About Salley Mavor

I make 3-dimensional fabric relief pictures that are photographed and used to illustrate children’s books. I sew together different materials to create fanciful scenes in relief, much like a miniature stage set, with figures imposed on an embellished fabric background. My work is decorative and detailed, full of patterns from nature and found objects, all sewn together by hand with a needle and thread.

2015 in review

Posted on January 3, 2016 by Salley Mavor

I thought it would be a simple task. But, 3 days after first sitting down to compile a list of things that happened in 2015, I’m finally ready to hit the publish button. Needless to say, it’s been a very busy 12 months! At this time a year ago, I was gearing up for the release of my new book. Once Felt Wee Folk was properly launched, I concentrated on making new work that reflects my desire to move in a new direction. There are other projects and travels mentioned, too. I hope you enjoy following the links to review and find out more about the highlights of the past year. Happy New Year to all of you and may your 2016 be filled with wonder!

1170823_1012115518810541_4326723381259611123_n

The year started with snow and freezing temperatures outside, but it was cozy and productive inside.

* Prepared for release of new edition of how-to book, Felt Wee Folk – New Adventures.
* Rob and I filmed and edited book trailer for Felt Wee Folk and published it on YouTube.
* Made wee folk cart for the book’s Blog Tour.
* Felt Wee Folk makes C&T Publishing’s top 10 list of best sellers for 2015.

Filled lots of Etsy Shop orders for books, posters, cards and fairy making supplies.
Posted many, many photos on Instagram.
Posted something almost every day on Facebook.

* Curated Fairy Houses of Highfield Hall exhibit.
* Made “Grate Hall” fairy house.
* Made fairy family of 5 and promotional video for Highfield Hall Raffle.

Traveled to Scotland in June & Oct Made new traveling doll, Rosie.

Introducing Rosie Doll’s Travels
Polly Doll’s travels

Finished two new 18″ x 24″ pieces, Face Time and Whiskers. Read blog posts about making Face Time here. I plan to write blog posts about Whiskers soon, but you can see a preview in this Facebook Album.

Worked on women’s heads for Cover Up, a new fabric relief piece in progress. I’ll write a blog post about it when it’s completed later this winter. For now, you can see head close ups in this Facebook Album.

Articles about my work:
Inspirations Magazine
While She Naps Podcast
Home Review Magazine

Made Desire doll for my sister, Anne Mavor’s ancestor art project crowd source raffle.

Completed Ltd. Edition of Fiona fairies.

Turned 60 years old.

Wrote this blog post about artistic privacy and my thoughts about When to tell how and when not to.

The Pocketful of Posies Touring Exhibit was at the following venues:

Lexington Public Library
Newton Free Library
Harford County Public Library
Upcountry History Museum, Greenville, SC (until Feb. 14, 2016)

Made wedding and baby gifts. potholders and thousands of cheese straws.

12377981_1005756999446393_7593298812315803649_o

Greenland – Land, Sea and Ice

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Salley Mavor

Kong Oscar Fjord, Greenland

My husband Rob has spent all fall combing through the thousands of pictures he took on his trip to Greenland this September. His photographs are so spectacular, that it was a challenge to narrow it down to this selection. I hope you enjoy his tour of the amazing land, sea and ice of Greenland!

Greenland – Ittoqqortoormitt

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Salley Mavor

On his photo excursion to Greenland, my husband Rob visited the northern most village of Ittoqqortoormitt, which is settled by about 300 Inuit. The community has hunted polar bears for generations and is allowed an annual quota of 35 hides. Even in mid September, there were still patches of snow scattered about. I must point out again that there is nothing green about Greenland.

As he walked around, Rob met and photographed people he saw outside, mostly men. They did their best to communicate with sign language and a minimum of English. I hope you enjoy this glimpse at a unique place and people!

Polar bear hide

View from Kong Oscar Fjord

Greenland reflections

Posted on December 20, 2015 by Salley Mavor

My husband, Rob Goldsborough went on a trip to Greenland in September. He and about a dozen photographers traveled aboard a small cruise ship, into several fjords on the west end of Scorespy Sound. The group took daily excursions on inflatable zodiacs, which brought them closer to land and floating ice.

Rob described this northern landscape as being different from what we saw in Antarctica (see posts here). Both had tons of ice, but there was more bare ground in Greenland during this time of year. Of course, there’s nothing green in sight! The story goes that early explorers named it Greenland in hopes of attracting European settlers. Rob visited a village, which I’ll show in another post. For now, I hope you enjoy his beautiful series of reflections taken from the zodiac.

Scotland (Oct. 2015) misc. & video

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Salley Mavor

Glencoe and window in St. Margaret’s Chapel in Edinburgh Castle.

Isle of Skye.

The Great Hall in Edinburgh Castle.

My husband Rob made the following video, which is a composite of our 2 trips to Scotland this year. In June, we hiked the Great Glen Way, along the Caledonian Canal in the Highlands. Then, in Sept./Oct. we traveled with a WGBH Learning Tour, which focused on Scottish music. The video soundtrack includes live music we recorded during the evening performances. The musicians are credited at the end of the video, including the teenage students at the National Centre of Excellence for Traditional Scottish Music in Plockton.

Scotland (Oct. 2015) doorways

Posted on December 10, 2015 by Salley Mavor

Can’t help taking pictures of doorways…

Scotland (Oct. 2015) street scenes

Posted on December 6, 2015 by Salley Mavor

Portree on the Isle of Skye and the streets of Edinburgh…

And rows of houses in the quaint village of Plockton. See more scenes of Plockton here.

To keep up with new posts, please subscribe to this blog (top right column on the home page). Your contact info will not be sold or shared. If you’d like to see more frequent photos tracking the projects in my studio, please follow me on Facebook and/or Instagram

Scotland (Oct. 2015) signs

Posted on December 3, 2015 by Salley Mavor

Here’s a group of signs that caught my eye during our travels in Scotland.

Scotland (Oct. 2015) Iona

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Salley Mavor

One of the special places we visited in Scotland was the small Isle of Iona. The Irish Saint Columba founded a monastery there in the 6th century and it remained a center of Gaelic Monasticism for 4 centuries.

We couldn’t have wished for a more gorgeous, sparkling day to take a ferry ride and walk around the village.

The Iona Abbey is a short hike from the ferry dock.

The 8th Duke and Duchess of Argyle are buried inside.

We wanted to stay longer in this tranquil spot, but had to catch the ferry back.

Posies exhibit in Greenville, SC

Posted on November 25, 2015 by Salley Mavor

Last week, Rob and I visited Greenville, South Carolina, where I gave a talk in conjunction with my Pocketful of Posies exhibit. It was a pleasure to meet the people who came to see the show and hear about my work at the Upcountry History Museum last Thursday. Before heading inside the museum, I couldn’t resist standing next to the enormous banner outside.

The museum staff did a superb job hanging the show! I’m happy to say that it’s the most creative and professionally presented installation I’ve seen on the five-year tour. There’s plenty of time to visit the show, which is on display until Feb. 14th, 2016. This could very well be its last venue, as I’m no longer soliciting new locations. Of course, it could be a different story if an invitation from a great place with funds to ship the artwork comes forth.

The bold choice of lilac purple walls really sets off the natural golden brown wooden frames. They covered one area with a 6′ blow-up of the “Wise Old Owl” and a screen, which shows my Rabbitat video and Felt Wee Folk book trailer on a loop. Signage with different versions and information about the rhymes hang below the framed illustrations. For this, the previous exhibitor, the Bel Air Library in Maryland generously shared their research about the rhymes with the Upcountry History Museum. To give an idea of how I make the figures, they laid out step-by-step parts in a display case. They’re the same ones I made and photographed for Felt Wee Folk. And last but not least, the black box theater lighting makes everything pop and sparkle!

Pocketful of Posies, Oct. 17, 2015 – Feb. 14, 2016 at the Upcountry Museum – Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina.

We really enjoyed our visit and took a few extra days to see a friend and relative in the area. I spent a wonderful day near Columbia with my cousin, also named Salley with an “e”. Her 5-year-old grand-daughter is also named Salley, so our family surname continues to be passed down. Our grandmothers were 2 of the 5 independently minded, high spirited Salley sisters of Orangeburg, SC. In this circa 1900 photo, my cousin’s grandmother has their father’s arm around her and mine is standing, 2nd from the left.

And we had a fantastic visit with my RISD classmate, Niki Bonnett, who lives in Asheville, NC. What an artsy, fun town! Years ago, Niki designed the poster and catalog for my pins, which you can see here. We could have soaked up the southern hospitality for a bit longer, but had to fly home.