Category Archives: Woods Hole

this library’s special

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This past Sunday, the Woods Hole Public Library held a wonderful reception to celebrate my most recent book, Pocketful of Posies. Words cannot express how honored I feel by Molly Bang and my other friends who spoke. I was so touched and humbled by the outpouring of support from the people who came to see my artwork and hear the presentation.  It makes me proud to have grown up and live in such a creative little corner of the world. Thank you, Terry McKee for conjuring up and arranging this wonderful event!
 
 
Here I am, signing books at the circulation desk.
 
 
Some very special people came, like my RISD teacher and agent, Judy Sue Goodwin-Sturges. She talked about the beginning of our relationship 35 years ago and passed around “Mr. Mole”, which I had handed in (after pulling an all-nighter) for a class assignment (sorry, no picture).
 
 
The amazing April Prince, who writes, edits and makes things happen at Studio Goodwin-Sturges also showed up.
 
 
The finished and framed Rabbitat picture was displayed on an easel and about half of the original fabric relief illustrations from Pocketful of Posies lined the library’s main room on top of the book shelves. I’ve had to take away the artwork, but one piece will remain for a few months, the illustration from There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. People loved seeing the Rabbitat film (read posts about it here) and commented that it gave them a clearer insight and appreciation of what I do. I haven’t had time to put the film on this blog or my website, but the filmmaker, Daniel Cojanu is showing it on vimeo here. 
 
 
 I wish I had more pictures of the people who came to the event and the cookies Terry and I made, but my husband Rob (the designated photographer) and I were much too busy participating in the festivity. On Monday, Rob and I drove artwork to Vermont, where my show Salley Mavor: Sewn Stories will be showing at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center until February, 2012. Yes, we’ll be returning for the opening on Friday. It’s been quite the week, month, year!

Rabbitat film premiere at Woods Hole Library

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Rabbitat film by UnderCurrent Productions

This is a week of waiting for delivery trucks to pull up into my driveway. Eleven boxes full of artwork from Pocketful of Posies are in transit from Iowa and a stack of UV Plexiglas is loaded in a truck barreling down some US highway between Illinois and Massachusetts. It seems that no matter how well one plans ahead, everything happens at once, at the last-minute.

I’m confident that by Sunday, July 10th, the artwork will have arrived, so I can display it at the Woods Hole Public Library reception as advertised.  (Update: they’ve just arrived) The UV Plexiglas isn’t so important because I can always put a temporary piece of regular glass in Rabbitat’s frame. I ordered UV Plexi for every piece that will be in the show at the Brattleboro Museum and was hoping to replace all the glass before driving the artwork up to Vermont next Monday. Confused yet? Without boring you with any more logistical details, let’s just say that this is a very busy week with 2 events occurring back-to-back, with no time for breathing (or stitching) in between. I did manage to finish a wedding banner for my son’s friend, which I’ll show in a future post. Also, my friend Terry and I made cookies ahead and they’re in the freezer. The good news is that the 7.25 minute Rabbitat film is finished and ready for its premiere at the Woods Hole Public Library Reception.

And yes, I’ll eventually put the Rabbitat film on this blog and/or my website when I have time to figure out how. (Update: See the film and read related posts on this new page) 

Here’s the schedule:

Sunday, July 10th 5:00 – 7:00 pm. Woods Hole Public Library, Woods Hole, Massachusetts,  Reception to celebrate the Boston Globe Horn Book Award and Golden Kite Award for Pocketful of Posies. Original illustrations from the book will be displayed and I’ll give a brief talk. A short film about the making of my newest piece, Rabbitat will be shown.

July 15, 2011 – February 5, 2012 – Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, Vermont,  Salley Mavor – Sewn Stories. (exhibit includes 8 original illustrations from Pocketful of Posies , 11 other fabric relief pictures and the Rabbitat film)  

And later this fall:

October 15, 2011 – 3:00 pm, Brattleboro Literary Festival, Brattleboro, Vermont. I’ll give a slide talk about my work at the Brattleboro Museum.

windsurfing wedding pair

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Back in the 80’s, when my friends were getting married, I made portrait bride and groom dolls for their cakes. One memorable pair was Ben and Julie, riding side by side on a toy windsurfer. Julie showed me what her dress would look like ahead of time, so that I could match it.

I don’t think Julie actually wore red pumps at the wedding, but these Tammy shoes were the right size. Ben wore Ken’s leather slip ons. The shoes are stuck onto the board with double sided tape.

Over the years, the dolls had started to fall off the boat, so I reattached their hands to the boom. Now they can go back home to Ben and Julie’s. We went down to Woodneck beach in early evening, just before sunset, to take photos in the low sunlight. See other posts about  more recent wedding figures here and here.

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Nobska morning

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I biked to Woods Hole at 6am this morning. Here’s the view along Vineyard Sound, looking toward Nobska point.

And then going up the hill toward the light house.

And then Nobska Lighthouse at the top!

I biked further into town, past this charming house, which overlooks Little Harbor. What a beautiful day!

Chin up bibs

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30 years ago, a few years before I had babies of my own, I designed, sewed and sold CHIN UP BIBS. I found a box filled with left over seersucker bias strips, a stack of tags and one tuxedo bib–all that remains of my enterprise.

For a few years, I sewed hundreds of bibs of different styles, including tuxedos, shirt and tie, dress with pearls, clown, overalls, etc. They were backed with terry cloth and had liners cut out of shower curtains. A unifying feature was the bias edging, which I’ve since used for pot holders (see tutorial here).

In 1982, I asked the mothers of two Woods Hole babies to model the bibs for an advertisement. My art school friend, Carmine Fantasia took these wonderful B&W photographs of  Ben and Hannah wearing the bibs.

I later stopped adding bead necklaces to the girl’s style bib, because of the potential choking hazard. 

Ben and Hannah, who both turn 30 this year and are still friends, are delightful adults. Here’s a recent picture of Hannah at her sister’s wedding.

This is as close as Ben got to wearing a tie back in ’82.

And here he is, when he got all dressed up last month, in suit and tie, for the Woods Hole “mock” formal at the Capt. Kidd Restaurant.

The bibs were later in Better Homes and Gardens.

I also found some pattern pieces for the bibs in my file cabinet.

Thank you Ben and Hannah, for letting us dress you up and take your picture one morning in 1982!

winter in Woods Hole

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I rode the bike path to Woods Hole today. The path is plowed and mostly clear of snow and ice, so I bundled up in a ski mask and mittens and joined the walkers on the path. Didn’t see one other bicyclist.

view of Vineyard Sound from the bike path

The day was so crystal clear and calm!  Some people who just come to the Cape in the summer can’t imagine what it’s like here off-season.

Fishmonger's Cafe, Water St., Woods Hole

The sidewalks are empty and the drawbridge hardly ever goes up.

Row boats rest upside down.

Eel Pond dock, Woods Hole

The color palette is blue, gray and red.

Millfield St., Woods Hole

It was a lovely ride around town.  Happy New Year!

School St., Woods Hole

Woods Hole: doorways

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For the past few months, I’ve been riding my bike around Woods Hole, taking pictures and organizing them in different categories. It’s time to open the summer doorways file and share this selection, before the trees lose their leaves. This orange door and dusty gray-green trim are some of my favorite color combinations.

Buzzards Bay Ave., Woods Hole

Look through the window and see Buzzards Bay on the other side.

Gardiner Rd., Woods Hole

I love the mismatched doors of this gate.

Buzzards Bay Ave., Woods Hole

This house is the only family owned residence on a block taken over by academic buildings and science labs.

Albatros St., Woods Hole

A reminder of warmer days.

School St., Woods Hole

Woods Hole houses

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Over the summer, I took these pictures of some of my favorite houses and rose bushes in Woods Hole. I’ve been riding my bike around these streets for 50 years, but am looking at the same sights with a new eye through my camera.  

Albatros St., Woods Hole

For the most part, the village has charming, modest sized houses on small lots. Many were originally built as summer cottages. With water on 3 sides, growth has long reached full capacity. Values are high and properties are kept in the family, rarely going on the market.

Albatros St., Woods Hole

Does this sound too much like a real estate ad? I just want to give an overview of the neighborhood. So far, the trend toward McMansions has been held at bay!

Buzzards Bay Ave., Woods Hole

Quissett Ave., Woods Hole

Shona & Amy’s Wedding Cake

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Shona and Amy’s wedding was as wonderfully unique, warm and loving as they are.  My friend Terry and I made their cake as a gift and they graciously left the details to us. We have worked together on many projects, including the Woods Hole Village Quilt. For the cake, we were free to create our own vision of our friends and decided to feature our local corner of southeastern Cape Cod. On Friday, Terry and I got together at her house to work on the decorations. The cake was going to have a raspberry filling, so Terry needed to cut the large cake sheets in half. Using a setup her husband Keith devised for the purpose, she sliced the cake with a saw rigged with a banjo wire.

I busied myself cutting parts out of fondant, while Terry spread the filling and spread the frosting.  I combed a wavy texture with a pointy toothed triangular tool. Then, I sprinkled blue shimmer dust on the waves through a fine strainer.

Woods Hole’s peninsula and the Elizabeth Islands were made of fondant and covered with green shimmer dust.  I spelled out Buzzard’s Bay and Vineyard Sound, using cute little cookie cutters. I also made the wedding couple’s house out of marzipan.

We positioned the boat and dolls heading southwest along the chain of Elizabeth Islands in Buzzard’s Bay

Terry piped the cake edges with frosting and we started to add decorations. I had made a fondant banner with the wedding date 2 days ahead and it had dried enough to crack in places, so we had to do some patching.

Terry had found some worm shaped candies, which we used to make a wavy border pattern on the lower tier.

Terry fixed the banner, while I added candy fish, lobsters and octopi. This project was becoming more fun by the minute!

We made a candy stone wall along the base of the cake.

And added some walnut-shell sailing dinghies and another candy wall. Beeswax holds the masts on place.

Here’s the sea gull’s view.

And yesterday, Shona and Amy saw their cake for the first time. What a special day!

To keep up with new posts, please subscribe to this blog. Your contact info will not be sold or shared. If you’d like to see more frequent photos tracking the projects in my studio, please follow me on Facebook, Instagram and BlueSky.