Author Archives: Salley Mavor

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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.

this library’s special

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This past Sunday, the Woods Hole Public Library held a wonderful reception to celebrate my most recent book, Pocketful of Posies. Words cannot express how honored I feel by Molly Bang and my other friends who spoke. I was so touched and humbled by the outpouring of support from the people who came to see my artwork and hear the presentation.  It makes me proud to have grown up and live in such a creative little corner of the world. Thank you, Terry McKee for conjuring up and arranging this wonderful event!
 
 
Here I am, signing books at the circulation desk.
 
 
Some very special people came, like my RISD teacher and agent, Judy Sue Goodwin-Sturges. She talked about the beginning of our relationship 35 years ago and passed around “Mr. Mole”, which I had handed in (after pulling an all-nighter) for a class assignment (sorry, no picture).
 
 
The amazing April Prince, who writes, edits and makes things happen at Studio Goodwin-Sturges also showed up.
 
 
The finished and framed Rabbitat picture was displayed on an easel and about half of the original fabric relief illustrations from Pocketful of Posies lined the library’s main room on top of the book shelves. I’ve had to take away the artwork, but one piece will remain for a few months, the illustration from There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. People loved seeing the Rabbitat film (read posts about it here) and commented that it gave them a clearer insight and appreciation of what I do. I haven’t had time to put the film on this blog or my website, but the filmmaker, Daniel Cojanu is showing it on vimeo here. 
 
 
 I wish I had more pictures of the people who came to the event and the cookies Terry and I made, but my husband Rob (the designated photographer) and I were much too busy participating in the festivity. On Monday, Rob and I drove artwork to Vermont, where my show Salley Mavor: Sewn Stories will be showing at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center until February, 2012. Yes, we’ll be returning for the opening on Friday. It’s been quite the week, month, year!

Rabbitat film premiere at Woods Hole Library

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Rabbitat film by UnderCurrent Productions

This is a week of waiting for delivery trucks to pull up into my driveway. Eleven boxes full of artwork from Pocketful of Posies are in transit from Iowa and a stack of UV Plexiglas is loaded in a truck barreling down some US highway between Illinois and Massachusetts. It seems that no matter how well one plans ahead, everything happens at once, at the last-minute.

I’m confident that by Sunday, July 10th, the artwork will have arrived, so I can display it at the Woods Hole Public Library reception as advertised.  (Update: they’ve just arrived) The UV Plexiglas isn’t so important because I can always put a temporary piece of regular glass in Rabbitat’s frame. I ordered UV Plexi for every piece that will be in the show at the Brattleboro Museum and was hoping to replace all the glass before driving the artwork up to Vermont next Monday. Confused yet? Without boring you with any more logistical details, let’s just say that this is a very busy week with 2 events occurring back-to-back, with no time for breathing (or stitching) in between. I did manage to finish a wedding banner for my son’s friend, which I’ll show in a future post. Also, my friend Terry and I made cookies ahead and they’re in the freezer. The good news is that the 7.25 minute Rabbitat film is finished and ready for its premiere at the Woods Hole Public Library Reception.

And yes, I’ll eventually put the Rabbitat film on this blog and/or my website when I have time to figure out how. (Update: See the film and read related posts on this new page) 

Here’s the schedule:

Sunday, July 10th 5:00 – 7:00 pm. Woods Hole Public Library, Woods Hole, Massachusetts,  Reception to celebrate the Boston Globe Horn Book Award and Golden Kite Award for Pocketful of Posies. Original illustrations from the book will be displayed and I’ll give a brief talk. A short film about the making of my newest piece, Rabbitat will be shown.

July 15, 2011 – February 5, 2012 – Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, Vermont,  Salley Mavor – Sewn Stories. (exhibit includes 8 original illustrations from Pocketful of Posies , 11 other fabric relief pictures and the Rabbitat film)  

And later this fall:

October 15, 2011 – 3:00 pm, Brattleboro Literary Festival, Brattleboro, Vermont. I’ll give a slide talk about my work at the Brattleboro Museum.

book signing Friday

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detail from “Pocketful of Posies” 2010

Summer seems to come all of a sudden here on Cape Cod. As soon as school gets out, you feel a surge of activity and many more people around. The calendar is already filled with non stop parties and events, all crammed into 2 months. I’ll be doing some Pocketful of Posies book signings in the area in July and August, the first of which is this Friday, July 1st at the Farmer’s Market in Osterville.

 Here’s a list of times and places:

Friday, July 1, 11 am to noon-Books By the Sea, Osterville Farmer’s Market, on the grounds of the Osterville Historical Society, 155 West Bay Road. In case of rain, signing will move to 846 Main St. , Osterville, MA. 

Monday, July 18, 10 am to noon- Pondside Gifts, Hearth and Kettle Plaza, 1198 Main St. (Rt. 28) South Yarmouth, MA.

Saturday, August 27, 11 am to 1 pm – Eight Cousins Bookstore, 189 Main St., Falmouth MA.

North Fork, Long Island (porches)

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Last week, Rob and I spent a few days at the North Fork of Long Island, NY. We didn’t venture far from the ferry dock at Orient Point before a “restaurant” sign led us to the Orient General Store, where we had some tasty sandwiches.

Rob and Salley at Orient General Store

I took a ton of photos, mostly of houses in the area, which I’ve divided into categories, this one focusing on porches. I’ll be showing others in the next few posts.

 
Some were well kept …
 
 
 
and others were more ramshackle, which I like, too.
 
 
The rooster and convertible drew me to this one, along with the color combination.
 
 
I walked around this neighborhood early in the morning.
 
 
The air was still and sleepy.
 
 
 
 

30th wedding anniversary

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Today is our 30th anniversary! To celebrate, Rob and I are going on a little trip to Long Island, NY. Ok, I know what some of you are thinking? Isn’t Long Island full of Levittown style track houses? Well, we’re going to the northern end, which we’re reaching by ferry from New London, CT. I’ll come back with pictures to show what we find. Anyway, I thought this would be a good opportunity to show the dolls I made for our wedding.

At the wedding, the dolls were hanging in a basket with helium  balloons floating above and cheese cakes below.

The dolls and basket have been gathering a coat of dust over the years, as we have also become gray.

They were made with stuffed nylon stockings, which was all the rage back then. 

I made my own wedding dress and Rob’s shirt and vest, so the dolls had matching outfits. Happy summer solstice!

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

wedding banner: Sky & Daniel

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It’s wedding season once again. For a gift, I like to give the bride and groom a felt banner with their names and the wedding date. Sky is an old family friend and we’re off to her wedding tomorrow. I’m sure that the day will be as unique and wonderful as she is!

There’s a lot of showing and no telling in this post. I’ve explained more about how I wrap the letters, etc. in earlier post about other wedding banners I’ve done. See the banners for Karen & Graham and Leigh & Brendan .

To keep up with new posts, subscribe to this blog (top right column on the home page). If you’d like to see more frequent photos tracking the projects in my studio, please follow me on Facebook and/or Instagram.

Posies wins Boston Globe-Horn Book Award!

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WOW! My stitches are bursting open with excitement over this news! I’ve been holding my breath for a week, ever since Margaret Raymo, my editor at Houghton Mifflin called to tell me that Pocketful of Posies won the 2011 Boston Globe-Horn Book award in the picture book category. I answered her phone call while making soup from left-over sword fish. When I got the call about SCBWI’s Golden Kite award, I was making Portuguese kale soup. The message is clearly to keep making soup! Sometimes I think my artwork is like making soup, adding this and that, trying out different combinations of materials, sprinkling in a ton of French knots and then letting it stew until done. Thank you so much to the Horn Book panel of judges for selecting and recognizing my work. It feels like a door has been opened and I don’t have to hang out at the fringes anymore, even though I like being in the outskirts. (fringes, outskirts–I must be over-thinking the textile connection) With this new award, there’s lots to celebrate!

I don’t feel the need to do another book right away and will continue to explore new subject matter, experiment with materials, and above all, play with a needle and thread!

UPDATE: Autographed copies of Pocketful of Posies are available in my shop.