What a fun class this was. I love the photo above, it reminds me of the “personality” of the class—relaxed yet attentive, friendly and ready with a smile for others—caring and supportive of each other. This photo captures only a few of the thirteen in the class—gathered around my table for our morning talk and demo. In the course of the week, I think they may have asked more questions than any class I can remember. Good questions too, really trying to understand the fabric collage process.
This particular day was our final class morning—talking about how to finish up and prep a collage for quilting. Deborah, on the far left, asked about using sheer tulle on top of her gecko as a layer for the quilting process—so her fun and colorful subject became a great demo for the class.
Deborah Kilimnik’s gecko was one of a small “clutter” of geckos in class this week in Santa Fe. You’ll see Tina Paris’ gecko as well—both made as part of my Glorious Gecko February Follow Along. Plus, there were two four-foot fantastical gecko collages up on the walls. One by Terre Tuzzolino, another by Antje Postl, and both featured in this post. Later in the post are sequence photos of the geckos and all the projects from this half of the class. The other half of this very enjoyable class and their creations were featured in last week’s post.
Terre Tuzzolino shares a gecko story:
My workshop goals were to create something that a) resembled a gecko b) used as many colors as possible and c) made me and others happy to look at.
Fast forward. While I was cleaning up my ‘enthusiastic’ workstation on our last day, a woman’s voice called from the doorway: ‘Excuse me. Can my daughters come see what you’re doing?’ Of course they could!
Two sisters—probably 5 and 8 years-old—slowly entered our room picking up speed as they got closer to the design wall. The older sister was full of questions. ‘Is that a lizard? What’s her name? Is she gonna have legs? Can I tell you all the colors? Are you almost finished?’ She and I consulted on lizard behavior and where Geneviève the gecko might live. Her little sister remained silent, inching closer to get a better look.
Mom reappeared and said they needed to get going, prompting a flurry of thank-yous and good-byes. Before they disappeared down the hallway, the wee one ran back and whispered ‘I really like your lizard. She makes me happy.’
Workshop goals achieved with minutes to spare!
Antje Postl’s “sister to Terre’s” gecko and her impressive and wonderfully messy pile of fabrics, above left. Tina Paris with the “Glorious Gecko” she created online, above right.
A blog post comment from Antje Postl:
I just saw the blog post [Santa Fe Part 1] and am looking at the photos smiling, as I am sitting at home reflecting on a week at Susan’s fabric collage workshop through MISA in Santa Fe. It was a week full of learning from a fabulous artist, a patient, skilled teacher and a delightful person. It was also a week full of laughter (so much laughter!), new friends, camaraderie, support and learning from each other.
Erin and Christy from MISA made it happen so smoothly, the Santa Fe MISA Campus (Hilton) was great, and the Santa Fe weather cooperated beautifully. My battery is recharged and I am looking forward to my next class with Susan, and to seeing my lovely class mates somewhere along the fabric trail.
Photos above: lovely class mates, beautiful people, and more fabulous artwork from this week in Santa Fe.
From Deborah Kilimnik:
It was an incredible week of learning. Susan is a wonderful teacher and has a beautiful calmness about her which makes her teachings so easygoing and inspiring. This is only my second collage and I’m hooked on this art style. I highly recommend attending one of Susan’s classes—you won’t be disappointed! You’ll learn lots and spend time with some beautiful people at the same time ♥️.
Today I continue sharing the lovely people and their collage subjects of my most recent in-person class, with MISA—Madeline Island School of the Arts—in Santa FE, New Mexico. I’ll be introducing you to the second half of my class this week. If you haven’t already, be sure to check last Saturday’s post for Part 1 On the Road: Santa Fe 2026, for the rest of the amazing artwork of this awesome class. In addition see my Santa Fe Dispatch post—captioned photos gathered while class was in-progress—for a feel of the class and area.
Enjoy.
Click on any of the smaller photos to view them larger and to scroll through the photo galleries.
Deborah Kilimnik
Deborah is from Heidelberg, Ontario, Canada—beginning and end of the week photos of Deborah and her “Soulful Sam” are above, in-progress photos are below.
From Deborah:
I’m still learning a lot about collage as this is only my second project [first was Glorious Gecko]. I call him Soulful Sam and although I haven’t mastered the light and dark parts of collaging, I’m very happy with the way he’s turning out. I shall keep learning and taking more classes with Susan either online or in-person to become better at this process.
A couple weeks after class ended:
Well, home safe and sound and as you can see I haven’t gotten very far on my collage, apparently at home I don’t get 6 hours a day to have fun, who knew? It was a magical time in Sante Fe and I do miss all the creativity and the fabulous group of new friends that I had the privilege to play and learn with. Thank you Susan, for your patience and kindness.
Antje Postl
Antje is from Las Vegas, New Mexico—beginning and end of the week photos of Antje and her giant gecko, Fruity, are above, in-progress photos are below.
From Antje:
Susan’s advice, coaching and encouragement to use my budding knowledge about value, color and shadowing (“well, what do you think…”), left me with tools which will help me finish my class project Gecko Fruitsalad (“Fruity”). I am excited for my next projects for which ideas are already forming in my head.
Carole Hicks
Carole is from Albuquerque, New Mexico—beginning and end of the week photos of Carole, and her little dog too 😉 , are above, in-progress photos are below.
From Carole:
Regarding Mr Bojangles. He is 14 years old & has the sweetest & kindest spirit. I bought him for my husband for his 70th birthday. Mr Bojangles is a white Bichon Shih Tzu who doesn’t shed (he has hair instead of fur), he travels well with us & is an easy dog. I wanted to do a portrait of him and will give this finished project to my husband for his 84th birthday!
Terre Tuzzolino
Terre is from Evanston, Illinois—beginning and end of the week photos of Terre and her gecko Geneviève, are above, in-progress photos are below.
From Terre:
Meet Geneviève Gecko. She lives a life of adventure. With each new escapade, her scales turn brighter colors resulting in her current vibrant visage. Zip-lining down a mountain – opera pink. Rock climbing – lemon yellow. Sailing on Lake Michigan – Prussian blue. And, she’s not done yet. We can count on her for many future exploits …celebrated with additional vivid colors.
My original color palette was inspired by an African tree frog. The adorable big-eyed one who’s mostly bright green with blue legs and glorious orange feet. All that remains intact of my original plan are her orange feet. Once Geneviève began to emerge, she made it pretty clear she was not to be contained. I like that about her.
Cynthia Felts
Cynthia is from Rolla, Missouri—beginning and end of the week photos of Cynthia and her big-eyed-cat Niko Niko (meaning “smile” in Japanese), are above, in-progress photos are below.
Joan Hamilton
Joan is from Colorado Springs, Colorado—beginning and end of the week photos of Joan and John Wayne—a.k.a. “J.W.”—a favorite among her herd(!) of bison, are above, in-progress photos are below.
Tina Paris
Tina is from Henderson, Nevada—beginning and end of the week photos of Tina and the portrait of her adventurous daughter, are above, in-progress photos are below.
From Tina:
In the past few years, I have developed an interest in making modern quilts, particularly art quilts. For the collage quilts class, I chose a photo of my daughter holding a 40-inch striped bass she had just caught in the Sacramento River. My goal is to capture the triumphant moment when she raised it over her head.
Remaining Susan Carlson Fabric Collage Classes for 2026
April: For the determined and impulsive, April’s Fabric Collage Immersion: a 10 Day Workshop at Woodland Ridge Retreat has one spot remaining—Pre-class coaching could be arranged through tomorrow, April 19 (after that I’m on an airplane to WI)
April 21, 2026 – May 2, 2026
Menomonie, WI
Retreat owner Chris and I have opened the workshop to a limited number of students who are interested in attending only one of the two weeks. Students attending only one week must have previous experience in my fabric collage technique—intermediate+ level. If you are interested, please reach out to Chris Daly via the Woodland Ridge Retreat contact page.
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July: 5-Day Live Online Fabric Collage Class via Zoom
July 13-17, 2026
REGISTER HERE
More about my 5-Day Online Fabric Collage Classes
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September: Susan Carlson Fabric Collage in Bar Harbor, Maine 2026
September 14, 2026 – September 18, 2026
Bar Harbor, Maine
FOR MORE INFORMATION
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Click here for more about all my 2026 teaching offerings
What delightful class photos. You captured the joy of each student. Great projects and absolutely perfect “messes.”. Wish I’d been there, too.
I agree with Grace. I’m so glad not to have missed these lovely projects! Each one is terrific and so creative!