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.

Walnut Shells

Posted on November 23, 2009 by Salley Mavor

There’s nothing like the sight of a sleeping baby. I’m constantly on the lookout for natural objects that can be used as beds for my dolls. A baby can curl up in a cradle made from half a walnut-shell.

This walnut is bigger than most that you can buy in a bag at the super market. I usually pick out the larger ones during Thanksgiving season, when the stores sell them in loose bins. I am a curious sight, digging through the box, determined to find the biggest ones. To make the nuts more easy to split open, bake them in a low oven at about 200 degrees for a few hours. They start to crack along the center seam and you can then break them open with a knife. You can also cut the shells open with a fine saw. In the above illustration from my up-coming book, Pocketful of Posies (Sept. 2010), I sawed half a walnut-shell in half again lengthwise, so that the side could be seen in relief.

This blue suited baby is lying on real reindeer moss in a walnut-shell. He is part of an illustration from my board book, Wee Willie Winkie, on the page that says, “Are the children in their beds?” This image is available as a note card in my Etsy Shop. I edged the felt leaf with wire to give it a curvy, raised lip that fits the shape of the walnut. You can glue the shell in place or drill holes and sew it like a button.

detail from “You and Me Poems of Friendship” 1997

Inspiration from France

Posted on November 22, 2009 by Salley Mavor

This fall, I traveled in France, on a barge in the canals of Burgundy. What a beautiful area, with lots of appealing doorways, ivy covered walls and even morning mist off of the canal. I’m drawn to doorways and entrances. Here are some photos I took of the sights and places I saw.

Cuisery, France

garden gate, Pont-de-Vaux, France

Cuisery, France

dirt road in the morning

Morning mist on the canal, Cuisery, France

Fairy Camp

Posted on November 20, 2009 by Salley Mavor

A few years ago Judi DeSouter sent me this photograph, enclosing a note that said, “These remind me of your fairies, but without the wings. Enjoy!”

Fairy Camp, unknown location

These girls seem transformed by their costumes and their personalities really come through in the picture. The amount of detail in the outfits is impressive, with each one being unique, right down to the little caps. I love the baggy knees on the cotton stockings. This must have been taken about 1920, judging by the hair and clothing styles. The crepe paper basket being held by one of the girls is similar to some party baskets that I found in my grandmother’s things.

holding crepe paper basket

Crepe paper baskets from my grandmother

Apple Orchard

Posted on November 19, 2009 by Salley Mavor

This piece from 1992 was inspired by some metal apple crate tags which I found on our property on Cape Cod.

APPLE ORCHARD, fabric relief by Salley Mavor, 1992, 22" x 27"

detail from APPLE ORCHARD

An apple orchard was here about 100 years ago and all that remains are these tags that appear from time to time on the ground in the woods. The metal is stamped with the names Fall Pippin, Baldwin and McIntosh. I’ve used them to frame the border, along with a kid leather lattice pie crust in a silver bracelet pie dish. The woman’s pig fabric apron is made from a childhood dress of my mother’s from about 1930.

Metal apple crate tags, pie with leather lattice crust in a silver bracelet

Apple Crate tags

Over the years I’ve accumulated kid leather gloves from my grandmother and great aunts. It seems like ladies from their era could not have too many gloves. The leather is thin and easy to cut with scissors. It can also be painted with fabric or acrylic paint.

kid leather gloves

New Ltd. Edition Fairies

Posted on November 17, 2009 by Salley Mavor

Wild haired Dahlia dolls before braiding

After a long hiatus, some new Fairies have arrived in my studio! I’ve enjoyed making this group of dolls after a break of a few years while I finished the illustrations for my new children’s book, Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes, which will be published in Sept. 2010. I’ll be showing more about the book in the future, but for now see Mimi Kirchner’s blog for a sneak peek. Here are some photos of fairy making in progress.

fairy making parts ready to be assembled

a gang of Myrtle & Moss fairies

Dahlia, ltd. edition of 25

Myrtle & Moss, ltd. edition of 16

Joining the Blogging world! Selfportrait

Posted on November 16, 2009 by Salley Mavor

detail from Self Portrait : A Personal History of Fashion 2007

This blog is an opportunity to share my creative life with you, whether you’ve seen my illustrations in children’s books, have made projects from my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk, or are a lover of embroidery and textile art. I will share pictures of my studio and work in progress, along with images and artists that I find inspirational. After years of quietly working in my own private space, I feel compelled to communicate with like-minded people, who have a passion for stitching. I plan to present current work as well as dip into the past, showing early works made during my 40 year career. It may take a while for me to become comfortable sharing my ideas and reflections in writing, as I am more content to make and show than explain in words. So, rest assured that I will be posting lots of images!

Self Portrait: a personal history of fashion, 2007

I made this piece for a self-portrait invitational show in 2007. It shows a spiral of dolls, one for each year, starting with my birth date in the center. Each figure is dressed in an outfit I would have worn that year, taken from memories, family photos or imagination. The dolls are a variation of the wee folk and fairies in my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk.

Self-Portrait detail

I made many of my original dresses and recreated them here with smaller scale fabric and embroidered wool felt. My husband, Rob, appears the year we were married and my sons, Peter and Ian, are included through the years when they were little and physically connected to me. The tatting around the outside of the circle was made by my late grandmother, Louise Salley Hartwell. The wool felt spiral is mounted on upholstery fabric, which I embellished with multicolored french knots.

When the piece is not included in one of my exhibitions, it is on semi-permanent display at the Woods Hole Public Library, Woods Hole, MA. My husband Rob and I made the following film set to music I remember hearing through the years.

Self-Portrait detail

Posters and cards are available in my Etsy Shop here.

Poster – Self Portrait

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