Featured on...and New Prints!

I have some catching up to do! Thanks MaddyAnne for featuring my pink Dahlia on MaddyAnne Designs:

And to NewDominionBlues, who runs an awesome vintage shop online, here's my clothespins print on her blog:

And if you can stand it....hehe..I added these to my shop over the last week or so!

Left: I went down to the Beach, 8x10 print, $15 (coming soon!)
Right: The Fire Within, 8x10 print, $15

Left:  Just to Make this Dock my Home
16x20 print, $45

Right:  Dancing with the Sun
8x8 print, $20

Left: Crystalline
8x10 print, $15

I'm still running a Buy One, Get One free on my Etsy shop, so take a look now because I may be ending that sale soon....or sometime before the holidays!

Mary :)

The Raptor Project!

I've been meaning to write about this for a few weeks now and I am so excited....when we went to the Barnstable County Fair on Cape Cod, one of the main draws (for me, anyway) was the Bird of Prey exhibit advertised online. What I saw there was probably the best selection of birds I've ever seen (is that the right word, selection? I wasn't shopping...) It was so amazing, because when you see these birds up close and personal you are in awe of their grace and power.

Above:  This beautiful Bald Eagle has an injured wing from being hit by a car while he was trying to feed on some roadkill. He is so calm and tender, he even lets a little girl feed him some meat!

It's always great to see them in the wild of course, especially when you're photographing, but it's not often you'll look into a golden eagle's eyes or get to hold a barn owl (during the day!).  The birds were all calm, beautiful, and really well cared for, despite their injuries all sustained prior to being taken in by the project. Many of the birds are rescues and/or cannot fly or live in the wild.

 Above: a Kestrel chirps during the show.

 Above: this girl's family runs the Raptor Project, and she helps raise the birds. This cute little baby Barn Owl will soon be old enough to be on his own.

Above:  This 12 yr old Eagle Owl gets a nice cool drink of water.

The master falconer, Jonathon Wood, his wife and beautiful daughter are all part of the show and travel nationwide educating and showing their birds of prey. They book fairs, festivals, schools, and more. Read more about their project here and spread the word- this is truly a magnificent show and something you will not soon forget!

  

Above: baby Hawks have not yet grown in all their feathers. They snuggle in this little bin and wait for lunchtime.

Above: this tiny Burrowing Owl shows off to the audience his small but impressive wingspan!

Above: this is what it's like to be kissed by an owl...:)

80's Flashback!

This weekend my "Rubiks and Slinky" photo print was featured in two different 80's themed Etsy treasuries. They are so fun and kitschy I figured I would post them here...Who knew you could purchase Gizmo on Etsy? I kinda want him! 

Below is the 80's Flashback created by missPriscillaPomeroy- click here for link!

and here is another one (featuring cute little Gizmo again!) created by Stargazer02- click here for link!

So, all morning I've been thinking about where my plastic viewfinder is and if I could maybe find an old Glow Worm online. I used to collect puffy stickers of Princess Leia and Han Solo from my cereal boxes and stick them in a shiny teal, laminated cardboard sticker book (I still have it somewhere...must find it!) I was reeeallly into the My Little Ponies, in fact I still have some of them floating around my house (in pristine condition, hair combed, little flowers and stars on their bums, etc).  

I still distinctly remember one family Thanksgiving when my cousin Thalia showed up with Posey- a new, yellow, prancing Pony with pink hair- she was brand new and I hadn't gotten to Toys R' Us with my mother yet to check it out, but now Thalia had her, and I couldn't copy her because we played ponies together and how could there be TWO Poseys?? I was pretty bummed because I really LOVED Posey Pony...

Thalia and I used to setup the Dream Castle and Pony shower by the sink and give our ponies Spa Days. I miss those times! (We also used to have our own Radio Station....WPAF Thalia and Mary...on which we used old cassette tapes to record our parents saying things and have tea parties for our stuffed animals...)

But I digress...enjoy!

Flickr Faves

The stillness of the autumn forest...the silent flight of the majestic barn owl.....late summer sunlight sparkles....emerald rolling hills from another land....a kiss captured.....a mother's memory.....simple joys of nature....childhood remembered......the dance of the penguins

1. Autumn Road, 2. barn owl, 3. Delicate, 4. Untitled, 5. Just breathe..., 6. Deep Within, 7. Bee dreams, 8. where do we go from here?, 9. acrobats

Always an Artist

I love this photograph my mother took of me when I was little. I was about 5 yrs old if I had to guess....I had a little, tiny children's table with little tiny chairs around it and I used to lay all my art stuff out in front of me. Coloring books, crayons, watercolors, whatever. So here I was drawing. I look amused that my mother finds this moment worthy of capturing.

I always get caught up wondering if I'm good enough as an artist or as a photographer and I get wrapped up thinking I don't always deserve those titles. But when I look at myself as a child I remember how much I felt like an artist already. I never questioned myself back then. I was confident in my abilities. I even drew a picture of a teddy bear with holly berries around him and presents in front of him once for a holiday contest in Kindergarten, and out of all the grades up to high school, they published my teddy bear on the front of a pamphlet about the school. I was sooo proud! My parents framed it and displayed it in our home.

Now I look around my home and see others' work, many of which are different than my own and stunning in their own right. But where is my stuff? Maybe I should print photos some just for me to enjoy and frame them, instead of just looking at them online all the time. I want to throw myself into that world again where I was an artist because I had crayons and glue and imagination.  Except now it might be painting an old cabinet or learning to use one of my vintage film cameras. I vow to keep on this path of creating and imagining and being inspired by everything I see on Etsy and in Somerset Life. I'm never going to "measure up" if I'm always comparing myself...I just have to know that I'm OK to be where I am, to show what I see. And it helps to look at this little girl from time to time too.

New 2011 Beachscape Calendar!

I just love being surrounded by beach scenes all year long. My house is somewhat beachy (not too weird, since I only live 10 minutes from the ocean) and I love the colors of soft blue and sand. I just created this 2011 Calendar featuring 12 of my favorite and most popular beach scenes:

Each month is individually printed on archival-rated lustre print paper, measuring 5" by 7". So when each month is complete, you can cut the calendar portion off and you are left with a 5" by 5" square print! I sell my 5x5 prints for $10 each, so for $30 this calendar is a reallllly good deal (if I do say so myself!).

I'd love to hear your thoughts- do you like the calendar? I was also thinking of creating a collection for my animal prints, and possible a floral one. Hmmm....the possibilities are endless!
Happy Friday y'all!

Mom and Mary's Day-cation to Block Island

My mother and I decided to spend the day Saturday bonding and sightseeing. We took the ferry over to Block Island to enjoy a gorgeous day...warm and sunny...here are some pics from our day!

 So, arriving by ferry this is the first sight- the cliffs of Block Island. You can see the far off North Lighthouse on the cliffs.

We visited the Southeast Light, which is more accessible by foot.

We went inside the lighthouse...it was about 110 degrees. The light is blinking here. Our tour guide told us this light is worth $3 million and it is riddled with bullet holes and cracks dating back to the civil war.

Looking down from the spiral staircase at the small museum below.

We then headed over to the next bluff down, to go to the cliff's edge and view the lighthouse over the water. If you look carefully you will see a staircase built into the cliff below the lighthouse and people on the beach below. It is a crazy walk down, but worth while.

The sun cooperated more toward the left of our view- the water looked almost tropical, not like New England at all.

We drove back toward town...

Where I convinced my mother to stop at Abrams Animal Farm....we had so much fun feeding the animals, especially this cute llama who nuzzled me the whole time.

We found this strange, giant broccoli-eating emu/ ostrich bird there...

Along with this otherworldly creature...the "Zedonk" (right). Half donkey, half zebra.

We then spent a few lovely hours at the beach...

Before heading back on the ferry.

Bye bye, Block Island!  (That's the National Hotel in the near left background, a historic site, where we ate lunch.)  Ahhh....so peaceful! Thanks Ma for a beautiful day!

New Prints added to my Shop!

I'm thoroughly enjoying this New England summer- county fairs, climbing the Pilgrim Monument (ok, I really did not enjoy climbing 150 steps but the view of Provincetown and Cape Cod was amazing! Plus, they give you a little sticker so you can brag about having done it!) So I have added some new items to my shop lately, some from my summer exploits...

From the Barnstable County Fair in Falmouth, Mass. The museum showing the history of the fair was quite impressive, and I endured the 90-degree heat in this fanless room to learn about churning butter and reading old fair posters from the 1920's. This print was also featured on Crabtastic's blog.

I'm normally not one for rides either but as long as they don't go upside down or anything I can handle it. Anyway, the wind whipping past my face was really the ONLY way to beat the ridiculous heat from the fair days!  LEFT:  ride from the Hot Air Balloon festival,  and RIGHT: ferris wheel from Barnstable County Fair.

Meet my little friend, the Eurasian Eagle Owl from the fair. He was livin' the good life, he gets to travel the country and show off with his friends- more injured or rescued birds of prey. A family owns and runs this show, which is the BEST raptor show I have ever seen. The kids were loving it. I have tons more pics from the show which I'll upload sometime this coming week. They were all amazing! I'll have to find their business card....
This guy was the most spoiled though, he got fed water from a squirt bottle and pet all day!

Finally- the fun part, food. I just love retro, colorful words and signs so I made these into 4x6 prints and listed them as a set on Etsy. If I had a little girl I would make her bedroom or playroom all fun prints like this. But alas, I have only cats and they don't appreciate decorating- just food.

I was also contacted by Erin to say that I was featured in her Nifty Gifty guide for Beach Weddings!
Happy Summer!

All prints available on my shop maryvican.etsy.com  :)

Etsy Faves!

Some items from my Etsy favorites list!

Clockwise from Top Left:
Lighting Up the Room, oxidized sterling silver necklace with aqua briolette, by LeCollezione. 
I really love briolettes lately- their facets are so sparkly- and this one is the perfect color, like the clear ocean in the Bahamas.
A Girl and her Thoughts, fine art print, by VioletBella
Laura, the photographer of this shop, has an eye for simple beauty and a way with light that is fascinating. I love the perspective of this photo; it's as though the viewer becomes the subject.
Real framed Luna Moth display, by RealButterflyGifts
I discovered this shop after I saw a treasury with their work. Boy, would I love to see their brick-and-mortar shop! They show thumbnails of it in each listing, with thousands of real butterflies and moths encased in glass, some of which I'll never see in the real world.
Manatee and Calf, portrait card, by BlueCoveStudio
Ok,I have a soft spot for manatees, but I ordered one of these lovely cards (the one with the single manatee) and I loooove it! The seller actually included two free cards with my order that are equally as beautiful- their watercolor sealife is delicate and stunning, and affordable to boot!

Clockwise from Top Left:
Polly the baby Owlet, plush handmade owl, by Zemphira
Ok, I just really love baby Owls. I kind of want to adopt one, but that would not be right. And so, this would be the next best thing.
Frosted Lemon Cupcake, decadent whipped body souffle, by Ayelet17
I purchased an awesome dead sea face mask from this seller that works amazingly. This lemon scent would be perfect as a nice refreshing scent that is not too perfumey and not too sweet- lemon tends to be tart enough to cut through any sicky sweetness.
ACEO Card "A Taste of Honey", by HarrietsArt
I love the way this artist combines whimsy and darkness. Her characters are kind of endearing and mysterious at the same time. Plus, these smaller cards are an affordable way to collect some cool art!
Wellfleet Dune, Cape Cod seascape original painting, by Spygirl915
I love Renee Rutana's colorful, vibrant renderings of the Cape Cod seascapes, dunes and boats. She has several collections featuring many of the lovely towns of the Cape, but after taking a Dune Tour in Provincetown last weekend, this is one of my new faves!