Public Reception and Gallery Talk - Salley Mavor: Once Upon a Stitch

Salley Mavor is devoted to stitching. She learned to sew as a child and has been  using a needle and thread ever since. At home, there were always art  supplies close at hand and a sense that time was available for creative  pursuit. Drawing with crayons was never enough for Salley. She remembers  feeling that her pictures were not finished until something real was  glued, stapled or sewn to it. As an illustration major at the Rhode  Island School of Design, she left traditional mediums behind, preferring  to communicate her ideas with sculptural needlework. Salley has  continued to develop her techniques for over 40 years, creating  3-dimensional works of art that tell stories with needlework and found  objects.

Ms. Mavor has illustrated many children’s books using her unique blend of  materials and hand stitching techniques. Her picture book, Pocketful of  Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes won the 2011 Boston…