What could be more idyllic? Outside, eating poached salmon on my friend Judy’s patio in Woods Hole.
Summer lunch
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Birds of Beebe Woods (crow)
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.
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Posies @ Mahopac, NY
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
Independence Day 2012
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 on Etsy
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.
Birds of Beebe Woods
For the past 2 months, I’ve been working on a large (24″ x 30″) fabric relief piece. I haven’t picked a title yet, but the picture depicts birds in our town owned forest, Beebe Woods.
The deadline to finish is in early September and since my work takes forever, I’ll be stitching right through the summer. The piece will hang in a group fiber show, The Intimate Woods at Highfield Hall in Falmouth, MA, Sept. 18 – Nov. 16, 2012. This will be the same venue for my Pocketful of Posies touring show, when it returns home next year, Sept. 4 – Oct. 31, 2013.
Poster – Birds of Beebe Woods
I’ve been taking photos of the different steps and have so far made a crow, robin, and cedar waxwing, with many more birds to come. The stage curtain looking border is made of felt covered wire. Later, when I have time, I’ll show more pictures. Right now, I’m happily in La La Land, immersed in the sewing process, listening to narrated books.
Update: Posters and cards of Birds of Beebe Woods are available in my Etsy Shop.
Self Portrait in Cotuit show
Self-Portrait detail, 2007
One of my fabric relief pieces, Self Portrait: A Personal History of Fashion is on display this summer at the Cotuit Center for the Arts in Cotuit on Cape Cod. It’s included in the PORTRAITS show upstairs through July 22, 2012. The Center’s main floor gallery is showing portraits by super realist painter Jon Friedman. I hope that summer visitors to the Cape will stop in to take a look!
FREE Felt Wee Folk Fairy Poster (left) with the purchase of a signed SELF PORTRAIT: A Personal History of Fashion Poster (pictured below) from my Etsy Shop. All posters are 18″ x 24″.
ALSO– Fairy poster is included with the purchase of my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk: Enchanting Projects from my Etsy shop.
Self Portrait Poster
Rabbitat at RISD ICONS exhibit
On Wednesday evening, we went to the opening of RISD ICONS: A Legacy of Illustration from Rhode Island School of Design. The show features the varied artwork of over 50 RISD alumni, including children’s book illustration, comics, editorial and advertising. My piece, Rabbitat, was nicely displayed next to fellow ’78 classmate, David Wiesners’s original painting from his most recent book, Art & Max. My former teacher, Judy Sue Goodwin-Sturges (pictured below) joined us for the festivities.
Special Offer to my blog readers: Buy a Rabbitat poster at my Etsy Shop and receive a free Felt Wee Folk Blossom Fairies poster. Just mention free fairies poster on your order.
The show is on display for a short time, through June 25th, at the Woods Gerry building on the RISD campus, 62 Prospect St., Providence, RI.
Rob and I joined Judy Sue and some old and new friends for dinner afterwards. I was delighted to meet Jamie Hogan (RISD ’80), an illustrator who teaches at the Maine College of Art. We hope to reconnect soon at MECA, where my son Ian is a painting student.
Mom’s look-a-like doll
When I visited my sister Anne this past spring, she brought out our mother’s look-a-like doll. Mom’s doll was made by our great-aunt, Alma Salley.
Here’s a picture of Mom with her father in the early 1930’s. Mom described him as a kind, gentle man and I love seeing photos of them together. We never knew him, as he died before his grandchildren were born.
Anne and I remember receiving exquisite doll clothes made by Alma when we were young. We didn’t see our Salley relatives very often, as they all lived in South Carolina and we were in New England. This is an old painted photo of Alma, who was born in the 1880’s and lived through a lot of changes, well into her 90’s.
This photo shows my great grandparents and their five daughters. My grandmother, Louise (second from the left), was the only one who left the south. After 8 years of courting, she finally gave in and moved north to Rhode Island, to marry my grandfather. By that time, she was 35 and he was 45, old newly weds for their era, but common by today’s standards. The “Salley girls” were famous in Orangeburg, SC for their spirited independence and all five of them went on to graduate from college. Even though there weren’t any males to carry on the family surname, subsequent generations have several first named Salleys, like myself. We are descended from Henry Salley, who came to America along with a group of other French Huguenots who founded Orangeburg, South Carolina in the early 1700’s.
Dr. Michael and Adele Salley and their daughters, circa 1900
Close-ups (chairs)
It’s been a while since I’ve shown some closeups, so here’s one about chairs. See the archived posts from the Close-ups Series here.
I use chairs as perches for my little dolls. The trick is making the chairs in shallow relief, so that they don’t stick out too far in my pictures. The first photo shows a girl sitting on a chair made from milled wooden pieces that are used in doll house miniatures.
detail from “The Storyteller” 1998
George’s chair is made with old worn upholstery fabric. The chair’s feet are sculpted with Fimo. Read about and see more pictures from “The Storyteller” and “George’s Chair” in another post here.
Detail from “George’s Chair” mid 90’s
Mary’s mother sits knitting in this detail from Mary Had a Little Lamb. I only had to show a board in the back and one chair leg to achieve her pose.
These little women from The Hollyhock Wall are about 1 1/4″ tall, so their chairs are tiny. They were made of wire wrapped with grey embroidery floss.
The yellow high chair is made from miniature doll house wooden parts. It’s in the kitchen scene in my picture book In the Heart. I was able to get some copies when it went out of print, so I’m offering autographed books for a good price in my Etsy shop.
detail from picture book “In the Heart” 2001
Here are a couple of details from Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes. The girl is sitting in a wicker chair made with floral cloth wire.
Detail from “Pocketful of Posies” 2010
Scallop shells serve as a hat and chair back for this character in “Posies”.
Detail from “Pocketful of Posies” 2010
SALLEY MAVOR 