Last week, students from the Prudence Island School came to visit. The school’s teacher, Eliza grew up in Woods Hole and we’ve known each other since childhood. She asked if she could bring the children over to my studio as part of their day-long field trip to Woods Hole.

The island school currently has a total of 8 students from the early grades to teenagers. I was struck by how well the 6 girls and 2 boys of such varying ages interacted. They were inquisitive and appreciative as they looked around my studio and they easily identified all of the birds in my Birds of Beebe Woods piece.

The students are even learning to embroider! Thank you for a delightful visit!

This summer, the grounds and gardens of Highfield will be magically transformed into a “fairy” neighborhood, with small-scale habitats hidden throughout the property. Highfield has given me the exciting opportunity to curate The Fairy Houses of Beebe Woods exhibit, which promises to be a popular event during the height of the season.

I got the idea from the Florence Griswold Museum in Lyme, CT, which has hosted several Fairy house events. See my posts about last fall’s exhibit here and here.

I’ve invited 2 dozen local artists to participate in the event and they’ve spent the last few months picking building spots, gathering natural construction materials and thinking about what to make and how to make it. Everyone will bring their own vision and sensibility to their structure, creating a wildly varied display full of architectural whimsy. The outdoor exhibit will be open June 20th – July 21, 2013.

This past winter, I made and photographed 2 models that could be used for advance publicity purposes. Since I didn’t use a glue suitable for outdoors, these won’t be in the exhibit, but I will have another house to show. I’m in the process of constructing a more weather resistant cottage that will be perched in a magnificent copper beech tree. I hope that many of you will have a chance to visit the exhibit this summer and for those of you who live far away, I’ll post pictures.

Working in miniature, there are many objects available for wheels; buttons, washers, snaps, key rings, etc. This series of images are mostly from my earlier work, starting with a detail from a piece I made in 1986. The wire bicycle is less than 2 inches long. Looking at these, I’m amazed that I had time to do all of the stitching because I had a baby and a preschooler to take care of. I remember working every evening after they went to bed.

The button wheels in this detail (below) from “Fall”, 1987, are about 1/2″ in diameter.

Skip ahead 10 years for this detail from the Sidewalks poem in my 1997 book, “You and Me: Poems of Friendship“. The car hub-caps are fancy coat buttons and the tires are made from black insulated wire. The stroller wheels are 1/2″ buttons.

Here’s a detail from “The Hollyhock Wall”, 1999. The car hub-caps are made from regular sized snaps.

The bicycle wheels in this detail from “You and Me” are made from the smallest key rings I could find, about 1/2″. The bicycle spokes are metallic thread and the helmets are painted acorn caps.

This is another detail from the same Fast Friends illustration in “You and Me”. That’s my husband Rob in the truck.

16 years later and I’m still making ice cream trucks. This 2″ embroidered one is from a baby quilt I’m in the process of making for a friend. Stay tuned for more quilt images!

This was the most fun giveaway! Thank you to all of the participants– I loved reading your comments, with such entertaining stories and apt descriptions of your favorite birds. Tallying the count, every bird was acknowledged, but the flashy blue jay won the popularity contest. The crow, female cardinal and male cardinal (their pictures are below) also garnered quite a few votes of approval, too.

Soooo….the winners of the giveaway are Cindy and Jan Johnson. I will alert them by e-mail and send them each a Birds of Beebe Woods poster. If you are one of the 100 whose name wasn’t picked and you still want a poster (or note cards), they are available in my Etsy Shop. 

Poster – Birds of Beebe Woods

To mark the one year anniversary of my Etsy Shop, I will be giving away 2  Birds of Beebe Woods posters. Because of the cost of postage, the contest is just open to US and Canadian residents. To enter, please leave a comment saying something about your favorite bird from the piece by April 21st, 2013. Two winners will be picked at random on April 22nd.

I love all of your stories about why you’ve chosen a particular bird. Keep ‘em coming!

The original Birds of Beebe Woods is currently in the Fantastic Fibers show at the Yeiser Art Center in Paducah, KY.

Cindy Gehrke told me about how she and two needle-worker friends took a 4 day road trip which included a visit to my show. MarySusan Farmer, who came with a group that drove the 2 1/2 hours from Springfiled, IL writes, “What a TREAT!!! Your artistry is so totally engaging it was beyond belief!!” And Louann Mattes Brown checked in after she and some other members of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators had a field trip to the exhibit.

Added 4/15/13: Bonnie from St. Louis, MO just wrote to say that nine members of the Doll-a-holics ( a hands on soft doll making group) carpooled 2 hours to Cedarhurst to see the exhibit. She says, ” We were all overwhelmed by your intensity of stitches, the small size, and the dimensional quality that you created in each. What a wonderful day we had.”

I’ve also heard from quilters who are planning on taking in the Cedarhurst exhibit, which is only 1 1/2 hours from Paducah, KY and the The American Quilter’s Society Annual Show and Contest (April 24th-27). And while they are in Paducah, they can also see my piece,  Birds of Beebe Woods in the Fantastic Fibers show at the Yeiser Art Center!

I’m impressed that people are making an effort to see my work while it is within reach, even though they have to travel for hours! The exhibit will be up until May 5, 2013 at  Cedarhurst Center for the Arts. I’ve also heard from people who’ve driven long distances to see the other half of the book illustrations in Fresno, CA.  That exhibit runs through May 24 at the Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature, Henry Madden Library at Fresno State.

Because of continued interest, I’ve decided to keep touring a select group of original Pocketful of Posies illustrations beyond 2013. At this point, I don’t have the time to send out proposals and search out exhibit opportunities, so I can’t target specific cities or parts of the country. I would love to have the show go far and wide and it all depends on which venues contact me. I am in discussion with a few prospective hosts who have asked about future shows. Inquiries from libraries, art centers and museums with a shipping budget are welcome.

Here are photographs of some natural curves and textures that we saw in California.