Shingling the house. If I wanted it done, I had to do it myself.
But I didn't mind. I found the work peaceful, a quiet enjoyment. I was the granddaughter of a builder, after all. It must have been in my blood because it came to me as easily as anything I'd ever done before. And then there was the artist in me, and it wasn't long before I was seeing a blank canvas waiting to be filled.
I lived by a lake and saw the water fowl come in the spring and go in the fall. I decided to shingle a life-size Canada Goose into my white cedar shingle siding project. I told a carpenter friend about my idea. He laughed and said it couldn't be done. "You'll just be wasting your time," he said. That was 20 years ago now, give or take.
Since then, I have designed and built Canada Geese in all sorts of shingle exposures, each change in the exposure meaning a change in the design and a new set of problems to figure out and overcome.
The owners of this fine Smith Point Adirondak named their home "Gray Goose Lodge". After my design that graces the gable high over their garage.
While Canada Geese have been my most requested design (as well as my personal favorite!), I also design and build Mallard Ducks, Red Fox, Seagulls, Ruffed Grouse, and an assortment of smaller songbirds and perching birds that sit on the top edge of a door or window frame. There's a hummingbird for low on the siding by the daylilies, and there's a cottontail rabbit and an angel. There's a peace dove carrying an olive branch, and a small assortment of fish including an eight-foot sailfish.
My Canada Goose and similarly sized designs start at $1,000, and while I used to install them myself, I now build all my designs in my workshop here in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire and provide the contractor/ builder with a set of easy-to-follow installation instructions. Placement consultation and delivery is available starting at $50/hour and mileage, and I am always happy to discuss custom orders.
