Wes & Rachelle Siegrist

"Tiny Treasures of the Natural World"

Monthly Newsletters

Wes beside a towering Saguaro cactus in the Arizona desert.	Rachelle at the Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson, AZ. An amazing place and a marvel at how well the Museum integrated into the area landscape.
News: * Wes's "Locust Borer on Goldenrod", "The Lady Killer" and Rachelle's "The Zookeeper's Assistant" have been juried into the 45th Annual Art and the Animal Exhibition of the Society of Animal Artists. The show will debut in September in Carson City, Nevada. * We'll be attending the Susan Kathleen Black Foundation's Artists Conference & Workshop again this month in Dubois, Wyoming. Last year was so much fun we just had to do it again!
Rachelle with friend and fellow artist, Judy Murray, during the Nature's Palette Wildlife Art Show. We plan to participate in the event again in 2006.	Rachelle stops to photograph a backlit Cholla cactus in the Saguaro West National Park.
Interesting Updates: * We will be producing a poster image (a collage of several of our minis) for "Animal World Magazine" and the annual "Tennessee's Week for the Animals". The event will take place October 1st thru the 8th, 2005. We'll also be featured in the magazine in October. More info will be posted later to the website and newsletters. * The next snailmail newsletter will be mailed after July 4th. * On the easels: Rachelle is currently painting commissions that include a cat, dog, portrait, and landscape. She'll also be completing a new work for the show in Dubois, WY. Wes is painting a calf and also plans to complete a new work for the SKB workshop show.
Rachelle with our gang of friends watching hummingbirds in Miller's Canyon. (Natalie Ratnivira(partial), Judy & Gregg Murray (with Beau Albright hidden),Rachelle, Brook Albright, and Lisa and Gamini Ratnavira)	Wes and Gamini checking out a Black-headed Grosbeak. Friends, Bill and Rachel Tipitt, joined us on the trip.
Our Adventures: * Arizona and the Sonoran Desert were amazing! We hiked several trails in the desert and returned with year's worth of potential paintings on the digital cameras. Highlights were birding with fellow artists in several of the area canyons and visiting the Desert Museum in Tucson. We spent several days in the Saguaro National Parks. * The yard and garden are doing wonderful ~ love the fresh picked meals! We should have sweet peas and snow peas this month. * Rachelle's family will be staying with us this month so we'll be doing some touristy things with them in addition to some hikes in the Smokies. * We hiked up to the Walker Sister's cabin again last month with friends to check out more of the wildflowers. Spring has been exceptionally beautiful in east Tennessee this year. * Wes took advantage of the cool temps and low humidity to finish all the painting projects around the house including the basement and garage floors. We've also been working on our paths and flowers beds in the yard adding mulch and critter hideouts wherever possible. * Yes, we took in Star Wars and loved it! Wes is a Sci-Fi junkie and Rachelle is unwittingly being converted.
Rachelle laughs while photographing bees and ants on Purple-fringed Phacelia near the Walker Sisters cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains.	Rachelle at the Saguaro West National Park Vistor's Center in Tucson, AZ. We both agreed that the yellow blooming Palo Verdes were are favorite sight in the desert.
Critter Encounters: * Yard Bird List: 86 species. The following birds are nesting in the yard: Tufted Titmouse, American Robin, Carolina Chickadee, Eastern Bluebirds, House Wrens and our neighbor's newly fledged Carolina Wrens love our stick piles. Our resident large black snake is now daily basking in the flower gardens. * Our trip to Southeast Arizona resulted in the following birds: Western Wood Pewee, Curve-billed Thrasher, Bendire's Thrasher, Gila Woodpecker, Black-headed Grosbeak, Gambel's Quail, Bridled Titmouse, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Bushtit, Verdin, Mexican Jay, Audubon's Warbler, Cactus Wren, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Painted Redstart, Black-throated Sparrow, Great-tailed Grackle, Cassin's Sparrow, Acorn Woodpecker, Gilded Flicker, Inca Dove, Canyon Towhee, Gray Flycatcher, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Lesser Goldfinch and the following Hummingbirds - Broad-billed, Blue-throated, Magnificent, Black-chinned, Anna's, Allen's, and the Broad-tailed. What a trip birdwatching! We also had fun finding all the new lizard species, a rattlesnake, and those adorable pack rats! Thanks to Barb at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Northwest Tucson for allowing us and fellow artists Gregg & Judy Murray some time with their raptors.
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