Classes with Susan Else
Follow California artist Susan Else into the wild world of three-dimensional quilted fiber art.  Learn her techniques and explore the process of making a three-dimensional scene.  It’s too much fun!  Each workshop is designed for a three-day to five-day format and geared to intermediate skill levels. To prepare for these classes, students will need to do some simple precutting and sewing in advance. To schedule a class please contact Susan at:  susan@susanelse.com

(A single three-dimensional diorama takes many weeks to complete alone.  To solve this problem, these workshops use individual class samples to make a temporary collective scene, which is dismantled at the end of the workshop.)

3D Adventures I: Flora and Fauna
Susan creates wild jungle and garden scenes as part of her whimsical three-
dimensional pieces. This class will explore techniques for making plants and
animals in fabric, from vines and flowers to silly beasts. To allow students to
experience the process of making a complete three-dimensional landscape,
we’ll pin our individual class samples together to make a collective jungle scene,
photograph the result,and then, at the end of the workshop, un-pin the
diorama and take our samples home. In addition to learning specific techniques,
we’ll discuss using color, value, and scale to enhance the depth of a piece.



                                   3D Adventures II: Building a Village
                                          Susan is known for her sculptural work in which brightly colored people go about their
                                          daily routines in a quilted environment. In this workshop, learn her techniques for making        
                                          small-scale figures in cloth and quilted architectural environments.  As in 3D Adventures I
                                          the class will make a temporary diorama: We’ll pin our class samples together to make
                                          a collective  “village,” photograph the result, and then un-pin the diorama and take our
                                          samples home at the end of the workshop.  In addition to specific techniques, we will
                                          explore the use of gesture and body language to convey a message.



3D Adventures III: A Week at the Circus
In this advanced workshop, we will go all out to create the elements of a wacky
circus:  from acrobats, clowns, and animals to the big tent and the audience.
Once again, we’ll use our individual class samples to create the larger scene.
In this class, we’ll focus on how the elements of a scene interact and support
each other.  Prerequisite: 3D I or II.




Lectures
California artist Susan Else uses quilted fabric to create unusual sculpture. Ranging from wry comments on everyday life to wild imaginary scenes, her work adds a new dimension to the usual flat format of quilts. Her engaging, vibrantly colored work includes free-standing figures as well as three-dimensional dioramas. Built around armatures of foam, wire, and fiberfill, the work incorporates both hand-treated and commercial cloth as well as paint and embellishment.

In this lecture, Else discusses the relationship of her work to the art-quilt movement and to contemporary folk art, as well as to other three-dimensional textiles. She explores how sewn cloth differs from traditional sculptural materials such as clay and metal, and she describes her own metamorphosis from quilt-maker to sculptor.

Although she never expected to become an artist herself, Else grew up in a family of artists who shaped her personal vision. After "fooling around" with fabric and fiber for twenty years, she started making quilted sculpture in 1999. In addition to a number of one-woman shows, she has participated in many travelling exhibitions, including Quilt National. Her work is in public and private collections throughout the U.S.
To schedule a lecture please contact Susan at:  susan@susanelse.com