about mkc photography

mkc photography is an eco-friendly, hand-made home decor company that creates gorgeous art and wares using salvaged wood and paper from damaged library books. Customers love to purchase our artwork both for themselves and for gifts because they know each piece gives new life to otherwise discarded materials. We’ve been making beautiful things by hand in our Philadelphia-area studio since 2009.

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Michelle Ciarlo-Hayes is the award-winning artist, creator, and story-teller behind mkc photography. Until the age of ten, Michelle was certain the secret passage into Narnia truly existed and if she just rifled through enough closets and cupboards, she would find it. Fables, fairy tales, and legends have always enchanted Michelle, her favorites being those where feisty and daring heroines like Lucy and Alice run off to have wild adventures. She graduated from the University of Oxford, where she would read in the same gardens that inspired C.S. Lewis and Lewis Carroll’s imaginations, and her whimsical, witty, & joyful {with just a hint of quirky} artwork is still influenced by this idea of magical worlds that mingle with our own. She’s a former librarian (hence, all those salvaged books) and she creates every piece of artwork featured on her handmade wares.

Michelle is a member of the Artessa Alliance (an award-winning artist collective), received the Artist Cultural Exchange prize for “Alone With the Stars,” her mixed-media piece honoring Amelia Earhart, was named Runner-Up Entrepreneur of the Year (2017) by Handmade Business Magazine, and has been a finalist for the Happening List’s Best of Montgomery County, PA in 2019 and 2020!

Questions about our work?

Check out our FAQ below, read our customer reviews,

or contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

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Here’s a peek inside the studio!

FAQ

Art Blocks

Handmade by Michelle from her archival prints, reclaimed wood, and vintage book paper. Michelle seals each block with multiple layers of non-toxic matte varnish and signs them on the reverse. All blocks come with a keyhole opening in the back for ease of hanging.

Canvas Gallery Wraps

Professionally printed with archival inks on water resistant canvas that last over 100 years in direct sunlight. The canvas is stretched over 1.5 inch-deep handmade frames constructed of solid wood, and arrives signed and ready-to-hang.

Growth Charts

printed on removable, reusable vinyl and come with application instructions. While most designs are in stock, you may need to wait for a certain design to be printed and shipped…but, it will be worth it!

Fine Art Prints

Professionally printed on archival photo paper with light-safe inks. Prints last 100 years in home display and 200 years in dark storage. Michelle signs each print on the reverse with photo-safe ink. If selecting the matted 8×8 or 8×10 option, your print will arrive matted in classic white archival mat board and will be signed on the mat in pencil.

Keychains, Ornaments & Picture Holders

Beautiful and eco-friendly! Michelle creates each one from 1.25″ square salvaged wood and book paper, and seals them with multiple coats of a high-quality, non-toxic finish. Our keychains aren’t fully waterproof, so please don’t leave them outside in a rain storm, but they will withstand years of daily use.

Shipping

All items on this site ship free in the Continental United States. Please allow seven (7) business days for prints, ornaments/keychains, and 5×5 art blocks; twelve (12) business days for canvas gallery wraps, and large art blocks, and up to fourteen (14) business days for growth charts to arrive (expedited and international shipping is available for an additional fee: please contact us for a quote).

become an mkc wholesaler

Would you like to carry mkc photography wares in your shop? We’d love to join you! Simply contact us or fill out our wholesale application to receive our line sheet and order form.

Apply here