Today is the Spring Equinox! Let’s celebrate the coming of warmth and the promise of the growing season. Here are some spring-inspired closeups of my artwork, starting with a house and tree, which I guess is from the first grade. Skip 50 years, to a group of details from some nursery rhyme illustrations in Pocketful of Posies. If you have the book, you can look carefully and pick them out.
Rob and I visited a friend’s farm a few days ago. We took photographs of the new born lambs and proud ewes, who were very willing subjects. As our camera clicked away, they provided us with the most pastoral maternal scene. The lambs were so beguiling! See sheep and lambs I’ve stitched from my Close-ups series here.
March 16 – April 28, 2013. Contemporary Illustration: At Your Service
The Adams Gallery, Suffock University, 120 Tremont St., Boston, MA
An original embroidered illustration from my book, In the Heart, will be included in an exciting invitational exhibit in Boston. Designed to show the variety of work being done in the field, Contemporary Illustration: At Your Service will show original artwork along with examples of their commercial application. There will be editorial illustrations from newspapers and magazines, along with work from advertising, product and toy design. My piece is the only children’s book illustration included, but my friend Ashley Wolff’s Miss Bindergarten doll will be on display, along with a picture book from her popular Miss Bindergarten series.
Pages 14/15, In the Heart
detail from “Wee Willie Winkie” board book
Yes, the Pocketful of Posies traveling exhibit is coming to Fresno, California and so am I! 25 original embroidered illustrations from my picture book Pocketful of Posies, 10 pieces from my series of baby board books and George’s Chair will all be on display March 18 – May 24, 2013 at the Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature, Henry Madden Library at Fresno State.
All are invited to the opening reception on Friday, March 22 at 6:00 pm. Rob and I will be traveling to California for the event and I will be giving a talk at 7:00 pm. In addition, I’ll be at Petunia’s Place, also in Fresno, for a book signing on Saturday, March 23rd from 11:00 – 1:00. We’re really looking forward to coming to California and hope to meet some of you on Friday or Saturday.
detail from “Pocketful of Posies” 2010
My artwork is included in the dual exhibition, “Golden Threads: Journey through the Picture Book,” in Fresno State’s Madden Library. Featured will be “Golden Legacy: 65 Years of Golden Books,” sixty pieces of original artwork from Little Golden Books, and “Pocketful of Posies: The Worlds of Salley Mavor” (co-hosted by the Fresno FiberArts Guild). I’m happy that the show will be up for more than 2 months, giving people plenty of time to come and see it.
Cat pin circa 1980
It’s about time I showed more cat pictures because there are so many to choose from. Cats were the subject of the first post in the Close-ups series, back in 2009. This brown cat pin is over 30 years old. Read about my pins here. The baby leopards are from “Rana is Born”. The piece was the inspiration for Judy Richardson’s story, Come to my Party, which I illustrated in 1993.
detail from “Rana is Born” fabric relief 1992
This costumed cat is a detail from “On Halloween”, which is in my 1997 book You and Me: Poems of Friendship. The whole illustration is printed as a poster, which is available in my Etsy Shop.
detail from “On Halloween” 1997
This seated cat is from my 1999 book The Hollyhock Wall.
detail from “The Hollyhock Wall” 1999
This kitty is part of the faux tile frieze in my kitchen. Read about that here.
Faux Tile 2001
And this cat topiary is from the verse “Molly My Sister and I” in my book Pocketful of Posies. Autographed copies, plus a poster are available in my Etsy Shop.
detail from “Pocketful of Posies” 2010
The Pocketful of Posies Traveling Exhibit is currently on display until May 5, 2013 at the Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Mount Vernon, Illinois. The collection of 50 original embroidered illustrations from the book are divided into two groups of 25. One group is at Cedarhurst in Illinois and the other group is at this moment being trucked across the entire width of America to Fresno, CA.
I’ve heard from some people who are planning to see the Cedarhurst exhibit and go see my piece, Birds of Beebe Woods in the Fantastic Fibers show in Paducah, KY, which is an hour an a half away. If you’re in the mid-west, these are the places to see my originals.
The other 25 illustrations will be shown at the Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature, Henry Madden Library, California State University, Fresno from March 18 – May 27, 2013. All are invited to the opening reception on Friday, March 22 at 6:00 pm. Rob and I will be traveling to California for the event and I will be giving a talk at 7:00 pm. I’ll be at Petunia’s Place, also in Fresno, Saturday, March 23rd from 11:00 – 1:00. I hope to meet some of you!
Jennifer Sarver, the curator at Cedarhurst, just send these photos of the gallery. Since I wasn’t able to go to the opening, I love seeing pictures of people pointing and scrutinizing the artwork. Look at the group of three young artsy looking types in the first photo. I imagine that they’re looking at a copy of my book, but they could very well be looking at a cell phone!
For those of you who might think that my neat little stitches come from a tidy person, these photos tell otherwise. During a project, I never clean up. One thing leads to another, so it can be a year or more before I feel the need to start with a clean slate.
I recently finished Slow Work… Fine Work, which you can see and read about here. It seemed like a good time to pack away all of the floss, beads and little do-dads that are pulled out of hiding while I’m working. This year I’ll be making some things that I can’t talk about or show yet. So, I’ll have to come up with other ideas for this blog for a while.
My work area is pretty small and I usually lay out parts on an ironing board within reach. Whatever I’m sewing is in my hands and the table fills up with materials. There are still piles of stuff which I can’t figure out how to organize, so they are pushed aside.
This is where I paint faces on wooden beads and carve wooden shapes. It won’t be clear for long. One thing’s for sure– I’m horizontally challenged!
