Just a quick post to let you know that I’ve got almost everything for the new Felt Wee Folk compiled and ready to send off to C&T publishing by the March deadline. Rob and I keep thinking of more still life setups to photograph, so I predict we’ll be busy adding finishing touches up ’til the last minute. This scene in the light box shows an array of project materials, along with a helpful cast of characters doing laundry.
I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Liz Smith for her cable program, Makers in Business, which is taped in Lowell, MA. I heard about the show through my friend Mimi Kirchner, who was a guest on an earlier episode. Liz’s welcoming style, along with her knowledge and insight made for an enjoyable conversation. The series is focused on the business side of art, so in addition to giving some background information about what I make, I talked about my different experiences in the market. Thank you Liz, for having me as a guest on your show!
You listen to an audio version of the program here.
This February, I’ll be speaking to quilters at different locations in eastern Massachusetts. I love the guilds’ regional names; Cranberry and Bayberry. It’s always fun to talk to these groups, because they “get” what I’m doing and have a personal interest in sewing and making things. The presentations are open to the public for a nominal fee, so you don’t have to be a member of the guild to attend. I will give a slide talk, sign books and bring along some original pieces. “Birds of Beebe Woods” will come along this Thursday to Carver.
Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, 10 am, Plymouth County Cranberry Quilters, Carver Public Library, 2 Meadowbrook Way, Carver, Massachusetts. Members free; guests $5.00.
Bayberry Quilters, Tues., Feb. 25, 2014, 7:00 pm at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, Harwich, MA and Wed., Feb. 26, 2014, 9:00 am at Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Rd., Brewster, MA. Members free, guests ~ 5.00. http://www.bayberryquiltersofcapecod.com/
Poster – Rabbitat
Thank you to all of you who entered the giveaway to celebrate 10,000 views of the Rabbitat film! I found your comments fascinating and loved hearing about which materials you like to work with. I think that this was a good sampling of the kind of people who follow my blog. Most of you revealed your preferences for wool, yarn, felt, paper and fabrics of different kinds. A more eclectic group won my heart, when they picked a variety of unconventional materials, from wire to corn husks. All in all, you are people who like to set your hands in motion making things–my kind of people!
And now for the winners! They are Ava Genho, a girl who likes to make little dolls, Vickie Conmy who works with Angora, which she shears form her own rabbits and Jonquilly, who praises Tyvek paper. I will contact them and shall be sending them each a Rabbitat poster.
Yippee! the Rabbitat film has been seen 10,000 times since it was released 2 1/2 years ago! The number of views has surged in the last few months, since I finally saw the obvious and put it on this blog’s About Me Page. Before that, the film was assigned to its own page, requiring some rummaging around to find it. Many people have also found the film through my Facebook Page.
Poster – Rabbitat
To celebrate, I am offering a Giveaway to 3 people from anywhere in this sweet old world. To enter, please leave a comment telling about your favorite material to work with. The winners will be picked at random on Feb. 1st and sent an autographed18 x 24 Rabbitat poster, which is also available from my Etsy Shop here.
Find links to blog posts about the process of making my piece, Rabbitat here. A great big thank you to filmmakers Daniel Cojanu and Elise Hugus from UnderCurrent Productions for encapsulating my work in such an engaging way for 7 minutes. For those of you who haven’t yet seen the film or want to look at it again, here it is:
Rob and I are spending every spare moment in my studio, taking photographs for the revised edition of Felt Wee Folk. We need hundreds of pictures for the new book and we’re making good progress! There’s barely enough room for all of light stands, wires and equipment. The light box creates an even, pleasing light, so once it was set up, we spent a few days taking overhead shots of the dolls and step-by-step samples. I just started writing the new chapters and directions, which I find requires a different kind of discipline than stitching. So, if I don’t post for a while, I may be absorbed into the world of words, telling instead of showing. 
We have another, larger light box that is good for the scenes. We’ve been taking pictures of the dolls all grouped together in a crowd, thinking that it would make a good book cover photo. Rob raised the tripod up really high to get the right angle. I wish you could see their little faces all looking up and waving, but that’ll have to wait until the book comes out in 2015.
Update: See the book here.
Gallery 65 on William, in New Bedford, MA is the next location for my Pocketful of Posies exhibit. The work will be on display at the gallery Feb. 27 – March 29, 2014. I will be giving a talk at the closing reception on Saturday, March 29 a 3:00 pm. Please note: I will not be able to attend the opening on March 8th. We’ll be traveling (with Polly, of course) – location announced later, with lots of pictures.
I’m also happy to report that the exhibit at the Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis, MA has been extended until Feb.16th.
The women in my artwork are usually busy doing something. They’re harvesting, teaching, doing handwork, cooking, washing and talking, etc. I use arm gestures to bring my figures to life in an otherwise static medium. And I like the keyhole shape that a woman in a skirt makes.
detail from “Picking Peas” fabric relief 1986
detail from “Mary Had a Little Lamb” book published in 1995
detail from “Mary Had a Little Lamb” book published in 1995
detail from “The Storyteller” fabric relief 1995
detail from “In the Heart” book published in 2001
The mother in the kitchen is from my book, In the Heart and the last 2 close-ups are from my book, Pocketful of Posies.
Last month, during Holidays at Highfield, my friend Celeste and some other lovely young dancers spent an afternoon in their Nutcracker costumes, circulating among the visitors. Here she is, posed in front of my doll house and Pocketful of Posies tree. I’m happy to have Celeste back on this blog. She’s has been featured before; Celeste’s class visits Highfield, Dolls from Istanbul, Wee Yo Yo Ma.
Beginning this coming Saturday, I will be giving several talks about my artwork in 2014. Some presentations will be to quilting guilds and others are in conjunction with art exhibits. I hope that many of you who live close enough will attend an event. As well as telling the story of my artistic development, I plan to bring along my Self Portrait: A Personal History of Fashion. See the current schedule of events below:
Keep up with my schedule on the Events Page.
Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014, 2:00 pm, In conjunction with her exhibit, Pocketful of Posies (11/9/13 ~ 2/16/14), Salley Mavor will give an artist talk, “Once Upon a Thread” at the Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis, Massachusetts.
Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, 10 am, Plymouth County Cranberry Quilters, Carver Public Library, 2 Meadowbrook Way, Carver, MA. Members free; guests $5.00.
Tues., Feb. 25, 2014, 7:00 pm Bayberry Quilters ~ Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, Harwich, MA and Wed., Feb. 26, 2014, 9:00 am at Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Rd., Brewster, MA. Members free, guests $5.00. http://www.bayberryquiltersofcapecod.com/
March 29, 2014, 3:00 pm ~ Closing event and talk at Gallery 65 on William, New Bedford MA. Pocketful of Posies Exhibit is on display Feb. 27 ~ March 29.
Friday, May 9, 2014, 7:00 pm In conjunction with her Pocketful of Posies exhibit (April 5 – May 27), Salley Mavor will give a presentation about her work at the Cotuit Public Library.
July 4 – August 16, 2014 ~ Salley Mavor: Expressions in Stitches: Then and Now Falmouth Historical Society, Falmouth, MA. Opening reception and artist’s talk ~ Sat., July 12, time to be announced.
