E L C I E LO S T U D I O
WORKSHOP/RETREATS in the Texas Hill Country, with FIBER ARTIST SUSIE MONDAY
Nurture your creativity as you
come away from a weekend
with renewed energy, new
materials and techniques in
surface design applicable to
fiber, ceramics, jewelry, paint-
ing and mixed media work.
Susie Monday leads artists’
retreats and workshops
throughout the year at her stu-
dio near Pipe Creek, Texas,
about an hour from downtown
San Antonio. El Cielo Studio
workshops are designed with
the needs of the participants in
mind; free time is scheduled
throughout the weekend for
reading, reflection and per-
sonal work in the studio. You
are welcome to bring projects
in process for Susie’s critique
and for peer feedback in an
environment of trust and re-
spect. You’ll share meals, po-
etry and stories, music and
advice for living an artist’s life.
Enjoy the 25-mile vistas from
the deck and strolls down the
country roads. A spa and pool,
and large screen media room
are also available to partici-
pants. The fee for each work-
shop retreat is $160 for a 2-
day event with discounts for
early enrollment. Comfortable
accommodations are available
from $15 - $30 per workshop.
Most workshops offer a Friday
night potluck option. Limited
enrollment. Most supplies in-
cluded. Call 210-643-2128 or
email susiemonday@gmail.com
Susie has taught creative
process and art techniques to
adults and children for more
than 30 years. Her art is in
numerous private and public
collections around the world.

NEW AT EL CIELO
FROM SCRIBBLE TO
SYMBOL; PERSONAL
MARK-MAKING
SEPTEMBER 25-27
(optional Friday night potluck
& critique session)
In this workshop, start with
simple sketches and doo-
dles and end the weekend
with an arsenal of new sur-
face design tricks and tools.
Explore doodles and scrib-
bles as sources of uniques
and personal imagery that
will give your art quilts,
wearable art, or mixed me-
dia work personal depth
and layers of meaning. take
a favorite symbol -- for ex-
ample a heart, star, spiral,
circle -- and by taking it
(and yourself) through a
series of creative genera-
tive exercises, you’ll make
something new and differ-
ent to incorporate into your
design, composition and
surface design. Tools and
techniques explored include
paper lamination on fabric,
large scale “mark-making”
rollers and monoprinting.
OCTOBER
Find Susie at the Houston
International Quilt Festival,
See www.quilts.com
NEW: A
CREATIVE
STUDY:
PETRO-
GLYPHS,
POTTERY &
PREHISTORY
NOVEMBER 6-
8 (optional Fri-
day night pot-
luck and cri-
tique session)
Many artists
have found
inspiration in
prehistoric and
archetypal im-
agery from
caves, cliffs
and ancient
ceramics. This
is the first of a
series of “crea-
tive study”
workshops that
will illuminate
how you as an
artist can take inspi-
ration from the im-
ages and imagina-
tion of the past,
while transforming
the images into
something uniquely
your own. This
workshop models a
time-proven crea-
tive study process
(based on that de-
veloped at Learning
About Learning
Educational Foun-
dation and the Paul
Baker Theatre) that
can be adapted to
many inspirational
sources. We’ll go from col-
lection through synthesis to
creating, and explore textile
and mixed media tech-
niques that relate to the
aesthetic and philosophical
qualities and intent of the
earliest art-makers. Explore
some simple natural dyes;
use handmade brushes as
tools, make pigmented
paints with ashes, earth,
rust and minerals.
NEW: MEMOIR, MEMORY
and MEMORIAL
DECEMBER 4-6
(optional Friday night pot-
luck and critique session)
Continue the season of design techniques to start
Dias de los Muertos by cre- your artist’s journal for the
ating a memorial altar to a year.
person, to a personally po-
tent memory (or past life of WHAT PARTICIPANTS SAY
your own), even to a sum- ABOUT SUSIE’S CLASSES
mer vacation! Learn to
& WORKSHOPS:
transfer photos onto a “It was just what I needed right
number of interesting sur- now. I have been in a creative
faces including plastic, slump, questioning what I do
metal and fiber; add words, and how I do it. The exercises
names and text with resist we did this weekend were
crayons; microwave dye freeing on the one hand, but
custom fabrics, and embel- will also help me focus.”
lish your textile and mixed
media altar with all manner
“This workshop was a fabulous,
of beads, trinkets and
uplifting, nurturing environment
meaning-full treasures.
(Additional $10 fee for
wooden altar frame.)
ARTIST JOURNEY/
ARTIST JOURNAL
JANUARY 8-10
(optional Fri. night potluck &
critique session)
to create in. The journaling was
particularly helpful, I would defi-
nitely recommend it to a friend.”
“This weekend was totally awe-
some! I am humbled by Susie’s
talents, her teaching abilities
and her hospitality. I will come
back as often as possible.”
susiemonday@gmail.com
www.susiemonday.com
210-643-2128
3532 Timbercreek Road
Pipe Creek, TX 78063
This annual workshop has
become a tradition at El
Cielo Studio. Spend the
weekend in creative activi-
ties (All new this year!) that
help you set the stage for a
2010 filled with productivity,
imagination, focus and ar-
tistic goals. Using some
new exercises gleaned from
sources around the globe,
we’ll banish procrastina-
Read Susie’s blog at
tion, make an annual love
http://susiemonday.squarespace.com
letter, and find ways to re-
mind us of what really mat- You’ll find a downloadable pdf
ters in our artistic lives. version of this flyer on a front
Meanwhile, you’ll work with page link on Susie ‘s blog.
mixed media and surface