Wild Ozark is much more than an art website. It is 160 acres of rural Ozark Mountains in northwest Arkansas. It is also our Sanctuary, the place where my husband and I draw inspiration and motivation, and become renewed with each turn of the wheel.
It is the name of the business that shelters it all, in the same way the old oak tree out front shelters so much within her sphere of influence. The mission of Wild Ozark, the business, is to help readers develop a deeper connection with nature, even if they cannot experience the Ozarks in person.
Our original logo was inspired by this grandmother oak tree who lives here at Wild Ozark. The new one is to differentiate my art brand from the rest of what Wild Ozark embodies.
All that Wild Ozark Encompasses
Beneath the Wild Ozark canopy there exists iterations that needed to be segregated for tax and reporting purposes. ‘Wild Ozark’ proper is a ginseng nursery, the only licensed ginseng nursery in Arkansas. ‘Madison Woods’ covers everything creative that I do, which includes art and art supplies, writing, website design (not an advertised venture at this point, but I do take clients if the fit is good for me), and my real estate business. These things are all taxed and reported differently than a nursery plants business.
There is also my husband’s creative venture in woodworking. He has a separate website for that, but hasn’t started producing items to sell yet and doesn’t take a lot of personal time to work on his art-form. He recently completed a state of the art solar array that will power his shop and all the tools, with energy left over to power the house as well. And even more recently finished a concrete foundation for our greenhouse. Now he’ll spend some time building a personal project, but one that benefits our household – a comfortable and practical deer blind.
Peculiar Crops for a ‘Farm’
Rocks?
Most definitely. Rocks are the mainstay here, lol. I use them for making handmade paints. The rocks (and clay, and other natural sources here) are the source for pigments I use in my paintings. When I have extra, I sell the paints themselves. And most of the paintings. I’ll soon have a Wild Ozark Studio & Gallery! It’ll go down by the gate where the ginseng garden lives.
Nature Opportunities
Nature is a savage muse, but I love her. She is far more predictable than unpredictable man. There is no malice in her violent actions, simply cause and effect, or science. The laws of physics apply to most instances. But there is also beauty, unbelievable beauty, and a circle of life that goes on almost miraculously.
It is one of the most bittersweet things to reckon – that life goes on as if my own difficulties or experiences don’t matter at all. But this is a GOOD thing. It ensures the survival of the earth and this biosphere can’t pause to acknowledge the pains of individuals.
It is this dependability, the constant knowing that change will happen and life will go on regardless, that I respect about Nature. She is the foundation behind everything that is me and the perpetual well for my creativity.
Trees
My husband creates fine woodworks, so there’s a need for lumber and we have plenty of trees. We don’t go cutting them whilly-nilly, though. To maintain a healthy forest sometimes we need to selectively remove trees for the good of the others.
I am also looking into using the gums from wild cherry, wild plum, as the binding gum for my watercolor paints. Then they will truly be a completely “made in Arkansas” product. At the moment I’m using the traditional binder, gum Arabic, which is an imported product. For the oils, there are local sources I could use for that as well once I figure out how to extract them.
Ginseng
For a long time I could say that we’re the only nursery in Arkansas for ginseng. But I hear now there is another out there somewhere. We grow it wild-simulated in the forests in its natural habitat. I sell the potted seedlings from the farm here in spring, and bare-root seedlings ship out in fall once the temperatures drop.
Putting the wild in Wild Ozark
It takes us thirty minutes to reach pavement from where we live in the wild Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas, where we work at scratching out a sustainable living off the hamster wheel of debt. Together we plan and act on ideas to make products, grow ginseng, and work on projects to help others enjoy and reconnect with Nature.
Current Projects
- Nature Art
- Earth pigments and wildcrafted oils & watercolors
- Fiction and non-fiction writing
Our Goal: to bridge the gap between people and the natural world through our art. To remind people that we are part of a larger whole. And to celebrate that all we see is not always all there is. We do this through art, stories, photography, books and crafts inspired by the Ozarks. With our nursery we offer plants to help re-establish natural American ginseng habitats.
“The Wild Ozark team”
The Duo Behind the Brand
Richard Kestrel (Rob)
My life’s motto is a line from a Rush song: “It’s all about choices. If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”
About Rob
I’m driven to get our household sustainable and off-grid so we can thrive in any circumstance. My 22 years of USAF service gives me a varied skillset for this purpose. I’m interested in solar power and look forward to a time when I can work on our solar array. I’m a woodworker and enjoy making decorative boxes with gemstone inlay (great for jewelry, tarot cards, etc.).
I have a lot of ideas for furniture, as well. I also love bonsai and plan to make bonsai planters. My role with Wild Ozark at this point is homestead infrastructure engineer. We have a lot of critical things that need to be taken care of with the homestead (like leveling the house) before I can focus on my own creative ideas for our online shop.
In the meantime I do some editing for Madison’s writing projects and come up with ideas, which we are writing down to draw upon later. All of the projects around here give Madison some photo ops and blog post topics, though. As soon as we get caught up with the house foundation and leveling I’ll be able to begin building my workshop. Then I’ll get to bring of my creative ideas to fruition.
Newsletter
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