New Home for Self Portrait

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Salley Mavor

My Self Portrait is now on public display at the Woods Hole Public Library. It’s on semi-permanent loan and will hang there indefinitely, except when it needs to be borrowed occasionally for other shows, etc. Since many people have asked where they can see this piece, I decided to find an appropriate place where it could be shared. The library seemed a fine match, with my work in children’s books and a childhood spent visiting this library.

Salley with her Self portrait in the library

I wrote about Self Portrait: A Personal History of Fashion on my first blog post last fall, which you can see here. 18″ x 24″ posters are available from my Etsy Shop.

Woods Hole Public Library

The Woods Hole Public Library is located in Woods Hole, Massachusetts in the center of the village on Water Street. and the hours are pictured below. The Woods Hole Village Quilt, which I worked on and wrote about here, is on display as well. All are welcome to visit! I suggest that you call the library before making a trip, to make sure the piece is there, as I plan on removing it for short periods from time to time.

Woods Hole Public Library hours

Doll Collection (Scandanavian couple)

Posted on June 14, 2010 by Salley Mavor

I’d like to share these Scandinavian dolls from my family’s collection. They were either bought by my parents or grandparents in Europe. I have clear memories of playing with this pair of 5″ tall dolls. They are sturdy, with wire bodies and limbs, so they could actually do things, unlike Barbie dolls.

My blogging friend and official doll consultant, Helen from Dollzandthings says, “They look earlier than 50’s to me–maybe 40’s or even late 30’s. It is very hard to identify some of these costume/souvenir dolls because there were so many talented people making dolls–including souvenir dolls and cottage industries. Your dolls seem to have the cutest traits of all the doll makers combined: great facial expression & painting and great costuming.”
Thank you, Helen for your help. I’ll be seeking your expertise with other dolls from the collection in the future.

Their heads and bodies are covered with stockinette. The clothing is either thin wool felt or cotton. The faces are delicately painted, with some needle sculpting around the mouth and eyes. I love their wispy hair.

Wee Folk: Dandelion & Poppy

Posted on June 8, 2010 by Salley Mavor

Dandelion

This little guy was able to hold onto a dandelion long enough to take his picture. And this fairy wanted to swing on a poppy stem, but looks a bit wary. Learn how to make dolls like these from my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk: Enchanting Projects.

Red Poppy

dolls’ new home in Australia

Posted on May 18, 2010 by Salley Mavor

Lucinda Hooper sent me these photos of some Ltd. edition dolls which I sent to her in Australia. It’s fun to see Dahlia and Bud & Ivy settled in their new home on the other side of the world.

Dahlia, Bud & Ivy with Mimi Kirchner’s tiny world pin cushion

The dolls feel at home with Mimi Kirchner’s tiny world pin cushion, which also found its way from Massachusetts to Australia. See more of her pin cushions in an earlier post here. Thank you for sharing these pictures, Lucinda!

Dahlia sitting by a river in Australia

Bud & Ivy with a “river stone” cottage made by Lucinda’s Mum

Close-ups (boys)

Posted on May 16, 2010 by Salley Mavor

I’ve spent a good part of my adulthood surrounded by boys; sons, friends and nephews. They have kept me grounded and brought a counter balance to all of this girly stuff I do, like sewing and fairy dolls. Having sons has made me sensitive to the male point of view and I make an effort to include images of boys in my artwork, even though it’s easier to depict females. This first picture is from “Vineyard Family”, a piece I made as a naive young mother in 1985 and shows a rather idealized docile child.

detail from “Vineyard Family” 1995

This pair of boys are from “Fall Children” (see more here), which I made 10 years later in 1995. At this point, I’m trying to bring more motion to my figures, perhaps a more realistic reflection of children. Their sweaters are made from cotton socks and their shoes are leather.

detail from “Fall Children” 1995

Here’s George reading a book in a chair made from old worn upholstery fabric. His clothing is also made from cotton socks. The full picture can be seen here.

detail from “George’s Chair”

This boy sitting in his real stick fort is from my book, You and Me: Poems of Friendship.

detail from “You and Me: Poems of Friendship” 1997

This is my favorite boy, “Dusty Bill from Vinegar Hill”, an unfamiliar rhyme I found and loved. His hair is made from a spiky acorn cap, which a friend sent from California. Even though I never learned how to crochet, I figured out how to construct his bag using a regular needle. Bill’s in an illustration from my upcoming book, Pocketful of Posies, which you can find out about here.

detail from “Pocketful of Posies” 2010

Note: See other posts in the Close-ups series archive here.

Doll Collection (Baltic twins)

Posted on May 14, 2010 by Salley Mavor

This boy and girl pair is from my family’s doll collection. From the look of their outfits, they may be from Russia or the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia.

They’re doll house size, about 4″ tall and have cloth wrapped wire limbs. The heads are painted plaster and the girl has a braided white blond wig. I remember playing with them as a child and always loved their yellow crocheted booties. The clothing is crudely made, but the their delicate features, well made heads, wigs and shoes are examples of fine craftsmanship.

Close-ups (mushrooms)

Posted on April 12, 2010 by Salley Mavor

Ah, the fascination of mushrooms, with their bizarre, alien quality. This group includes some real mushrooms I found and used as props and some I made. The first photgraph is of some mushroom houses that I made for a scene that was used in an educational reader illustration in 1979. To see more mushroom houses and read about the story in another post go here.

mushroom houses, 1979

Skip ahead 20 years to this photograph, which shows some of the first Blossom Fairies that I offered as kits in 1999.

Blossom Fairies on a mushroom, 1999

This is a pair of wee folk sitting in a cluster of mushrooms that were growing so fast that I had to run home and get my camera before they changed shape.

Wee Folk under mushroom, 2002

I molded the next mushroom from clay, glued kid leather on top and painted the leather red. For the photo shoot, I put some drops of glycerine on the mushroom to look like rain.

mushroom made from kid leather, 2005

This last one is from my up-coming book, Pocketful of Posies (Sept. 2010).

detail from "Pocketful of Posies" 2010

Note: See other posts in the Close-ups series archive here.

Doll Collection

Posted on April 7, 2010 by Salley Mavor

Among my family treasures is a doll collection that came from my grandmother, Louise Salley Hartwell. My first name comes from my grandmother’s maiden name. As children, we weren’t allowed to touch most of the dolls, but just gaze at them high up in shelves. She found many of the dolls in her travels and collected them throughout her long life of almost 100 years. Here is a photograph of my grandmother on her Gramma Lou’s lap, with one of her sisters. Gramma Lou lived with the Salley family in Orangeburg, SC and taught all 5 daughters how to sew.

my grandmother, Louise Salley Hartwell, on lap (1892)

Here’s a group shot of some of the dolls from the collection.

from my grandmother's doll collection

This wooden doll is about 10″ tall and most likely has been in the family its whole life. I have no information about her, but she looks very old.

Her face is painted simply, but with an intense expression and it looks like moths have eaten her wool felt hat.

Inside the silk dress hem is a cloth tag that has this written: 35-25:100-M in red ink. Her legs and arms are simple wooden pegs.

She has such a delicate little sliver of a nose attached to the wooden head.

Fairie Festival (wee folk studio)

Posted on April 5, 2010 by Salley Mavor

Wee Folk Studio went to the May Day Fairie Festival for a few years when we were still making fairy kits. We set up a tent and displayed many fairy related items. There were Blossom fairy kits, Ltd. edition dolls, note cards and books for sale. We don’t sell at fairs anymore, so we won’t be there this year, but I highly recommend going if you are at all interested in fairies and fantasy. The fair will be held April 30 – May 2nd this year at Spoutwood Farm in Pennsylvania.

Along with the 12 x 15 canvas tent, we transported a trailer full of trees, branches and vines to make an arched entryway. For me, decorating the tent , inside and out was as much an art project as making miniature dolls and illustrations.

Inside our tent, we set up tables and hung ivy and flower garlands. Here I am, early in the display phase, with the tree stump base.

We brought boxes of moss to use around the tree stump display, which I sprayed with water all weekend.

Some customers came in wearing these wonderful bark back packs. They said that they made them at a workshop.

Close-ups (windows)

Posted on March 16, 2010 by Salley Mavor

Windows are opportunities to go from one world and into another. They are like mini stages, complete with curtains. I also like the way they provide a structure for bringing pattern and color into a scene. This series of window close-ups are all from children’s books I’ve illustrated. The first one is from You and Me: Poems of Friendship. There are clay “brick” beads framing the window and the ones on the wall are painted on gray felt.

Illustration from "You and Me: Poems of Friendship" 1997

The next two are from the board book, Wee Willie Winkie. The window box is made of wire wrapped in embroidery floss and the fence is a row of budding branches.