Raccoon Update

For a while, we didn't see 'our' raccoon babies then began to see them again about a week ago,  Unfortunately, we found one of them near our country road dead but it did not appear as if it had been hit by a car or had been injured in any way. 

We saw three of them for a couple of days but recently are just seeing two of them.  We don't know if the third one is just hiding/keeping out of sight or if something has happened to it also.  It's usually just one who is brave enough to show himself consistently and the others have all been way more shy and secretive.

But I was fortunate enough today to get some photos before they both scurried up a tree and out of sight.  Oh, the trees they now retreat to are apple trees which are full of apples!  We had hoped they wouldn't find those trees but ------.  My DH isn't going to do anything about them being in the apple orchard though - he's just glad to see them back around again.

Without further ado, here are the 'babies'!

Will be busy for the next several days as the Core Sound Museum is hosting a NC Wildlife Artists Society exhibition starting the 19th of this month (August) and it will run until November 17th of this year.  I have the three paintings allowed for exhibit but am still painting in hopes of producing something with a lot of wow factor!  We'll see what ends up in the show but decisions will have to be made quickly if I'm to get everything down to Harkers Island, NC in time for them to hang the paintings!

N C Wildlife Artists Society Exhibition

Just wanted to remind everyone that the North Carolina Wildlife Artists Society Exhibition is opening today at the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center!

I'm sure there will be some outstanding art and I hope you'll stop by to see the exhibit if you're in the area!

North Carolina Wildlife Artist Society

I received word yesterday that I have been juried into the North Carolina Wildlife Artist Society and I'm very excited about it.

Many of you know I was once a pet portrait artist and also know how much I like painting animals.  You also know that we live in a very rural area where we see wildlife of some kind every day.  You may not know that I'm not much of a joiner - most of the time I prefer to be painting instead of just talking about it!  To be honest, I checked out some local chapters of various art media societies and felt totally out of place not to mention that I don't like being confined to just one art medium.

But when I discovered NCWAS, it just felt like a match made in heaven.  Artists lead a somewhat solitary life anyway and rural artists are really isolated!  Normally that doesn't bother me a bit but recently I've felt that being around other artists and participating in art events would help me to stretch as an artist.

NCWAS is perfect for me as it's not media-specific, I can use any medium I want. I think they only have one meeting per year which leaves time for actually painting!  The subject requirements aren't overly strict and are what I'd be painting anyway.   They offer participation in various shows or exhibitions but I don't think the participation is mandatory which is a real plus for someone who paints as slowly as I do!

Is there any wonder I submitted an application for joining?

So, in light of this new membership, stay tuned for more wildlife and wildflower paintings!  You can check out NCWAS by clicking on the links for their website and Facebook page listed at the top right.