early morning snow cover

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Salley Mavor

This has been a snowy winter. Last week, a few inches of new powder fell overnight. When I woke up and looked outside, the sun was just beginning to light the sky, showing off a fine coating of powdered sugar over every surface. It was the kind of snow that sticks to every branch, like it was sprayed on. I grabbed my camera and headed out, to try to capture the magic of the early morning before it melted away.

Quissett harbor looked ethereal.

The village green in Falmouth was as picturesque as ever. I walked around the green and took more photographs of snow-covered houses, walls and St. Barnabas Church.

Woods Hole: snowy doorways

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Salley Mavor

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you will have noticed that I have a thing for doorways. Some of these Woods Hole houses have been shown before, but in other seasons. I took these photos after last weekend’s snow storm. The summer houses were undisturbed, but the year ’round ones had shoveled paths. Enjoy!

Russian video of my artwork

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Salley Mavor

This YouTube video was pointed out to me a couple of days ago. Russian, Aleksandr Smolyaninov has taken images of my artwork from this blog (I presume) and blended them together to the sounds of a bouncy polka played by Larry Cheskey and his Orchestra. This explains why my blog and Facebook stats have been showing a lot of visitors from Russia and other countries from the former Soviet Union. I think Aleksandr has done a good job, although the video’s bursting title letters aren’t to my taste. Rollicking music and moving photos make it active and enjoyable to watch. Should I be concerned that a video was made without my permission? I don’t think so — it’s a good way for lots of people to see my artwork. Anyways, I have sent a message that I would like him to ask permission to use my images.

Birds flying to Paducah!

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Salley Mavor

Great News! I just found out that Birds of Beebe Woods will be part of the international exhibit, Fantastic Fibers 2013 at the Yeiser Art Center in Paducah, Kentucky this spring. The exhibit will be April 6 – May 4, 2013. I’m pleased that my fabric relief piece will be shown along with other contemporary and innovative works created with fiber as the primary medium.

The American Quilter’s Society Annual Show and Contest will be held in Paducah from April 24th-27th, 2013, so I’m hoping that many of the quilters in town will go to the Yeiser Art Center and see the Fantastic Fibers show as well.

Birds will have to be sent down to Kentucky soon, so Rob is going to whip up a shipping crate right away! Won’t be in Paducah to see the real piece this spring? Here’s the next best thing — I have 2 different note cards and a poster of Birds of Beebe Woods for sale in my Etsy Shop.

After the snow storm

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Salley Mavor

Last weekend’s storm brought about 10 inches of snow to our end of Cape Cod, but other parts of New England had 2 to 3 feet! The public was instructed to stay off the roads during the storm. On Sunday, we went out in the early morning sunshine and took photographs.

We headed down Sippewissett Rd. toward Woods Hole. The houses along the road had a story book look to them.

We then turned onto Quissett Harbor Rd., passing this house on our way to the water.

At Quissett harbor, everything was covered with snow.

In the village, we stopped in front of the Woods Hole School, which I attended in the 60’s. It’s no longer a public elementary school, but houses head start and a day care in the winter and the Children’s School of Science in the summer.

Further down Water St., I stood in the cold wind to get this shot of the draw bridge and Woods Hole Community Hall.

Even in winter, there are boats and house boats in the sheltered Eel Pond. Some summer houses are boarded up and still…

while other houses show evidence of people at play.

Posies is traveling to Illinois!

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Salley Mavor

from “Pocketful of Posies”

“Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been? I’ve been to Mount Vernon to see the Queen.” The Pocketful of Posies Traveling Exhibit will be on display from Feb. 23 – May 5, 2013 at the Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Mount Vernon, Illinois. The collection of 50 original embroidered illustrations from the book are divided into two groups of 25. One group is currently being shown until Feb. 22, 2013 at the Foothills Arts Council, Elkin, North Carolina.

from “Pocketful of Posies” 2010

We took the six boxes to the UPS Store in the truck and they are right now traveling west, half way across the country to Illinois. I hope that some of you have a chance to see the show in either North Carolina or Illinois. Next stop: Fresno, California!

upper west side

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Salley Mavor

My husband and I spent a few days in the upper west side of New York City. As we bustled to and from the Amsterdam Diner in the morning, we passed this vine climbing up several stories to the roof of a building. I showed this picture on my Facebook page and someone commented that it looked like Kathleen Kelly’s house in “You’ve Got Mail”. I haven’t seen the movie and the fact that I don’t know who Kathleen Kelly is, could have something to do with my tendency to work in my studio all of the time. If they did use this house front in the movie, I can see why–it’s very appealing!

I found the wildness of the tangled vines refreshing in such an otherwise tidy and perfect neighborhood. It must look gorgeous in warmer weather, with leaves and possibly flowers!

It was frigidly cold and there was a pretty dusting of snow on the sidewalk and stairs.

This was the view from our hotel, looking toward the grounds of the Natural History Museum.

Felt Wee Folk on demand

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Salley Mavor

Print-on-demand edition of Felt Wee Folk

If you’ve been looking for my 2003 how-to book, Felt Wee Folk lately, you may have had trouble obtaining a copy. That’s because the publisher has sold out. I anticipated this situation and bought some a few months ago, so I have a limited supply in my Etsy shop. I even have a few copies of the French translation, Personnages et Motif on Etsy.

Book – Felt Wee Folk 2003

If you want to have an autographed copy of the original edition, order very soon, because they are selling fast! Your Etsy order of Felt Wee Folk includes a folded Blossom Fairies poster (pictured below). I’m happy that the book has had such a good run, with almost 55,000 copies in print. In this day and age, it’s unusual for a book to last 10 years, especially a craft book. The good news is that the book will continue to be published, just differently. C&T Publishing, Amazon and other online retailers are offering a print-on-demand issue of Felt Wee Folk, which is shown above. The printing and paper quality are not as good as the original, but these minor shortcomings are worth having the book once again available for purchase.

18″ x 24″ Blossom Fairies Poster

Old woman who lived in a shoe goes abroad!

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Salley Mavor

Yes, the old woman who lived in a shoe is going abroad! She, along with her children and other nursery rhyme characters who inhabit the original illustration from Pocketful of Posies were recently invited to spend some time in the American Embassy in Azerbaijan.

Where is Azerbaijan and why is the old woman going there, you may ask? It’s the largest country in the Caucasus region located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. The ambassador’s wife saw the Pocketful of Posies Traveling Exhibit, when it was at Highfield Hall in Falmouth in 2010 (the exhibit will return there in Sept.). When her husband got his this diplomatic assignment, she arranged with the Art in Embassies Program to send one of my pieces, along with other artist’s work that she selected, to the diplomat’s residence in Baku. She reached out to me personally and together we picked a piece of mine to include. It was a pleasure to talk with her and we hope to meet when she comes home.

The art shippers picked up the framed artwork yesterday and wrapped it for the journey. It’ll be carefully packed with the other artwork in a shipping crate. It cracked me up to see the guys using plastic gloves to handle the artwork.

A huge blue truck pulled up on the road outside our driveway. I really like the art shipping company’s logo on the door.

Bye, Bye old woman. I wonder what they’ll think of you in Azerbaijan. See you in couple of years! I am proud to be doing my part to represent art being created in America.