At the entrance to Tanque Verde Ranch on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona, you enter a different world. This was my third visit to the ranch to teach fabric collage for MISA—Madeline Island School of the Arts. Each time I’m struck by the stark difference the desert of the American southwest is to so much of the country and especially how different it is to my home state of Maine. It’s beautiful in its own way but almost alien in its landscape and species of plants and animals.
Saguaros—a cactus species found exclusively in the Sonoran Desert of the Southwest—stand like sentinels in the sunset.
Bursts of color amid a few unexpectedly rainy days.
“Nubs,” the four-legged mascot of Tanque Verde Ranch, enjoying a crackling and cozy check-in lobby.
One of these things is not like the other.
Stepping off the plane at the Tucson airport begins an immersion into the desert environment, and my colorful and creative week ahead at the ranch.
While the landscape was intriguing, most of the week’s action happened indoors, of course. My classroom at sunrise, before all the activity begins for another day.
Student Work
This class of students really came together as a group to support each other in many ways. From sharing fabrics to giving words of praise, from rides to local fabric shops to conversations in the dining hall, they really helped make our class week a success. The twelve individuals that arrived, left as friends. Today’s post will feature six of these talented ladies, in next week’s Saturday post, I’ll share the work of the other six collage artists.
Grace Crocker
I’ve worked with Grace through many online classes but got to hug her in person here in on the ranch. This week she continued work on her “Rub-a-Dub-Dub” quilt—based on an illustration in “Favorite Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose” by Scott Gustafson (with his blessing).
Grace brought some of her previous creations to share with the class (and brighten our room!). Toward the end of the week, we had an early celebration of Grace’s 89th birthday in March. She is one special and talented lady and we just love her. A special thank you to her daughter Bonnie, who traveled with Grace from California.
Brenda Carter
Brenda worked on two versions—full-length and close up—of the odd-looking African shoebill stork.
When you can’t decide which version to make, do both!
Brenda is another previous online student who I got to meet in-person in this class. Her husband Cal (seen posing with his “Santa Cal” portrait by Brenda) below, came along for the ride from Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada—four flights and two days each direction! A very cool couple.
Mary McKay
Mary worked on this quilt of her daughter and Strider the pup—a double portrait that Mary also begun in an online class (Mary, Brenda and Grace intentionally planned to meet up in this MISA-Tucson class after becoming friends online).
Mary drove from California to Tucson with her portrait quilts, fabrics, pinning board, and a few comforts of home. She also brought along a few goodies for me including a water kettle for hot tea in my room and a lovely porcelain mug to sip from. Needless to say, Mary knows how to travel in style. I look forward to seeing her again in an upcoming class in Colorado this April.
Kim Hankins-Kujawa
Kim’s collage of her dad with the one that didn’t get away, will be a loving memory quilt of an obviously special day in his life. She did a great job working from a less than perfect photo taken a long time ago.
Instead of giving her dad plain ol’ sunglasses, Kim turned the lenses into reflections of fly-ties and even more fish, cut from the special theme fabrics she brought with her from Missouri.
Deb and Chloe Deaton
Mother and daughter, Deb and Chloe, took enviable two-day road trips from Arkansas to Arizona and back, stopping along the way to sightsee and enjoy their time together—adventures they’ve been taking since Chloe was a little girl.
For this adventure in collage, they both chose dark monochromatic animals as their subjects—sometimes more difficult to portray in fabric. However, they each made it look easy to portray the colorful personalities of Deb’s Crow and Chloe’s (Marga) Rita.
The Ranch
A herd of horses ready for their dudes!
Dinnertime!
Our classroom in the middle of it all.
Wildlife! Javelina, and a roadrunner (beep! beep!), and a turkey who hangs out in the parking lot, challenging his reflected rivals.
A thank you to my students who shared their photos for this post: Julie Valentine, Deb Deaton, Brenda Carter, Mary McKay, and Janice Morrow-Siebenaler.
I love every one of these quilts, but have to say Graces’s Rub a Dub Dub has blown me away! She is very talented.
All the Quilts are beautiful.
Many happy memories! Thank you Susan!
I can feel the energy in that room and the quilts are amazing to see. Happy Birthday Grace ! May you enjoy many more to come.
Oh, so nice to see what everyone has been working on! Great job! Love them all. I’m looking into the workshop in Wisconsin.
Grace, what children’s book did your illustration come from?
Thanks for showing all the lovely quilts. I am loving Grace’s quilt and hope i get to see it when it is finished.
AWESOME work, folks! Such beautiful and inspiring quilts!!!
I struggle to move away from making the collage exactly the same as the picture. If the dog has brown hair than it goes against my senses of using non traditional colour using blue or green or other colour as in some of your pictures from students. I will keep at it though. I love seeing everyone’s creations. There are some very talented people in this world. Thank you for sharing your skills and advice.
Liz, Rub – A -Dub- Dub was taken from Favorite Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose by Scott Gustafson, a fantastic artist. I have done two quilts before ( not Susan’s technique) from his book, Classic Fairy Tales. Using this collage technique is loads of fun
Grace thank you so much! Your collage is darling. I love children’s books but hadn’t seen that particular illustration. Jealous that you got to attend an in person class! I’d love to someday. Was looking at the one in Wisconsin but it looks like it’s filled so I might do another zoom. Thanks again!