Driftwood Carvings … Meet the Artists
A Personal Note from Daryl & Michele: We love to fish, hike and boat in the beauty that surrounds our home. Living in the Ozark Mountains in Northwest Arkansas, we are just minutes away from awesome trout fishing on the White River, great bass fishing on Bull Shoals Lake, and scenic floating and hiking in the Buffalo National Park. Our passion is to create amazing art that is inspired by our experiences found in nature and bring them to you. Our hope is that, by making our art available, it will bring out the weekend warrior in you and be an inspiration to take time to appreciate the beauty of nature that is so readily available if it is sought out.
Daryl & Michele Freed are the team behind The Cabin Fever Store. They artfully carve driftwood into amazing animal wood sculptures of ducks, trout, eagles, geese, owls and more — all that will look beautiful on the walls of your home, office, restaurant or other interior space, be it rustic or contemporary. The Freeds live in the Ozark Mountains of Harrison, Arkansas, not just because it is beautiful there, but also to be near one of their primary sources of red heart cedar, the perfect aged wood for their subjects.
Back in the late ’40s and ’50s, valleys were flooded to make reservoirs in Arkansas (much as the TVA has done here in the East). As the valleys flooded, thousands of trees were buried underwater, including the indigenous Eastern Red Cedar. Decades of weathering underwater slowly turned resins in the wood to a deeper, richer red color. Today, the Freeds spend days and weeks searching the lake shore for just the right piece of wood that will lend itself to carving a duck, trout or whatever animal subject they choose. Even then, many pieces of wood are rotten inside, so it takes a keen eye to know a good, solid, carvable piece of wood, and an even keener eye to see the animal inside the wood waiting to be revealed. Some of the lakes where Daryl and Michele hunt for their treasured wood include Bull Shoals, Lake Norfolk, Bear Lake, Table Rock, and the White and Buffalo Rivers.
Pezrok is very fortunate to be the ONLY gallery representing the Freeds’ unique, carved driftwood art. Their signature work is most exemplified by the beautiful duck and trout pieces that are impressionistic in style. Yet, Daryl and Michele have a wide palette in their choice of subjects: ducks, trout, geese, eagles, egrets, shore birds and more. The Freeds also accept special orders where you, the customer, can pick the subject, quantity and dimension of the piece to suit your interior décor or theme (ask us for details!).
The Cabin Fever Store was invited to display their work at the Ducks Unlimited National Convention. It was a great honor to be invited, and a testament to their art as this convention is limited and by invitation only.