Susan Carlson Last Week in My Studio: Making Lists and Checking Them Off

Last week in my studio, I had two true priorities to check off the list: 1.) pack for this week’s class at Woodland Ridge Retreat in Downsville, Wisconsin; and 2.) complete the second draft of my cicada fabric collage, as per the annotated notes from a previous week’s blog post. Travel is part of what I do, and once I get to my destination I enjoy where I’m at. However, the week or two before I head to the airport, I get travel stressed. It comes out as totally unreasonable to-do lists where everything I could possibly think of doing—this year, last year, and next year—needs to be done now. Maybe a few of you will understand that.

So I reason with myself that if something has waited a year or two already, it can wait for another week or two until I get back home. The weather in Maine helped a lot last week—rainy and cold enough that all the things that needed to get done outside had to wait. Well, almost everything. Three (small) blueberry bushes that needed to get transplanted, last year, got moved during a break in the clouds on Tuesday, after a run to the garden store for compost and mulch. But I (pretty much) stopped there, because of rain and all.

In any case, it was definitely more pleasant to be inside my studio. Djinni knows something’s up when the suitcase opens up to be repacked for the next class. It’s pretty much the same stuff inside, but needs to be checked out and cat-approved every time.

I’ve developed a pretty comprehensive list for travel and teaching that includes everything from class materials to electronics to clothes and toiletries to cash, credit card, and passport. As long as I get it all checked off before getting in the car to the airport, I should be good to go.

One category on the travel list is collage examples to bring along—some finished, some in-progress. Last week I looked at my wall of pinning boards to decide which pieces might be particularly helpful for this next group of students—then noted them on my list to check off later. They were the last to pack up, mostly in my carry-ons.

Second Draft Cicada

One of the samples I packed up for Woodland Ridge was my ongoing cicada collage. I’ve been sharing its progress with you lately, getting back to working on it and second draft annotations. It’s been on a to-do list itself for almost a year. Last week, the second draft details still needed to be added and glued in place, in order to get it off my pinning board for travel.

Matching the Details on the Wings

I had already made some decisions for the left side of the wings, last week I repeated those details on the right side of the wings.

Once the second draft details were checked off, the cicada made a good base for a third draft class demo—adding sheer fabrics and sparkle.

Highlights and More Down the Center of the Body

I was listening to a good audio book as I was working on the cicada body and as sometimes happens, my intuition kicks in as I get absorbed in the story. When my over-thinking brain quiets down, it helps me to get into a creative “flow.”

As I flowed along on the collage, the simple highlights I was planning to add down the center, soon turned into relatively significant additions to both thorax and the abdomen.

Adding Contrast to Better Define the Skinny Legs

This wasn’t a big change, but if you focus on the areas behind the lower legs, you’ll notice they’re darker from one photo to the next. In the third draft, I plan to try some light colored lace on top of the legs to increase the contrast even more.

Filling Out the Tree and More “Wind” in Sky

This photo above, is from the beginning of the week. The photos below, show fabrics I auditioned to add to the leafiness of the tree. The first I felt was too literal, the second I liked for variety, the third photo adds a larger leafy pattern with nice black outlines for added contrast.

Here’s where my collage was at the end of last week—second draft done. Though I think I need to add more to the leaves, I’ve run out of the base fabric I started with. There may be more somewhere, or I’ll find something better to use in the third draft!

Djinni stuck close to me last week, sometimes a little too close. I know she misses me when I travel—Tom does his best to give her attention, but when I get home, it’s me she greets with loving drools. 🙂

And look what I found! The missing glue bottle from 2 weeks before—along with my missing “pelican” scissors—I had a feeling they were together in a safe place. When I shifted one of the pinning panels, there they were, patiently waiting for me. A good omen to end the week on.

Come back next week to be inspired by this week’s class of diligent, hard-working, talented, fun, and lovely students—and to see the collage art they’ve been creating at the very inviting and comfortable Woodland Ridge Retreat, in Downsville, Wisconsin.

Interested in joining me in 2026 at Woodland Retreat in Wisconsin for a TWO-week class?

April 21-25 and April 28-May 2, 2026
Fabric Collage Immersion at Woodland Ridge Retreat—a 10-Day Class in Downsville, Wisconsin
All-Levels Class
Please click here for sign-up information

My Two-Week Intensive classes follow a format of five work days, two days off, then another 5 work days. Out-of-class activities will be planned according to the locations, but will likely include field trips to local attractions—and fabric oriented locations. In Wisconsin, Chris (the owner of Woodland Ridge Retreat and Dye Candy Fabrics) and I have already discussed locations to visit over the open weekend including: Cultural Cloth: https://www.culturalcloth.com/, SR Harris: https://srharrisfabric.com/, and for a special lunch or dinner out, Owamni: https://owamni.com/.

Click here for past Woodland Ridge Retreat blog post write-ups (take your pick!)

2 Comments

Pamela Collins says:

June 1, 2025 at 4:31 pm

Am I not seeing photos because I am not paying for a subscription?

Is this new, or not? Thank you for replying.

- Susan says:
  
  June 5, 2025 at 3:41 pm
  
  The blog is free to everyone. Tom says it may be your browser. He says to try restarting the browser or restarting your computer. If you’re viewing it on your phone, try using WiFi (if you have it) instead of cellular service. Hope this helps.