Our Story
Our story began as a conversation on a boat around our shared love of art, nature, and entertaining. The concept was simple. To combine Mike's wildlife art with Renee's artistic design to create an ambitious line of outdoor living products that would turn any outdoor space into a refuge. A place to relax, to gather friends, to enjoy nature.
We got to work, turning our patio and deck into a design studio. With our own outdoor entertaining and enjoyment in mind, we created our first outdoor benches, striving for comfort, durability, and nature-inspired style.
Over the last 14 years, our design portfolio has grown steadily as we create functional art that speaks to a variety of lifestyles and tastes. Our innovations in the design, sculpting and mold-making process allow our factory artisans to produce the best detail quality seen in the sand-casting industry.
Despite our growth, we have remained a family-owned business. Tucked in the driftless region along the Mississippi River, we are still using our own outdoor living space to develop new designs that we ourselves proudly use when we entertain family and friends.
Thanks for being part of our story.
We are Different by Design
We Create the Art
It begins with the design. In a process that may take months, a theme becomes multiple designs, each with many variations. Considerations are made for both aesthetics and function.
The Art is Sculpted
The chosen design is then sculpted in clay and undergoes more adjustments to ensure good iron flow during casting.
Sculpt to Cast
Our designs and resulting molds push the abilities of sand casting to new heights. This would not be possible without foundry artisans who are extremely skilled at achieving such detailed results using the world’s oldest casting method. The castings receive two coats of rust inhibitor before being sealed with a top quality bronze powder-coat finish, which is baked on.
Final Touches
The final step is the application of hand-painted gold highlights. The result is a beautiful, durable, maintenance-free product that exemplifies the Painted Sky line.
Giving Back
We believe in being good citizens of both the community and the planet. In this effort, we seek to partner with conservation organizations, both local and national, including RMEF, NWTF, DU, and Pheasants Forever to help raise funds for wildlife conservation and habitat. You can find more information on these great organizations by clicking thier logos below. In addition, with every purchase of a bench, glider, or swing we sponsor the planting of a tree through Trees for the Future. Through the purchase of our products, more than 20,000 trees have been planted.