Woods Hole: porches

Posted on October 10, 2010 by Salley Mavor

I live on Cape Cod, near the village of Woods Hole, where I grew up. With several scientific institutions clustered on a tiny peninsula, Woods Hole is much more than a tourist town or the gateway to Martha’s Vineyard. My biologist grandfather began coming here about 100 years ago to set up a summer laboratory. Later, my father stayed to work in oceanographic research and our family lived in the village year round.

Lately, I’ve been riding my bicycle around the familiar streets, taking pictures of sights I find interesting and memorable, like this series of porches.

School St.

Middle St.

Quissett Ave.

Woods Hole Yacht Club, Bar Neck Rd.

Doll Collection: small wooden folk dolls

Posted on October 6, 2010 by Salley Mavor

This set of standing wooden folk dolls are a mystery to me. I found them in a box of other miscellaneous stuff, while cleaning out my parents’ house. They are small, about 2″ tall and would make fun cake decorations. Helen, a fellow blogger (here) who knows a lot about souvenir dolls, thinks they may be Hungarian or Polish because of the red boots and dark hair.

Since Helen pointed out the red boots, I’ve been flooded with memories of seeing Hungarian dance performances as a child. Besides wearing eye-catching red boots, the dancers’ costumes had full puffy petticoats under their skirts. I also remember seeing the women’s long braids flying out as they twirled. My parents were avid international folk dancers and would bring us to watch and participate in folk dance events. I don’t remember seeing these dolls as a child, but their red boots triggered a memory.

Bike path: Pokeweed

Posted on October 3, 2010 by Salley Mavor

This time of year, pokeweed are all along the bike path calling out for attention with their bright pink stems and deep purple berries. They are like 60’s fashion models in lime green dresses and hot pink tights, with bead jewelry to match.

Indians used the pokeweed berry juices for staining feathers, arrowshafts and garments. The plant’s roots and berries are regarded as poisonous when eaten by humans, but Indians and early American settlers used the root in poultices and remedies for skin diseases and rheumatism.

Rose Hips

Posted on August 11, 2010 by Salley Mavor

Rose hips are everywhere this summer. The rosa rugosa plants are not native, but brought over from Asia hundreds of years ago. They love our climate and grow like weeds along the bike path, on road sides and along the edge of the beach. First, they bloom with the most brilliant deep pink flowers.

And then form rose hips that look good enough to eat, although they don’t taste very good. Years ago, I made the mistake of calling these beach plums (which are a totally different edible fruit), but the “botany police” corrected me.

They turn wonderful shades of orange and red and look as exotic as sea creatures, like mini octopi.

This fairy is in my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk .

Inspiration: wild flowers on bike path

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Salley Mavor

Sunday was another beautiful morning on the bike path to Woods Hole. All around me there were people setting up traffic cones and water stations for the triathlon. I managed to take a few pictures before the race started at 7:30. I’ve just been informed by a reader that the invasive knapweed below is a neuro-toxin and should not be handled!

Young Queen Anne’s Lace looks like an umbrella forced inside out by the wind.

And then later, the flower forms into a properly domed umbrella.

Pocketful of Borders: Hey, Diddle, Diddle!

Posted on July 18, 2010 by Salley Mavor

board book version

The next border to finish up for Pocketful of Posies: A Traveling Exhibit is the illustration for the rhyme, “Hey, Diddle, Diddle!”. The new book includes all of the rhymes from my board book series, but they are represented by new illustrations. I really liked compressing the scene into one image, instead of stringing out the action over several pages. Most of the main characters from “Hey, Diddle, Diddle!” are similar to the ones in my board book version, with the exception of the cat, which is made in a different style. The plate is made from polymer clay and the spoon is a doll house miniature.

detail from " Pocketful of Posies" Houghton Mifflin 2010

cat from "Pocketful of Posies"

The new book, Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes includes many cats made in my new Halloween costume style. The head is a wooden bead, with face painting and a felt hood with ears attached. The cat’s paws and chest are whitened with acrylic paint. The fiddle is felt, with a thread-wrapped wire neck and bow. The illustration’s existing brown border was wide enough to cut in a wavy pattern, so I didn’t add another felt border. After several tries with different colors, I chose a blue pima cotton for the blanket stitched edging.

I then embroidered my initials and the date with some variegated dark purple raw silk thread. It called out for embellishment, so I started doodling along the border with light blue raw silk thread.

The light blue line lacked contrast, so I outlined it with a single strand of orange embroidery floss.

For the corners, I added spirals and unintentionally doodled a pattern in the Celtic style. After outlining a few sections, I decided that the orange floss attracted too much attention, so I ripped it all out. That’s what is so great about stitching, you can change your mind mid stream. Borders, like any kind of framing, should compliment the artwork, not compete.

I thought that a little height and firmness would perk up the border, so I added 32 gauge florist’s wire to the outside edge.

I then covered the wire with 2-ply orange/red variegated embroidery floss.

At this point, I was glad that I’d removed the orange outline around the doodles and saved the color for the outside edge, which defined the border against the upholstery fabric background.

I bent the wavy wire so that it lifted up the outside edge.

Here is the finished “Hey, Diddle, Diddle!” piece, ready to frame for the traveling exhibit of original art.

My husband, Rob, has been making shadow box style frames in the basement. He’s doing a beautiful job and the 51 cherry wood frames are about half way done. We are both making progress toward the Sept. deadline for the first show in Falmouth.

Note: See other posts from the Pocketful of Borders series here.

Inspiration: flower garden in July

Posted on July 11, 2010 by Salley Mavor

With a good balance of sun and rain, along with warm temperatures early in the spring, it’s been an incredible garden season. Both vegetables and flowers are healthy and beautiful. At this point, I just grow flowers that are easy and take care of themselves. If they live through the winter, I divide the plants in the spring and give them away or find new ground to cover.

I forgot to cut back the trumpet vine this year and it looks more like a tree than a vine.

The clematis is so showy and brilliant purple.

Lilies are taking over!

I love the way hydrangea look at their different stages of growth. This could be clusters of french knots or seed beads.

More and more lillies.

Cedar Swamp Trail

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Salley Mavor

My husband and I went 50 miles down Cape to the National Seashore and visited a cedar swamp. The outer part of Cape Cod has low growing pines, which are stunted from the wind and salt spray coming from the Atlantic Ocean. It’s also much more sandy and open to the elements compared to the forested, sheltered and harbor filled southwestern part where we live.

The Cedar swamp is a short hike inland and downhill to a protected, peat-filled wetland. A board walk circles through the forest, so you can really see inside. This light and decay resistant wood was prized by the early European settlers and quickly cleared out of the Cape’s swamps.

The resilient cedars have returned, but the trees are no where near the 3′ in diameter that the settlers cut. The green moss-covered ground contrasted with the red tinted swamp water. A biologist friend told me that the orangey red color appears when the iron in the decaying material is oxidized.

It’s a magical place, with so many perfect areas for fairy houses. I wish that I’d brought some dolls along, to take their picture, but the park service wouldn’t have liked me dancing across the moss!

Inspiration: Roses

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Salley Mavor

Riding around on my bike in the early morning, I can’t help but revel in the show of both cultivated and wild roses around town. As a young person, I did not understand why my mother and grandmother got so excited about flowers. Sure, they were pretty, but why would you spend so much time and energy growing arranging and gazing at them? As you can see, I’ve grown into a flower freak after all! Here are some I saw and photographed in Woods Hole.

Peas in the garden

Posted on June 18, 2010 by Salley Mavor

This is the first harvest of peas from my garden this summer! Lately, I only plant snap peas, having given up on the chore of shelling regular peas. Later in the season, I’ll be shelling Lima beans, though, which are just starting to climb like Jack’s bean stalk. One pea plant is a rogue, shooting up way beyond the Burpee’s Oregon Sugar Pod II plants.

It has a pink and white flower and we shall see what kind of pea it offers.

The sugar snap peas are so tender when they’re young.

Early in the season the pea plants are healthy and lush. In a few weeks, I’ll barely be able to keep up with the picking. When the leaves are forming, they look like fans or complex origami.

The plant’s tendrils remind me of hopelessly tangled and knotted thread.

Soon, the peas will be growing so fast that I’ll miss picking them while they’re small. There will more than we can eat, so it’s blanching and freezing time! See some of my artwork that includes peas in an earlier post here.