wee folk sprouting up all over

Posted on May 22, 2016 by Salley Mavor

I can’t remember a more glorious spring here on Cape Cod! The days are clear and warm, but not too hot, with zero humidity. And the yard is full of perfectly scaled vegetation and flowers for wee folk to ramble through, including bugle weed, forget-me-nots and buttercups. Here’s a selection of characters who escaped from my studio into the outdoors, some from my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk – New Adventures.

How about a lattice topped pie in an acorn cap?

Poppies are ready to pop.

Little Red Riding Hood makes her way across the bugle weed forest…

And a fairy bride and groom dance through a field of buttercups!

Greenland – Land, Sea and Ice

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Salley Mavor

Kong Oscar Fjord, Greenland

My husband Rob has spent all fall combing through the thousands of pictures he took on his trip to Greenland this September. His photographs are so spectacular, that it was a challenge to narrow it down to this selection. I hope you enjoy his tour of the amazing land, sea and ice of Greenland!

Scotland (Oct. 2015) misc. & video

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Salley Mavor

Glencoe and window in St. Margaret’s Chapel in Edinburgh Castle.

Isle of Skye.

The Great Hall in Edinburgh Castle.

My husband Rob made the following video, which is a composite of our 2 trips to Scotland this year. In June, we hiked the Great Glen Way, along the Caledonian Canal in the Highlands. Then, in Sept./Oct. we traveled with a WGBH Learning Tour, which focused on Scottish music. The video soundtrack includes live music we recorded during the evening performances. The musicians are credited at the end of the video, including the teenage students at the National Centre of Excellence for Traditional Scottish Music in Plockton.

Scotland – June 2015: landscapes

Posted on August 4, 2015 by Salley Mavor

Scotlandlandscape-1-8 We hiked the Great Glen Way through rain, fierce wind, fog and occasional sunshine. Every day, the scenery along the Caledonian Canal, from Fort William to Inverness was different and magnificent. Except for the iconic Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness (below), I have trouble remembering exactly where most of these photos were taken, but they are located somewhere along our route. I hope that you enjoy the tour!

Scotland – June 2015: moss

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Salley Mavor

One fringe benefit of Scotland’s damp climate is moss. And we saw lots of it along the pathways of the Great Glen Way. What a magical sight!

Up and fluttering

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Salley Mavor

When we got home from Sunday’s opening reception for the Fairy Houses of Highfield Hall exhibit, I told Rob, “It’s so good to have the show finally up and running.” He said, “You mean “up and fluttering.” Yes, this collection of fairy houses is causing quite a stir here at the top of Highfield Drive, with more than a thousand visitors already. The display will be set up all summer, until August 31st, 2015. I recommend visiting sooner than later, because of weather related deterioration of the houses.

The morning rain cleared by noon, creating a perfect afternoon for families and friends to stroll around the grounds, searching for the 32 fanciful dwellings. You could see groups of all ages following the tour map. And everyone was smiling! It turned out to be a social gathering, too, with neighbors and acquaintances running into each other. One woman said, “I’m so glad to live in Falmouth, where we have a wonderfully creative community that puts on events like this!” She made me feel part of something bigger than just a group of people who like to make little worlds out in the woods. In recent years, I think that the fairy house concept has entered the collective imagination, bringing a much-needed lightness and sense of wonder. I owe a big thank you to all of the house builders who contributed their time and creative genius to making this show such a success!

I hope you enjoy this set of photos of people interacting with some of the houses. More posts with close-ups of the houses themselves will be coming soon.

FairyHouse23

Scotland – June 2015: woods

Posted on June 23, 2015 by Salley Mavor

During our trip to Scotland, we spent a week in the Highlands, hiking along the Great Glen Way, from Fort William to Inverness. At 10 to 12 miles a day, it was a lot of work, but we saw some beautiful areas of wilderness that we wouldn’t have witnessed otherwise. At the beginning of the journey, it was too rainy to get out a camera. On clearer days, I found a new wondrous site to photograph at every bend in the path. We traveled through all kinds of woods, with moss in abundance. I could imagine fairy house neighborhoods everywhere! Speaking of fairy houses, the Fairy Houses of Highfield Hall exhibit opens on Sunday, June 28th, with an artist reception at 1:00 pm. I’ll be there, along with a fantastic collection of 32 houses and their builders. More about that coming soon!

France (misc.)

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Salley Mavor

Toc, toc, qui est la? It seems fitting to start this post with an inviting door knocker, which we saw many examples of around France. Here’s the last selection of miscellaneous photographs I took last fall during our trip to Provence and along the Canal du Midi. There are doors, gates, grape vines, mermaids and vegetable gardens that somehow touched my fancy. I’ve enjoyed bringing you along on this visit to beautiful France!

France (landscapes)

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Salley Mavor

Let’s go back to our October ’14 trip to France–this time to show landscapes, from coastal Marseille to the ancient walled city of Carcassonne to pastoral scenery along the Canal du Midi.

Marseille, France

Marseille, France

Bram, France

Carcassonne, France

les Baux-du-Provence, France

les Baux-du-Provence, France

Carcassonne, France

Bram, france

“Hither and Yon” Video!

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Salley Mavor

I’m excited to share this new Hither and Yon video that my husband Rob made. It documents the making and installation of my sculpture, which is part of this summer’s “Portals and Passageways” exhibit at Highfield Hall and Gardens in Falmouth, MA. The show will be there through Sept. 7th, so there’s still time to roam the beautiful grounds and see all of the varied interpretations of the theme.

Over the spring, Rob filmed the making of the piece, starting with a scene of me cutting down the naturally bowed tree I found in the snowy woods. During the next few weeks, I called him into my studio periodically to record different stages of the process; drawing out the lettering, wrapping wire with felt, stitching and forming the words. The film ends with a time lapse sequence showing the installation of the piece at Highfield Hall. Rob and I had so much fun working on this video. I hope that you enjoy it!

I’ve really liked being involved with the exhibit and connecting with some of the other artists. I met Linda Hoffman, who invited me to bring Hither and Yon to her Frog Pond Farm in Harvard, MA for her annual sculpture walk, Around the Pond and Through the Woods. It looks like a beautiful property and she’s picked out a couple of trees for me choose from. We’ll be transporting the sculpture on top of my car and installing it soon after the Falmouth show ends. The exhibit opens Sept. 14th, 1-5 pm and there’s an artist reception on Sun., Sept 21, which I hope to attend.