Jen C Mars
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jencmars.bsky.social
Jen C Mars
@jencmars.bsky.social
5K followers 480 following 2.4K posts
Illustrator: Fantasy & Nature - Wildlife Photography Enthusiast - TTRPG Player - I like birds and bugs

Portfolio: https://www.jencmars.com
Shop: https://jencmars.bigcartel.com/
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Jen C Mars
genandgenes.bsky.social
Are you located in the DC-Baltimore-Philadelphia-New York corridor?

Have you always wanted to have your very own 11 foot long papier-mâché hammerhead shark?

Now available for free!

Perfect for museums, community centers, or your living room!

Save this lovely creature from imminent destruction!
Picture of shark sculpture by MICA student Mayali Geyling. Picture of shark sculpture by MICA student Mayali Geyling.
November 14, 2025 at 7:41 PM
jencmars.bsky.social
My precioussssss
Close-up photo of a greater angle wing katydid (a green, grasshopper-like insect) with its front legs holding the tip of the leaf it's standing on while its antennae slant dramatically over its eyes, giving it a possessive and defensive appearance
November 14, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
bisonrimant.fr
Nice light this morning.

What are they up to ?
5 wood sculptures, a dragon with a duck on it's head, a humanoid mantis wearing a dress, a humanoid cuttlefish wearing a dress, a humanoid cat with four eyes, horns pointy ears in a blue dress, and a bat inspired creature on a workbench
November 5, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
brettbullionart.bsky.social
Here’s all the little cicadas together. Put a little varnish on them. Now I just need to cut them out, scan them, and get them in some frames.
4 small circular paintings of cicadas on a single sheet of paper.
November 14, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
themonstersknow.com
When one of us is attacked, we all roll initiative!

Join us this Saturday, Nov. 15, for a charity D&D stream to raise funds for immigrant/refugee organizations in CHI, PDX, LA and DC, in support of our neighbors who are being harassed, assaulted and abducted in the name of immigration enforcement.
A promotional image for The Ones Who Endure: A D&D Charity Stream in Support of Our Neighbors' Rights and Dignity. It includes headshots of DM Keith Ammann and players Brian Gray, Jen Kretchmer, Lexi McQueen and Jeff Mueller. The players' headshots are accompanied by banners adapted from the municipal flags of Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; Chicago; and Portland, Oregon. Per the image, the stream begins at 6 PM U.S. Eastern Time, 5 PM Central Time, 3 PM Pacific Time.
November 13, 2025 at 10:34 PM
jencmars.bsky.social
Looking into getting a family gecko and woah is the reptile biz just bananas

On the one hand, I feel like I fell through a time hole and now I'm back surfing the net in 2003... on the other, who is nacholizard72 and how do I know he's going to sell me a gecko and not steal my kidneys?
November 13, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
annabookwriter.bsky.social
They’ve decided. It’s time.

They will Voltron together and hunt down every last yacht.
November 13, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
thedancingemu.bsky.social
"Dream Entities", mini paintings from 2022

Watercolor/multimedia 2.5"x3.5"

#art #surreal #aceo #painting
Blue painting of creatures in a tree Green painting of weird creatures Green painting of weird creatures
November 9, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
alexwild.bsky.social
I suspect people don’t know that most scientific conferences charge many thousands of dollars to set up a sales booth, which is why the vending areas are full of boring corporate bullshit and none of the fun wacky artists you’d actually want to see there.
November 13, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
davidcsimon.bsky.social
I took my very first photographs of a Fan-tailed Cuckoo today! They've been a Nemesis Bird of mine for many years now so this is a big deal for me :)
#birds
Photograph of a small cuckoo perched on a black identifying sign. The bird is grey, bugg, and white, with a dark beak, black and white tail feathers, and yellow rings around its eyes. It is round and fluffy, looking cute and innocent despite being a parasitic cuckoo. The sign identifies a species of plant (not pictured), reading "Edgeworthia chrysantha, 'Grandiflora', Thymelaeaceae"
November 13, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
sbworkersunited.org
As of this morning, Starbucks workers across the country are officially ON STRIKE. And we're prepared for this to become the biggest and longest ULP strike in Starbucks history.

Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
Don't Buy Starbucks! At any location, today and beyond, while workers are on ULP strike!
November 13, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
tjalamont.bsky.social
A closer look at Ms. Mantis (Stagmomantis limbata, native here in SoCal) from today. Adults can be green or brown, but that doesn't adequately describe how much they vary. "Brown" can tend toward yellow, orange, or even pink, and "green" can be grayish, deep shamrock, or mint-pastel. #Bugsky 🐙🌿
A macro photo of the triangular face of a praying mantis, against an out of focus background of green leaves and yellow and pink flowers. The mantis has pale pink compound eyes, and a pale mint-green face with yellow and blue highlights on the mouthparts.
November 12, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
rosemarymosco.com
With the aurora popping up again last night, I thought I'd repost this adventure from last year. I drew this when the great @nepeteaa.bsky.social wondered what night-migrating songbirds might make of it all. Part 1/2
A seven-page comic. On page 1, the sun begins to set over an autumnal scene in a forest. The sun continues to set, reflected in the eye of a bird. The sun finishes setting, reflected in the bird's eye and zoomed out a bit. The bird has various hues of stormy blue feathers. The sun has fully set and the stars are out, and the bird, a female Black-throated Blue Warbler, says "It's time." On page 2, the bird says "Ready for another night of migration?" to a male Black-throated Blue warbler, who replies "I ate all the good bugs in this forest, so, sure." She says "Okay. Let's do this." They take off from a branch, saying "Up up up." They hit their cruising altitude and fly through the starry darkening sky. On page 3, they are flying along and the male says "I think this trip is going pretty good so far-" And the female interrupts "Wait." There's a green reflection in her eye. She says "There's something behind us." They turn and see the eerie glimmer of aurora. The male says "Oh" On page 4, the male says "What is... Is that wildfire smoke?" And the female says "I don't think so." They book look alarmed. He says "Should we fly faster? Try to get away?" and she says "No, now it's in our flight path, too!" The aurora has spread and dances through the sky. Some of it becomes pink. He says "It's everywhere!" and she says "I... I don't understand."
November 12, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
tinylongwing.bsky.social
A European Robin for @purpzie.com , thank you for your #Waymakers donation! And for a super fun bird choice, I've actually never done one of these before I think? they're so dang cute, here's one looking ahead to winter! 🎨🪶 #BirdArt #SciArt
Illustration of a European Robin perched on a snowy log looking skyward with its head slightly tilted to the side. Snowflakes fall through the air over a pale grayish background, making the bird's bright orange throat and chest stand out.
October 24, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
aerojad.bsky.social
RED RED RED AURORAS IN CHICAGO OMG #ilwx #aurora
More Aurora over the Lake Michigan horizon now with bright red showing up over the green band
November 6, 2025 at 3:13 AM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
lazaroillustration.bsky.social
I'm currently searching for a book on insect anatomy. Any recommendations? 🙂🪲🐞🦋

#insects #books #invertebrates
November 11, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
skidarstudios.bsky.social
🍂 Raven Eclipse 🔴
Gouache on watercolor paper, approx 6x9"

I've been having a lovely time playing with my paints again 😊
This will be up on my Inprnt shop soon!
a gouache painting of a raven with its beak open in front of a red moon surrounded by patterns in leaves in oranges reds and purples
November 11, 2025 at 3:18 AM
jencmars.bsky.social
An experimental painting from this past summer

Watercolor and pencils on 11x14" paper
Surreal watercolor painting of a portrait of a woman with brown hair and what seems to be a prairie rose bush with bright green leaves and pink flowers with yellow centers. There are bumblebees and other small bees, a red weevil, a flower fly, a ladybug, and a secret crab spider in and around the foliage. A large green katydid is resting on her collar bone. The background is a soft green with vignette of blue-green
November 11, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
annainthefield.bsky.social
Does anyone have recommendations for cellular GPS tags (GPS + GSM) for box turtles? I want to be able to have the data sent to me remotely via a cellular network. Needs to weigh 20-30g or less. These would be attached to box turtle shells with epoxy.
November 11, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
albertabats.bsky.social
🦇 ICYMI
We’ve updated our Bat Ambassador Guide for teachers, interpreters, and anyone sharing bat knowledge. It’s free and packed with outreach tips and Alberta bat info.
Link in comments!
Cover page of the Alberta Bat Ambassador Guide - Ideas for Bat Conservation Outreach Last updated March 20, 2025 image of a Hoary Bat
November 10, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
newsjennifer.bsky.social
Read every word & share with everyone you know. This is real life here in Chicago. Americans need to know this grotesque reality & stand with us.
bgrueskin.bsky.social Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 5d
Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.

He is a computer safety researcher.

And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.

In under 1600 words.

aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
I Want You to Understand Chicago Politics Chicago 2025-11-08 I want you to understand what it is like to live in Chicago during this time. Every day my phone buzzes. It is a neighborhood group: four people were kidnapped at the corner drugstore. A friend a mile away sends a Slack message: she was at the scene when masked men assaulted and abducted two people on the street. A plumber working on my pipes is distraught, and I find out that two of his employees were kidnapped that morning. A week later it happens again. An email arrives. Agents with guns have chased a teacher into the school where she works. They did not have a warrant. They dragged her away, ignoring her and her colleagues’ pleas to show proof of her documentation. That evening I stand a few feet from the parents of Rayito de Sol and listen to them describe, with anguish, how good Ms. Diana was to their children. What it is like to have strangers with guns traumatize your kids. For a teacher to hide a three-year-old child for fear they might be killed. How their relatives will no longer leave the house. I hear the pain and fury in their voices, and I wonder who will be next. Understand what it is to pray in Chicago. On September 19th, Reverend David Black, lead pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, was praying outside the ICE detention center in Broadview when a DHS agent shot him in the head with pepper balls. Pepper balls are never supposed to be fired at the head because they can seriously injure, or even kill. “We could hear them laughing as they were shooting us from the roof,” Black recalled. He is not the only member of the clergy ICE has assaulted. Methodist pastor Hannah Kardon was violently arrested on October 17th, and Baptist pastor Michael Woolf was shot with pepper balls on November 1st. Understand what it is to sleep in Chicago. On the night of September 30th, federal agents rappelled from a Black Hawk helicopter to execute a raid on an apartment building on the South Sho…
November 10, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
themonstersknow.com
This Saturday, 11/15, join me and @blackgirlmage.bsky.social, @dreamwisp.bsky.social, @themightyjerd.bsky.social and @urbanbohemian.com as we play D&D and raise funds in support of our neighbors who are being threatened with harassment, assault and kidnapping in the name of immigration enforcement.
A promotional image for The Ones Who Endure: A D&D Charity Stream in Support of Our Neighbors' Rights and Dignity. It includes headshots of DM Keith Ammann and players Brian Gray, Jen Kretchmer, Lexi McQueen and Jeff Mueller. The players' headshots are accompanied by banners adapted from the municipal flags of Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; Chicago; and Portland, Oregon. Per the image, the stream begins at 6 PM U.S. Eastern Time, 5 PM Central Time, 3 PM Pacific Time.
November 10, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
rovinacai.bsky.social
Noooo Derwent Artist pencils and Tombow dual tip markers aren't lightfast?! Guess I'm throwing out most of my art materials 🫠
Pencil Brands Are Lying to You About Being Lightfast
YouTube video by Sarah Renae Clark
youtu.be
November 10, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
nkjemisin.bsky.social
Reminder: Today at 11 am Eastern I'll be streaming "The Long Dark" to raise money for NY Common Pantry! With giveaways for each goal! Let's see how long I last.

www.twitch.tv/nkjemisin

If you don't feel like watching the game, you can also donate directly at tiltify.com/@nkjemisin/s...
nkjemisin - Twitch
nkjemisin streams live on Twitch! Check out their videos, sign up to chat, and join their community.
www.twitch.tv
November 9, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by Jen C Mars
carsondrewit.bsky.social
Calling this one finished!

Thank you to everyone who donated to @porpoiseorg.bsky.social to help us make this!

If you're learning about the #Vaquita for the first time, head over to this link and learn more about this critically endangered porpoise!

savethevaquitas.carrd.co
A digital illustration of 20 vaquita porpoises swimming amongst coral reefs and various marine flora. some of the vaquita are wearing silly hats.
November 8, 2025 at 2:56 AM