This Tuesday, August 14th, I will meet the public and sign books from 10am to noon at the Brewster Book Store, Brewster MA (Cape Cod). I’ll bring a few original fabric relief illustrations from Pocketful of Posies to show during the event. I look forward to meeting you. Free posters will be given out too!
I made my week’s goal of sewing 3 new birds to add to Birds of Beebe Woods! I was so determined to get them done, that I didn’t pause to take photos along the way. They are all approximately life-size. Here’s the show-off male goldfinch.
I love the way the little nuthatch hangs on facing downwards.
Poster – Birds of Beebe Woods
And our own Massachusetts state bird, the darling chickadee. It’s time to work on the background now. I’ll be checking in as the piece progresses.
Update: Posters and cards of Birds of Beebe Woods are available in my Etsy Shop.
Update: See the completed piece and read more about it here.
More and more birds are emerging in Birds of Beebe Woods, including this 6″ long cedar waxwing. Here are the felt parts before they were all embroidered and attached.
I like stitching the feather patterns and textures.
Poster – Birds of Beebe Woods
Poster – Birds of Beebe Woods
The September deadline for the Intimate Woods exhibit at Highfield Hall is approaching, so my goal is to make 3 small birds this week and more after that, if I have time. Then I have to attach everything to a stretched background, which usually takes longer than I think.
Update: Posters and cards of Birds of Beebe Woods are available in my Etsy Shop.
Beth Curtin, the woman behind the wonderful blog Acorn Pies came over this morning for tea. We met through blogging and have been talking about meeting face to face for a couple of years. She’s in the area, at her Cape Cod house this summer, so we were able to have a nice visit in person.
I cleared away a space for us at the end of my oak table for us sit. The other end is filled with the makings of my current piece, Birds of Beebe Woods. In the last month, I’ve added many birds and will show more pictures when I’m finished. Right now, I’m stitching a chipping sparrow and will make a woodpecker next.
Tiles from Flying Pig Pottery were installed behind the stove. We had been looking at a piece of greasy plywood in the same location for 20 years, putting off the tile project because I couldn’t decide what I wanted. I was originally going to paint my own tiles, but eventually gave up on that idea. Years ago, I did paint some faux tiles in a different spot in the kitchen. See a post about those here.
We asked Tessa to design a landscape and seascape with animals. I had admired her pottery for years and we gave her the freedom to create her own menagerie. Before they were installed, we laid out the pieces on our dining room table.
Here’s the mural with spacers, before the grout is applied.
We love living with Tessa’s tiles, which are made with a sgraffito technique, which she describes as “the art of carving through a colored slip to the contrasting clay body underneath”.
Tessa encouraged me to decorate some tiles, too, so I carved the narrow back splash strip under the windows. We spent a few enjoyable afternoons carving together in her Woods Hole studio.
A few years ago, Tessa made tiles for a wonderful mural in the Falmouth Public Library. Donors to the library renovation fund had their names carved into hundreds of tiles that cover the hallway leading to the children’s room.
She also makes beautiful lamps, dishes and mugs, all made with her signature sgraffito style.
Flying Pig Pottery’s studio is open to the public and is located on Woods Hole Rd. , just before you enter the village.
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What could be more idyllic? Outside, eating poached salmon on my friend Judy’s patio in Woods Hole.
I’ve emerged from my months-long blissful state of stitching Birds of Beebe Woods, just long enough to show some process pictures of the crow, whom I’ve named Argyle.
He’s about 13″ from head to tail, with about 2 weeks worth of hand embroidery on his wool felt body.
From time to time, I’ll be posting photos of the other birds in the scene. See the introductory post about Birds of Beebe Woods here. This is a brief report–the birds are calling out, “September deadline, September deadline!”
Update: Posters, puzzles and cards of Birds of Beebe Woods are available in my Etsy Shop.
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 and/or Instagram.
Earlier this week, we delivered 30 framed originals from Pocketful of Posies to the Mahopac Public Library, which is the next stop on the tour (see full schedule here). The town is located in New York state, off Rt 84, just over the border from Danbury, CT. The artwork will be on display for most of the summer, through Wed., August 29th. I will return to give a talk about my work that evening at 7:00pm.
Pocketful of Posies, July 3 – August 29, 2012 at the Mahopac Public Library, Mahopac, New York. Talk by Salley Mavor- Wed., Aug. 29th, 7:00pm
It was an absolutely gorgeous 4th of July yesterday. The day started out rainy, with an iffy forecast, but the sun came out in time for the Woods Hole Parade and it stayed sunny through the fireworks at night. Our eclectic parade is light on the red white and blue, with more of an emphasis on science. Graduate students from different labs in the Marine Biological Laboratory march with sculptures they’ve concocted out of found objects. Some are more successful than others in illustrating their particular field of study, but they all have a lot of fun. Every year, I am impressed by these future scientists’ creativity. It’s always a raucous event and like no other 4th of July parade in America!
Autographed books are now in my Etsy shop. Over the years, I’ve heard from people who’d like autographed copies or people from other parts of the world who have trouble finding my books. So now, autographed copies of Pocketful of Posies and Felt Wee Folk are listed in my shop. I would love to offer all of my out-of-print books (see BOOKS Page), but in most cases they sold out before I was able to buy extra copies from the publisher. For In the Heart, HarperCollins did send a letter with an option to buy remainder books, so those are available for a good price on Etsy.
Here are a group of details from In the Heart. The children’s clothes are made from cotton socks and I made the baskets by coiling wire and wrapping with embroidery floss. I used lots of found objects in this book and constructed furniture and windows out of wood. The hearts in the window are cut out of some of my kid’s Waldorf School watercolor paintings. And yes, that is a chess pawn on the window sill.
Of course, price wise, I can’t compete with Amazon, but I can offer autographed books and free extras, such as posters. Pocketful of Posies comes with a free 18″x 18″ poster (folded flat) of the jacket cover and Felt Wee Folk comes with a free 18″ x 24″ Fairies poster (folded flat). As well, I will be happy to personally inscribe your books- just write a request when you place an order with Etsy.
SALLEY MAVOR 