Snap Chat: The Story Behind these Astounding Wildlife Photos

Catching Muskoka wildlife on camera is a tricky thing. You need patience and calm, an enviable camera, clothes that don’t swish. Photo duo Heather Truscott and Cheryl Nicholson of Heartstone Photography are learning by doing. Friends since childhood, the pair spend their Muskoka weekends walking the woods, paddling the lakes, hiking the trails. Algonquin. Arrowhead. Muskoka Lakes. They stop, wait, listen. When they spot a deer or a special bird, a groundhog, a chipmunk, they raise their Nikons and shoot… in a kindly way. The result are these arresting wildlife photos published regularly here in MuskokaStyle. Oh, and Heather and Cheryl tell stories too—the stories behind the images: what it took, and more importantly, what it meant to capture these beautiful, natural, fleeting moments on film. Stop by often, this page is updated regularly with new pix. Now, get to it. Read and Look:

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My Heart is on an Island in Georgian Bay

“My heart is on an island in Georgian Bay.” Martha Davis, Artist That’s how artist Martha Davis describes her summer-cottage studio in a place that most inspires her. Having spent childhood summers on Georgian Bay, she’s moved to create impressionistic, up-close-and-personal work drawn from the natural world: sun rising in the east, dew settling on …

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Paddle Wall

How To Paint A Paddle: Art at the Cottage in Six Easy Steps

Paint your own paddle by following these six easy steps—created for MuskokaStyle by artist and author Wendie Donabie. Materials: Wooden paddle – unfinished or varnished Acrylic paint and foam applicator or brushes Painter’s tape 150 or 180 with grit Sandpaper or a palm sander Spray on clear varnish Instructions: Sand the varnish off the portion …

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Lynda Lynn Welcome to the Sun

Lynda Lynn’s Lovely Watercolours

Muskoka artist Lynda Lynn communes with her muse in the “landscape and beauty of the natural world.” She spends time in “quiet uninhabited places or in the expansiveness of a long view”. When searching for new material, Lynda may find herself deep in the woods, by a roaring waterfall, overlooking a quiet lake and distant rolling hills, in the deep shadows of sunlit snow, or basking in the blazing fall colours of Ontario trees. Read more about Lynda Lynn’s watercolours in MuskokaStyle.

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The Whimsical World of Artist Wendie Donabie

It happens when she most needs it and least expects it. A heron appears—riding the wind, reminding Wendie Donabie she’s not alone in facing a storm or a struggle. “I’ve always known the heron to be my spirit animal,” says the painter, poet, and author. “Herons appear when I have an important decision to make, …

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