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 Globe-Horn Book Award and the 2011 Golden Kite Award. Her popular how-to book, Felt Wee Folk: New Adventures is in its 2nd edition, inspiring creativity in all ages. She and her husband Rob Goldsborough recently collaborated on the stop-motion animation, “Liberty and Justice: A Cautionary Tale in the Land of the Free”. Salley Mavor lives and works in her home studio in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Once Upon a Stitch will run from December 12 – January 26.

Generously supported by The Arts & Humanities Student Outreach Fund of the Cape Cod Foundation.