Wes & Rachelle Siegrist

"Tiny Treasures of the Natural World"

Monthly Newsletters

MINIATURE PAINTINGS: African Birds Birds of Prey Butterflies Florals Gamebirds Landscapes Mammals Portraits Reptiles Songbirds Larger\|Older Reproductions HIGHLIGHTS: Biography Exhibits Statements Resumes Galleries Publications Newsletters History Awards Framing Sitemap CONTACT: Order Testimonials siegrist@artofwildlife.com	Enjoying a meal and an "UNO" card game on our screen porch with Wes's brother, Tony, and sister-in-law, Karen.	Even though it was near 90 down in Towsend the temperature atop Clingman's was in the low 50's. Rachelle and Karen were certain the wind chill was in the 20's!
	News Highlights: * New shows and Venues: Guess this is going to become a permanent line in the newsletters as all the changes are keeping us on our toes and constantly updating the exhibit schedule. Several more shows are currently pending notification. * We'll be spending a week this month in our basement painting with friends. We've enjoyed the recent visits from friends and collectors as well as Family!
	Wes and his "little" brother, Tony, at the Carter Shield's cabin in Cades Cove.	One of our favorite picnic spots near our home.
	Interesting Updates: * The published works section of the website was recently updated to include additional information on some of our features and highlights. Our resumes and awards have also been updated and a casual visit to the galleries will show that we really are spending most of our time at the easels. * On the easels: Wes is currently working on miniatures for upcoming shows. He just finished a series of owls for the "Birds of America" show this fall. Rachelle is working on a portrait for the MPSGS Exhibition and has a list of a dozen "to do" works. She's so far holding up well under the pressure!
	Rachelle and one of our dearest friends, Jim Macumber, back in the mid 1990's during one of our day trips to Gatorland and a roadside BBQ joint.	Wes and Fred Weiser try various methods of creating excessive smoke during the 4th of July BBQ.
	Our Recent Memory Makers: •Another joyous 4th of July celebration with friends and we've had several delightful visits this past month including a week with Wes's brother Tony and sister-in-law, Karen. Danny and Kim Thomas and their family dropped in during their vacation and the Bates and Stephenson's spent the night with us and generally relaxed on the screen porch and around the fire pit in the evening. We're still managing daily bike rides or walks and the occasional hike in the Park. Our sunset concert music series ended this past month to our regret as we've enjoyed them highly! We also had to go back and see the "A" show at the Jukebox Theater in Pigeon Forge, TN. Both of their 50's and 60's shows were fantastic. •We're so sad to say that we lost another one of our dearest friends recently. Jim Macumber first joined our family of collectors and friends back in our dating days. He and Rachelle had been students together in Wes's class. Over the years we enjoyed his jokes and wonderful sense of humor shared over meals or during one of our many day trips together. Jim was a fine artist in his own right although he always delighted in "fussing" over a work and always told us he had scrubbed it off in the tub at least once before getting it to a happy stage. His handmade greeting cards brought smiles and it was Jim that nicknamed Spikey the "Buzzard". Most of you know Jim as the guy in the "Cradle Robber Painting". We'll always cherish our memories, photos and videos of him! •We did two hikes this past month that were both repeats for us. We hiked a mile to Spruce Flats Falls and had a Subway picnic at the base of the falls with Tony and Karen and also went up to the Clingman's Dome tower. The visibility was very good looking out in all directions. •Congrats to everyone who played along with our annual summer games in the newsletter!
	L to R: Wes, Robert & Robbie Stephenson and Carol and Lee Bates enjoy the evening around the fire pit making smores.	Wes and Tony relived childhood camping memories making smores and hobo pies on the fire.
	Critter Encounters: * Yard Bird List: 93. * We had a family of four orphaned baby skunks that lived under our front porch for awhile this past month...cute but their perfume sure smelled up the basement! Thankfully they had moved out by the time the company came to stay with us. One baby rabbit is still working as an official pruner in the garden department and at least two box turtles are taking care of any tomatoes that we care to share with them.
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