Enjoying Home Projects and New Shows Opening

Wes and I have spent a big part of this past week playing with rocks, whilst building a stone patio in the backyard. Albeit a lot of hard back-breaking work, it’s been enjoyable nonetheless, as we try our hand at being stone masons. Its been great fun watching it turn from a mostly muddy section of the yard into something beautiful! One of the hardest parts of the job was bringing down wheelbarrow loads of stones from up in the woods. There’s a couple of piles of sandstone, which were considered “B” rocks and left when they mined a small section a long time ago. So I say we’re going to the “rock store” when we go to the main pile and look through the rocks. It’s very enjoyable, as you always find wonderful rocks and knowing they’re free, well, that’s the icing on the cake!

Now that we have the patio completed, we’re beginning to construct a pizza oven in the back corner of the patio. I’ve taken photos throughout the process and will share a time-lapse video of the construction of it once I have it made. 

With a couple days of rain, we spent some time on inside projects, one of which was recovering the dining room chairs which we purchased along with the dining room table, at a Habitat for Humanity store.  I’ve recovered many pieces of furniture in my time, and even though it had been awhile, I got back into the swing of the art very quickly. It’s quite satisfying seeing the transformation of something that looks old and worn, into something beautiful! 

And voila’ . . . Here it is below, looking like new! There’s actually four chairs, the forth one was just awol during the photo 🙂 We installed the chandelier several weeks ago, which totally transformed the feel of the entire dining room! Sometime soon I will share before and after photos of the inside of our cabin with you, which I think you’ll enjoy. 

 

The yard and woods continues to be filled with birds! It’s truly delightful peering out all the different windows and seeing flocks of Chipping Sparrows, juncos, and so many others! The rock platform seems to be one of the favorite feeding stations for my numerous feathered friends, and it’s so enjoyable sitting in a chair nearby to watch and photograph them. 

One of our Tufted Titmice taking a peanut

Woody, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, trying to decide what to eat next

A beautiful White-breasted Nuthatch going for a peanut

A Tufted Titmouse springs a “fur collar” compliments of the wind

We enjoyed a lovely lakeside view during a van picnic one day this past week, after going into town. It’s been fun and interesting finding new parks and locations to have picnics and explore, and I’m looking forward to having time to start exploring more of the hiking trails and kayaking spots nearby. 

See our miniatures in person this week

Society of Animal Artists 2021 Exhibition
The Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, located in Oradell, NJ, until January 16th, 2022

Society of Animal Artists The Kingdom Show
The Midland Center for the Arts, located in Midland, MI, until January 16th, 2022 

The 47th International Miniature Art Show (MASF) is now open and we are delighted to announce that we each received an award in the show! I got 3rd in Birds and Animals on my painting “Among Cypress Knees“ and Wes got 2nd in Opaque Watercolor on “Excuse Me, It’s Empty Again!” 

My miniature “Among Cypress Knees”

Wes miniature “Excuse Me, It’s Empty Again!”

You can view the show online and make purchases starting January 16th at 5:05 PM EST!
The show is being held at The Dunedin Fine Art Center, located in Dunedin, FL and runs through February 6th, 2022. 

The two panels displaying our miniature paintings.

Our touring exhibition Exquisite Miniatures will open in February at The Evelyn Burrow Museum, located in Hanceville, AL. 

To see our available miniature paintings, visit our WEBSITE here: artofwildlife.com

Until Next Time ~ Rachelle