FaerieCon 2012

I'm back from FaerieCon!  Thank you to all of you who came by my table and said hello and made me feel welcome in the Faerie Realm - and thanks especially to all who made a purchase! :)

I could attempt to wax poetic about how wonderful it was (because it WAS wonderful), but this post by C.S.E. Cooney best describes the magic that is FaerieCon:  FaerieCon: The Things They Don't Tell You.  I could never hope to top that - and it's all true!

It was my first time vending (and only second time attending) FaerieCon, and I was nervous!  I needn't have been.  My vendor neighbours were fantastically welcoming and helpful (shoutout to Herbal Turtle Teas, The Leather Lair, Lithia's Creations, and authors Patrick Thomas and John French!), and when the doors opened, there was so much bright energy from the crowds that my nervousness just melted away!

It was such a pleasure to see old friends and acquaintances: Ash Evans, Leah and Shane Odom, Chrissy and Marc Hudgins, Meredith Dillman, and Jenny Davies-Reazor, and a great honor to meet Jasmine Becket-Griffith and Rachel Anderson (both of whom I've had an online acquaintance with for years, but never met in person until this past weekend), and Terri Windling-Gayton who has been such an inspiration.  I also met another online acquaintance, Megan Congdon, although I didn't realize it at the time, as it was early on the Friday and I was a bit shell-shocked and dazed by the magical enormity of it all.

Such fun new discoveries, too - Wotan the Faerie Smasher, Bill and Sam Cass with Nymbol and friends, and so many purveyors of excellent faerie finery, scents, tastes, and beautiful art.  The Good and Bad Faeries Balls were enormous fun, with excellent performances from wonderful bands and solo artists.  And so many beautiful, strange, and/or mesmerizing costumes - an artist's inspiration fantasyland!

I've posted most of the photos I snapped in an album on my Facebook page, but here are a couple of me in all my silly glory, made up for the Balls!

Good Mary

Bad Mary

Click for my Facebook FaerieCon 2012 album - I don't think a Facebook account is needed to view the album, although you'd have to have one to 'like' or 'comment'!

Oh look - New post!

It's been far too long since I last blogged.  Sorry about that.  But, I have been busy, and there are 4 new artworks on the web site, so there's that!  I'll be sending a newsletter 'round in the next day or so, introducing the new art, and there may be a discount code involved, so if you're not already a subscriber......

I know I'm pants about blogging, but I do update the Facebook Page pretty regularly, and it often includes in-progress shots of what I'm working on, so if you've got a Facebook account, come join the fun!

Here's one of the new artworks:

"Rhiannon" (part of the new "Art Nouveau Goddesses" series)

Contest Entry!

Mary Layton: Click "Collect Me" to help me win $10,000 and a show in the most immense exhibition of art in New York City : Art Takes Times Square.

Journals on sale 50% off!

I am going to be stocking new journals soon, but I need to make some room for them, first!  Therefore, this week, I have posted what remains of my current journal styles to my Etsy shop - on offer at 50% off the retail price!  These are really lovely journals: they are hand crafted in the US using imported petal and hand made papers and each features a print of one of my artworks with coordinating yarn and silk flower or acrylic gem embellishments.  The large and small journals, and pocket journals come with 'branch' pencils, and the memo pad box comes with a small standard pencil.  I've even listed the last available photo album, which comes in it's own matching box!  I'd put a notice announcing I was doing this on my journals page of the website the day I started listing them at Etsy, and before I even finished the draft listings, I sold out of the "Nouveau Bellydancer" pocket journals and sold a few of the others, so I'm down to about two each of everything else!  So some of the draft listings never even got published to Etsy!  Not that I'm complaining - the more of these journals I sell, the more of the new styles I can stock (I've only got a wee studio room in the house, after all)! :)  Below are some photos.  If you're interested in any of these, pop on over to the Etsy shop - and if you enter the code SPRINGFEVER2012 when you check out, I'll even 'spring' for posting them to you!

Close-up of the hand made paper

"Nouveau Bellydancer" Large Journal

"The Diminishing" Boxed Memo Pad

"Night Blooming Jasmine" Boxed Photo Album

"The Diminishing" Pocket Journal

 

 

 

 

New Art! New Give-away!

Hullo!

Just a fairly quick fly-by sort of post for now.  I've done a new arty thing!  This is called "Post Industrial #1" (as I'm planning to do more than one), and it's done in ink:

Prints are already available on the web site (HERE) or, you could win a print on Facebook (HERE) - there are two opportunities to win: if you've liked my page and entered the give-away there's a chance your name will be drawn, and if you share the link to the give-away on your own page/profile and someone clicks on it and enters and THEY win - you get a print, too!

As for how many drawings will be in the series - I don't know yet.  At least 3, as I've already got a couple more ideas percolating amongst the grey matter.

So, how's the weather where you are?  It's absolutely gorgeous here, although it's a bit early for it to be so gorgeous.  It's only just turned Spring here, but feels like it's been Spring since mid-February!

StellarCon this weekend!

Honestly, I am totally writing the FaerieCon post - it's in my drafts, just waiting for me to finish.  I've just been busy is all.  I'm getting ready for StellarCon this weekend (2-4 March), and although I won't be at a table, I will be hanging around during the weekend, in and out of the Art Show, so do pop in if you're in the area!  I'll be debuting some new art - a fan-art piece inspired by Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of The Wind, and another piece (check my twitter, facebook, and/or Google+ feeds for a teaser).

Oh - and the buy one get one free print sale ends on Wednesday - I'll be shipping on Thursday, any orders placed after that will ship starting Monday, after the convention!

Hello, and happy new year!  First things first:

Buy one, get one free print sale!

S'right - buy a print, and get a 2nd print free!  Just add a print to your cart at www.marylayton.net, then input the title of the free print you'd like as you check out.  There's no limit, although if you order an unusually large amount, we might want to know what you're up to. ;)  The free print(s) must be of equal or lesser value of the purchased print(s).

There - advertising's out of the way, then.  This being a new year, I'm starting to plan a show schedule. Last year was my first year of doing appearances and I really enjoyed meeting people, and was pleased to have made some sales, as well.  I'm aiming slightly bigger this year - last year was just local fairs and a small local con, but this year, I'm doing one of the big ones!  I have been confirmed as a vendor for FaerieCon East in Baltimore, MD this November!  I'm really looking forward to it, as I had a great time just visiting as a punter this past November.  I am also planning to do the Greensboro Summer Solstice event in June, which is just all kinds of fun!  Other than that, I've nothing else confirmed, although I've got some feelers out for a couple of other local events.

Oh...I promised a FaerieCon 2011 blog didn't I?  I'll try to work on that this weekend, but in the meantime, I did post some photos over on the Facebook page (<--clicky for linky).  Just scroll down the page a bit - the photos are linked by a pic of Ellen Kushner and Shane Odom.

I'll leave you with a sneak peek at what's on the drawing board (well, technically, in the sketchbook) - I'm hoping to get it done by Valentine's Day, but first I have to attend to the business side of being self-employed - end-of-year bookkeeping and quarterly taxes! Bleurgh! ;)