Welcome to the Critter Quarry
Featuring the Rock Stars
Marley Morgan (Mars) Diana Nixon Neen Martin
Here we are a few days before our grand opening in September/09 holding our favorite painted rock animals. To see more of these unique critters from the quarry check out our gallery.
This is a family business
venture. Diana and Neen are sisters, and Marley (Mars) is Neen's
daughter. All of us have a passion for art, and were provided with some
impetus toward this venture when in the spring of 2009, Diana took a
trip to Minneapolis and found an interesting book...The Art of Painting
Animals on Rocks by Lin Wellford. Thanks, Lin for the truly sublime
inspiration! When she brought the book home to Fort Frances, it was
Diana's intention to only paint a few rocks to decorate around the
Nixon cabin on Redgut Bay, but when one creation led to another, a sort
of sibling rivalry ensued until we realized that having a show had to
be the next logical step. We began collecting rocks from the shores of
Rainy Lake and Rainy River, along local roadsides and many were donated
by friends interested in the project. We started with deer and frogs
which led to owls, raccoons, squirrels, bunnies, chipmunks, foxes, a
baby calf, koala bears, a tiger, a cheetah and even penguins.
On
September 11th and 12th 2009 we had 37 critters to display in front of
Diana's Needle Art Embroidery shop in Fort Frances. The show was quite
successful, with several sales as well as enough future orders to keep
us busy for another month or two. Some of these orders included pet
portraits, which was a big hit with the customers! Our prices were
decided according to size, length of time to finish the piece, and
artistic quality. They range from $25 to $200. Our plan is to stay busy
with it all winter and have another show in the spring of 2010. Dates
of any new shows will be posted here on the About Us page as soon as we
know they're going to happen.
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