Wild Things

Wild Things, I think I love you... (how could one resist?) This year's offering from the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, the 6th annual exhibition, is Wild Things: A Safari of the Imagination. It is fabulous. Over 50 really amazing artists have been chosen to be part of this exhibit which is truly breathtaking. Every year I can't imagine the show being better, and somehow, every year I am blown away. I felt better about my collection of found objects that I just seem to keep collecting and never seem to do anything with (my husband often turns on Hoarders if I'm in the room as he feels I'm a very, very, fine line away from that!) after speaking with a couple of the artists who use found items. One offered to take all of my collection, site unseen! Thank God I didn't marry him, could you imagine? I've also found some new quotes to keep me inspired... "Nobody succeeds beyond his or her wildest expectations unless he or she begins with some wild expectations". -Ralph Charell among them... The show is at Cotuit Center for the Arts, and runs today through February 10th. Go find zebras, and sparkling fish, and crazy faces, and Little Miss Muffet, and elephants and Cows jumping over the moon, and prepare to be delighted. Visit the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod for more information. "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild & precious life?" - Mary Oliver

Pops by the Sea

Sunday was the 26th Annual Pops by the Sea. It is a great event put on by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, and sponsored by TD Bank.

This year was a little crazy, the weather was slightly unsettled, okay so maybe it poured once in a while, but during the show it actually rained very little. And what a show it was, in general I do tend to smile & laugh a lot more than the average bear, but man was I smiling a lot that day. The Farrelly brothers were fantastic, so funny, the way they interacted you could envision them as children growing up and see how close they are. They sword fighted w/the batons, pushed each other around, and did a heck of a lot of whistling which made for some silly photos I must say! The song they conducted was 'Colonel Bogie's March' from Bridge Over the River Kwai pretty amusing in and of itself! They were fabulous.
Siobhan Magnus did an incredible job with the national anthem, just beautiful, her & her singing... what a delight. John Sullivan was the perfect choice as honorary chair of the event. Kelli O'Hara and Jason Danieley were both amazing during their Cole Porter tribute, wonderful to watch, even better to listen to... Bob Bernhardt was such a nice man, so down to earth, he did a great job conducting the Pops in Keith Lockhart's absence. Add a song by special guest Larry David to round it all out! The entire day was just perfect (albeit a tad soggy, just a tad tho'). The only thing we were missing was the bagpipe playing from Lt. Cameron or it would have been one of the best Pops yet!!!
Don't miss it next year!!!

Summer Concert Series

If you're visiting Hyannis, make sure you plan to go to one of the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod's summer concerts. They're every Tuesday at 7:30pm at Aselton Park, and are sponsored by Citizen's Bank.

Tonight it's the Fred Clayton Blues band (blues, funk & soul),
7/19 Tripping Lily (original acoustic folk)
7/26 The Rip-it-Ups (rock n' roll)
8/2 Chandler Travis Trio (omnipop & alternative dixieland)
8/9 Stanley & Grimm (traditional Celtic tunes)

Isn't the Cape a great place?

Doug the Quahog

Yesterday was the first day of summer, and so begins the summer of 2011 - hope it's a great one! It was also Quahog Day here on the Cape, Doug the Quahog prognosticated about the upcoming summer... After being in a zen-like state all winter he was ready to talk. After arriving by Catboat, he told us (via the quahog whisperer) that we were going to have twelve weeks plus one day of beach weather this summer. Sounds good to me. Of course it is raining & nasty today... guess he meant starting tomorrow...

Now you know what we do when you're not here! Every day is a celebration on Cape Cod!



So it's been told, we're looking at a beautiful summer, isn't it time for you to visit and have your family portrait created?

So Big

This year's art exhibit by the Art's Foundation of Cape Cod is 'So Big', and it is SO GOOD! Get there as quickly as you can, and enjoy this fabulous art created by these amazing local artists... You will be both entertained, and inspired. Be sure to leave a comment with your favorite pieces of art from the exhibit!

You'll find it at the Cotuit Center for the Arts, and it runs through February 12th, every day from 10am to 5pm. The exhibit is sponsored in part by Eastern Bank, and the David C. McGraw Foundation, Inc. Don't miss it.

Happy Halloween!

Have a great weekend - I'll post photos of my peacock costume, created for Boo at the Zoo soon. As the peacocks at the ZooQuarium kindly donated me some of their feathers, seemed appropriate I wear the costume there! Check out the ZooQuarium for more info.

This photo is one of my all time favorite Halloween photos, actually makes the list of just simple favorites... Not sure why, I just adore it.

The photo's not mine, it was taken by Bill Clarke who I worked with for many years, and bought the studio from almost 10 years ago (miss ya buddy). It's his girls, who have both graduated from college quite a few years back! Thought I'd share a little blast from the past for Halloween weekend.

Enjoy!

winding down...

My goodness the summer is flying by... I've been out photographing every day, guess those photos will be coming along as I find more breathing room in my schedule... I'm having a glorious summer, photographing babies, toddlers, seniors, families, such fun! I've been to so many great beaches, lots of private ones of course, but Mayflower, Nauset Light, Corporation, West Dennis and my fave Dowses have been visited in the last few weeks... The sunset last night was truly spectacular, I enjoyed it from First Encounter Beach in No. Eastham on my way home from Nauset Light beach...

Make sure you visit Four Seas Ice cream in Centerville before the summer ends... some of the best ice cream on Cape Cod!! I love seeing the people waiting as I drive by, just seems such a perfect part of a Cape Cod summer evening...

Pops by the Sea

The 25th Pops by the Sea was by all accounts a huge success... The AFCC creates this spectacular event (with the help of TD Bank and their other sponsors) which just seems to get better every year, and every year you can't imagine it being possible...

So I found out Rachael Ray and I have something in common, we both think Adriana is gorgeous!! I took their photo together, and afterwards Adriana walked around saying, "Rachael Ray thinks I'm gorgeous!" It was really sweet!

The Boston Pops are amazing, it is just such a delightful way to spend the day on Cape Cod... start planning for next year, the first Sunday in August is a good one to mark as busy on your calendars!

Yeah for Rachael Ray!

The AFCC just announced that Rachael Ray will be the Guest Conductor for this year's TD Bank Pops by the Sea. How pysched am I? I love Rachael Ray, think she's adorably cute, very talented, and she's going to be such a fun conductor! I can picture it already. Too much fun, can't wait!

I've got to photograph so many fabulous people through the Pops, Maya Angelou being one of my faves, just to be in the same room as her was fairly amazing, my mum loved my telling her I made Maya laugh with my 'cha cha cha'... Ed Asner, Jack Klugman, Angie Dickinson, Henry Winkler, Norman Lear, Ray Romano, William Shatner, of course Ted Kennedy... we did the list the other night, I can't believe how many uber cool people I've photographed...

As if the Pops themselves, and Rachael weren't enough... oh, and then there's Idina Menzel, she'll be joining the Pops this year, how cool is that? and Chris Cooper performing The Dream Lives on: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers, can't imagine it could be any better...

So if you haven't got your tickets yet, what are you waiting for? Rachael Ray's coming to town... visit the Arts Foundation for more info. and tickets...

See you there. I'll be the one with the camera...

watching whales

On Friday, the National Marine Life Center had a whale watch out of Plymouth, so my lovely sister and niece, Adriana & I decided to go. What a great time. It was chilly, but sunny, and relatively calm for one of the first whale watches of the season. We saw 4 whales, the first was a fin whale - very cool, then two humpback whales together that kept going on deep dives, and therefore showing us their gorgeous tails... and then as we were ready to head back to shore, we came across this gorgeous humpback who was putting on quite the show - breaching, head breaching, tail breaching, flipper slapping, waving (okay, maybe that's not exactly what the scientists call it) having a grand old time in the waters off the Cape... was even so kind as to make sure we got the Pilgrim Monument as the backdrop of our shots! ...what a day...

Creative Collaborative

March 25th is my beautiful sisters birthday. It's also the Arts Foundation's annual Creative Collaborative conference. We've got a great day scheduled, panels with artists who are successfully running a business (I'm on that panel, feel quite good about that, I've got to admit!), achieving your goals of getting published, getting in a gallery, or booking a gig - whatever your medium, reaching the media (who doesn't need that), a panel with our local legislators, as well as some very cool success stories along the way... ending with awards and some really cool entertainment... and as at every Arts Foundation event, really good food!!
For more info. or to register, please visit the Art's Foundation for more info.

Hope to see you there!

First Things First

This year's exhibit by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod is called First Things First, and it is fantastic... Over 55 established Cape artists are showing (okay, so it's true, I'm one of them) at the Cotuit Center for the Arts now through Feb. 6th. The gallery is open Mon. to Sat. from 10am to 5pm.

The art includes many mediums and styles, it is just really cool. And you shouldn't miss it. One of my faves is Sam Barber's dancers made from branches, paint & glitter, Sam is better known for his impressionist paintings, so it's a treat to see some of his other work... another is this fantastic multi media face that includes all sorts of things including rope & an old pair of pants!!! Then there's that metal mask type sculpture, with sort of dreadlocked hair from found items... all so very creative...

Adriana was asked at the opening which her favorite piece was, to which she replied, "the one of me..." Of course!!!

(photo by me of the beautiful exhibit...)

Strokes of Genius

Don't miss Strokes of Genius mini-golf on Main Street, Hyannis, it's only open for 1 more week...

What a great idea, and such fun! We went last weekend and had a blast... we got to choose our favorite holes, between the 4 of us, we had 3 different faves... Different artists/sponsors designed each hole, there's everything from the giant sea monster to the beaches of the Cape to the Hyannis Mets. There were even some members of the Hyannis Mets baseball team there helping out & a rogue pirate (who doesn't love a rogue pirate?) It is definitely not to be missed while your visiting (or living) on Cape Cod.

Go after your family portrait session on the beach, or before you have your senior portrait created, the course is open from 11am to 9pm, but only until August 9th. All monies raised go to the Barnstable Education Foundation, you'll get way more than your $5. worth.

around town

Hyannis is starting to come alive - the sun is shining, the streets are full of happy faces, it must be near to summer!

Thought I should share some things to do in Hyannis while you're visiting (which you can schedule around your family portrait on the beach!!)

The Arts Foundation and Citizen's Bank bring you free concerts on Tuesday nights at Aselton Park (Ocean Street) in Hyannis from 6-7:30 pm. Bring your beach chair or blanket and listen to a different band every Tuesday from June 30th through August 18th. Check out the Arts Foundation's website for more info. and listings (and the days and schedule for other towns across the Cape).


(photo is of (a few members of) the fabulous Stage Door Canteen who will be playing on 7/21)