Close-ups (sheep)

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Salley Mavor

It’s time to bring back the Close-ups. I started the series 2 years ago, when I fell off a ladder and broke my wrist. Using one hand, I wrote about and showed pictures of past projects, organized by theme. It helped me get through the 4 month recovery period, when I couldn’t sew. See the whole Close-ups series here.

Right now, I’m in hibernation, making parts that will be used in an animation my husband Rob and I are doing. This “little” project is growing into more than a winter activity, though, and it will be a long while before we’re finished. I want to wait until we have a finished film (probably a few minutes long) before we show anything, including process photos. I’ve got other art related commitments to take care of this year, so I’ll soon have to put the animation project aside until I have more time to get totally immersed.

Back to sheep–which are giving birth at this time of year. Maybe it’s their expressions, or their ears, or their white fluffy body balls with stick legs, but sheep are very satisfying to portray. This first image at the top of the post is a detail from my picture book Mary Had a Little Lamb. See more pictures from the book here. The one below is part of an embroidered piece I made in art school in 1974.

These sheep from my 1986 Noah’s Ark fabric relief, show the beginning of my love affair with French knots.

Here’s a simpler, appliqued version, which decorates a felt purse in my 2003 how-to book, Felt Wee Folk.

Then, there are several details from nursery rhymes in my 2010 picture book, Pocketful of Posies.

black cat pin

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Salley Mavor

I gave a talk today at the First Congregational Church in my home town of Falmouth, MA. The audience included many needle workers who were very curious about how I made some of the pieces I showed in my slide presentation. Jo Ann Coleman brought a black velveteen cat pin to show. It’s one I had made over 30 years ago for her son, who was a classmate growing up in Falmouth. In the late 70’s, early 80’s, I made custom pins for customers who send photos of their cats. I remember seeing the picture of this big black one with a white beard. It’s wonderful that these pins I made decades ago keep coming back into my life! You can read more about the pins here.

2 more weeks to see “Sewn Stories” in Brattleboro, VT

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Salley Mavor

Self Portrait detail

My show, Salley Mavor: Sewn Stories will be at the Brattleboro Museum in Vermont for just 2 more weeks. It’s a wonderful little museum in a great town! Many people have seen the exhibit since it opened last July , but I know there are others who have been thinking about going, so now is the time. The show will be there through Sunday, February 5th, 2012.

The show includes several originals from Pocketful of Posies as well as illustrations from some of my other books. My Self Portrait: A Personal History of Fashion and Rabbitat are on display, too. After the show ends, the self-portrait will be returning to its semi-permanent home at the Woods Hole Public Library.

I don’t usually toot my own horn so loudly, but I want to share a few sentences from this review of the show, which came out in Art New England:

“In astonishing detail, Mavor’s work above all conveys an artist who is entirely present. Beyond merely illustrating a story or poem, she brings us into it. Engaging with these works is like searching for stars in the night sky–at first we don’t recognize the extent of the delicate endless stitching, but as we keep our eyes focused, more and more appear. Surely her thread is gossamer, her fingers unimaginably nimble.”

Piano Pin

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Salley Mavor

An old friend asked me to make a pin for his wife. Even though I don’t usually do commissions, I couldn’t say no to this request.

David Wiesner (the amazing children’s book illustrator) and I were in the same class at RISD (1978) and he bought some of my pins back then. See posts about my pins here. He gave them to his future wife, Kim Kahng, who was a student at Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia during that time. At RISD, David and I were lucky enough to have David McCaulay as a teacher. See the pyramid pin I gave him here. Several years ago, David and Kim’s apartment was destroyed by a fire and everything was lost, including the pins. Years passed and David was reminded of the pins when we recently got back in touch. He thought it would be nice for Kim to have a new pin. I found out that she is a pianist and since I had just returned from visiting Istanbul, where carpets are sold at every street corner, I made a piano flying on a carpet. The pin is about 1 1/4″ x 2″. As you can see I made use of hooks and eyes. David reports that Kim is wearing the pin every day! I’m amazed at how the pins I made 35 years ago still hold memories.

Horn Book poster winner!

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Salley Mavor

I am overwhelmed by the response to the Horn Book poster giveaway! Thank you to everyone (107) who entered. I am very touched by so many lengthy, thoughtful and generous comments on the giveaway post, well beyond the usual minimal missives.

Drum roll, please. The winner is Marianne Monaghan! I’ll notify her by e-mail and find out where to send the poster. Anyone who’d like to buy posters ($7 within the US, $10 outside the US) from the Horn Book can call (Eastern Standard Time) or email any of the following:

800-325-9558 ext 7942, 614-873-7942, info@hbook.com

I gave a poster to Woods Hole Library Director Margaret McCormick, to hang up in our library.

I just had to show you this picture of one-year-old Helen dressed as a lamb, which was in the most recent Woods Hole Library newsletter. Her mother, Kellie Porter was working at the desk in the library when I brought in the poster. Kellie and I were both surprised to see the similarity between her daughter/lamb and my little girl/lamb swinging from the tree in the poster. I made the artwork for the magazine this past summer and Kellie hadn’t seen the Horn Book cover until I showed her the poster, so the resemblance was unexpected. By the way, Helen’s costume is not homemade, but I think it could easily be copied. I wish I had thought to add a collar and bell!

Close-ups (winter solstice)

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Salley Mavor

The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper

And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.

Salley, age 8

They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.

detail from “One Misty, Moisty Morning” in “Pocketful of Posies” 2010

And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us – listen!

detail from “Little Jack Horner” in “Pocketful of Posies” 2010

All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.

detail of balsam pillow in “Felt Wee Folk” 2003

And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.

detail from “Little Jack Horner” in “Pocketful of Posies” 2010

Autographed copies of Pocketful of Posies are available from my Esty Shop.

Felt Wee Folk around the kitchen table

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Salley Mavor

fairies from “Felt Wee Folk”

Sometimes I look at my blog statistics to find out how people find me. Quite frequently searches like “pipe cleaner dolls”or “wee felt people” bring them here. This week’s wordy favorite was “how to wrap embroidery floss around pipe cleaners for fairies”.

Last week, I received the most wonderful e-mail message from Michele in Nebraska, who wrote, “I didn’t do anything else yesterday evening except enjoy every single thing on your blog.” She went on describe how she and her family have enjoyed the doll projects in Felt Wee Folk.

“I purchased your book when my daughter was 15 (she is now 20 and a new mother). She had a close friend spend the night once that year and I brought my new book, along with lots of felt, threads, combed wool (I spin) and all manner of goodies, into the kitchen with the two girls and announced we were going to make tiny dolls. You should have seen their teenage faces! At first hesitant and then fascinated and completely absorbed, those two girls insisted on staying up till 2:30 in the morning so their little people could be finished! We talked about everything and laughed and laughed and when we were done, we sat and looked at our little people with the greatest satisfaction and joy. Just recently, my daughter’s same good friend came to our house to visit and told me that night spent here was the most fun she has ever had and that she felt so much love in our home. She has her little Wee Folk doll still and wants to make more with her children when she has them.

I just thought you might like to hear that your art has the most profound effect on others in such a positive and loving way. Thank you for your years of sharing. Thank you for leaving your examples of doll art on your website as inspiration for those of us who cannot get enough of them. I am sure you will be blessed in all your new endeavors.

And finally thank you for being true to yourself, for in doing that, what you have created is truly magical.”

Stories like Michele’s make me feel that sharing my fantasy/play world is truly worth it. It warms my heart to think of kitchen tables around the world scattered with silk flower petals, pipe cleaners and acorn caps. I can imagine faces of all ages and colors bowed in concentration and busy hands engrossed in making wee dolls. It’s been almost 9 years since Felt Wee Folk was released by C&T Publishing. Since 2003, the book has been reprinted many times, selling over 50,000 copies, which is way more than any of my children’s books.

Pansy, the last fairy

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Salley Mavor

For the past few months, I’ve been wrapping legs, sewing felt tunics and painting faces for a new Ltd. Edition fairy doll. During those months, I found it harder and harder to find the time to work on the 25 dolls and kept putting them aside. Even though I still like making them, I’d rather be working on other projects, so I made the decision that PANSY would be the last fairy design in this series. It’s true, I won’t be making any more dolls to sell. Last week, I sent an e-mail announcement to those who asked to be put on a mailing list and all 25 have already sold. It has been a joy to create the dolls and I thank all of you who have purchased other wee folk characters. Over the past 8 years, I’ve made 21 different designs and sewed 750 individual dolls.

Since the age of 12, I’ve been making and selling things, often mass producing large quantities of the same item. My little factory began with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band playing on the record player and now I work to the sound of Rosanne Cash. It’s time for a change, but I wanted to make one more fairy before devoting 100% of my studio time to my fabric relief artwork. Here are some photos of PANSY in the making.

A visit to Mimi’s

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Salley Mavor

I’m still catching up on writing about last week activities and will soon get to last weekend’s Conn. Book Fair and also post more pictures from my trip to Turkey.

I visited the talented doll and pin cushion maker Mimi Kirchner in Arlington, Mass. As you may remember from previous posts, Mimi inspired me to start this blog. This is the first time I’ve seen her new studio since she moved in. It was good to see that she has totally taken over the room. Unlike her previous quarters in the attic, she has heat and windows to look out of! Like her attic space, it’s chockfull of materials and inspiring objects. Downstairs, her inventory of Wee World pin cushions in tea cups were lined up on the piano.

And some dolls were piled in a wicker baby buggy. You can read more about Mimi and her work on her blog here.

visit to The Horn Book

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Salley Mavor

Last Tuesday, I visited the Horn Book Magazine’s office in Boston. I went to pick up my original artwork, which will be on the cover of their January/February issue. Designer Lolly Robinson showed it to me on the computer and it looks great! Editor in Chief Roger Sutton and I held up the original for a snapshot before I took it back home.

UPDATE: See photos and read commentary about how I made the illustration for The Horn Book cover in this post.
The original piece is now in a private collection.

The whole staff had lunch together around the big wooden table and we talked about our common love–children’s books. There were many posters and magazine covers hung up around the space. I was happy to see my college friend Beth Krommes’ cover from her Caldecott winning The House in the Night. (top row, center left). Her new book, Swirl by Swirl is amazing!

Lolly took a closeup photo of me sewing a little hand. It’ll appear alongside my Horn Book Award speech, which will be printed in the January/February issue. I don’t have a picture of the thread wrapping process in such small-scale, so its nice to be able to show it here.

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