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For Some Couples, Love And Art Blend Beautifully

Photo by CHERYL KUCK

International miniature art award winners Wes and Rachelle Siegrist were at the recent 34th annual international show of the Miniature Art Society of Florida at the Dunedin Fine Art Center. Rachelle holds a copy of their new book, “Exquisite Miniatures.” Rachelle was awarded best traditional portrait, and her husband received a third-place award for wildlife art.

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By CHERYL KUCK

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 11, 2009

The month of February, thanks to Valentine's Day, is devoted locally to arts lovers and couples who share their love of the arts.

Married couples living and successfully working together are unique.

Rachelle and Wes Siegrist have been married for 19 years. Jon and Peggy Courson have been married for 53.

Both couples share a passionate commitment to each other and to their art.

The Siegrists' story began in 1989, when Wes was teaching art at the Highlands Museum of the Arts in Sebring. Rachelle enrolled as one of Wes' students, and the rest is history.

They have exhibited in 500 art shows and won hundreds of awards, including top honors for the past two years at the International Show of the Miniature Art Society of Florida.

This year's show was at the Dunedin Fine Art Center Jan. 18 to Feb. 8, where Rachelle received an award for Best Traditional Portrait and Wes received third place in Birds and Animals.

To be an award recipient in the International Miniature Show means an artist had to compete against 1,800 entrants from around the globe. To be in the show, they must have made the juried cut, which eliminated 1,000 pieces of art.

Then, a judge in the show, Lois Salmon Toole, selected 64 pieces in various disciplines for recognition. Of those, she chose five for the top awards, including Rachelle's 2-inch-by-2-inch opaque watercolor portrait, "Sarah."

The couple had five paintings judged in the show, a major feat.

Their studio is in Townsend, Tenn., where they get constant inspiration for their love of painting wildlife at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains.

The also talk to art groups and have just published their first book, "Exquisite Miniatures," which covers the history of miniature painting, explores the future of the art and gives step-by-step instruction on how to paint miniatures.

The reason for the Siegrists' great success?

"We are following our passion. We love to paint! It's not just our career, it's our joy," Rachelle said.

Closer to home are Plant City artists Jon and Peggy Courson.

"We've been partners in love and life for a long time," said Peggy Courson, speaking of her 53-year marriage to Jon.

They hold offices in the East Hillsborough Art Guild and are committed to expanding the visual arts in the Plant City community.

"Peggy has always been very creative and received many awards for her work. This took a back seat after her marriage to me, devoting years to raising our two daughters and two sons," Jon Courson said.

Peggy said, "When I was able to return to painting, I do recommend starting the way I did. It's a good way to find your path. I began by joining four other artists one day a week. I learned to cultivate my creative abilities through those friendly sessions."

After Jon's retirement as senior vice president of the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. in Tampa, the couple acquired a North Carolina mountain home, taking advantage of the nearby educational facilities in the Blowing Rock area and refining their talent in woodworking and drawing at the Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute.

Later, they took their skills to a new level through training at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gaitlinburg, Tenn. During a 10-year period of study at Arrowmont, they alternated their time for shows in North Carolina before returning to Jon's Plant City birthplace.

Jon's specialty is woodturning.

"I never cut down trees but am always on the lookout for cut timber," he said. "When locating a source, I give the owner the wood the first bowl created. So far, there have been over 600 bowls made from a variety of 12 different woods. I just look for a piece of wood that has the character and appeal of the bowl that is inside it just waiting to be turned."

Both artists showed their work during January at the Bruton Memorial Library in Plant City and are gearing up for the Strawberry Festival, where Jon was a first-place blue-ribbon winner in 2005.

This year, he also will manage the art guild's festival accounting.

Information about Rachelle and Wes Siegrist can be found at www.artofwildlife.com.

For information about the Coursons' work, e-mail them at cours83@verizon.net.

Cheryl Kuck is a media member of the Greater Brandon Arts Council. She can be reached at wkuck@tampabay .rr.com.

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