with Mary. She’ll be attending my Portraits Only online class at the end of March. By then, I expect her to be working on Frank’s final draft, and I think he will be epic.
Space Available in May 2023 Live Online Class
You are invited to join me via Zoom for a 5-Day Live Online Fabric Collage Class. This class is for all levels of fabric collage proficiency, from beginner to advanced. The class runs May 29–June 2, 2023.
I have included an update of the number of spots available and will do my best to keep it updated as it changes. If you find on the registration page that the class has sold out and would like to be placed on a waitlist, please email Tom ([email protected]). Thank you.
CLASS DESCRIPTION: Five-Day Live Online Fabric Collage Classes (Animals Only)
Price: $995 per student
Required Class Fee: $169 for the Fabric Collage Master Class—an online resource “manual” to refer to before, during, and after class—yours for life ($199 regular price; contact tom@tomallenbooks for coupon code for discount. This fee is waived if you already own the Master Class)
Hardware and Software Requirements: Computer, tablet, or other larger-screen device; reliable internet; ability to photograph and send images of collage in progress (a cellphone is recommended); Zoom meeting software (free to download)
Maximum Number of students: 12
Subject Matter: This class deals with animal subjects—furred, feathered, or scaled—pets, exotic animals, birds, insects, sea life, sea slugs, whatever type of animal appeals to you.
Included: Forty-five minute private pre-class coaching session to prepare you for Day One of class.
See links below for more information.
May 29-June 2, 2023
2 Spots Remaining (as of February 17)
Register and pay here:
https://susancarlson.com/product/may-2023-live-online-fabric-collage-class-with-susan-carlson-animals-only/
The dog is named Milo Sturgis? I love that (and the fabulous collage,) but where is Alex Delaware?
I LOVE Susan’s classes and Tom is so wonderful and helpful. If you are thinking to try fabric collage, treat yourself to a class with Susan. You will NOT regret it! Can’t make it to class? Try Patreon!
Loved seeing someone using African fabirc! Please show more or some results from you African Fabric Workshop.