<p>If you know me or follow me on social media at all, you know that I LOVE birds. I&#8217;ve been a birder for over 10 years, and am lucky enough to live near one of the busiest spring migration routes in North America, along Lake Michigan. I&#8217;ve also been a professional illustrator for over a decade, and&hellip;</p>

<p>We finally successfully pulled off our trip to Spain in August, visiting Madrid, Sevilla, and Barcelona during our 9 days there.</p>

<p>I&#8217;m really excited to start the new year with some fun things already on the calendar. Starting on March 7, I will be teaching a weekly linocut printmaking class at the Chesterton Art Center. More details and registration can be found HERE. Stay tuned for a Saturday fabric printing workshop in April as well. We&#8217;re&hellip;</p>

<p>Everyone&#8217;s favorite drawing challenge is nearly upon us, and I will again be joining some other fantastic author/illustrators to share our Inktober sketches throughout the month! I really hope to play around and create for more than just a couple of prompts, but if nothing else I&#8217;ll be posting something inky on Instagram on October&hellip;</p>

<p>First, the Bad News You may have heard that the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) was added to the IUCN list of endangered species in July. Despite the status of this beautiful creature as an emblem of all things Environmental, we&#8217;re not doing enough. In July, I promised to share some information and resources on how&hellip;</p>

<p>A recent bright spot for me in this utterly depressing spring was the IDBF. Did you know that an estimated 8 million birds that flew overhead during just the first 3 days of the festival on their annual migratory journeys? The Lake Michigan shoreline is a major funnel for birds making their journeys every spring&hellip;</p>

<p>April 27 is International Raven and Crow Day. There is so much rich myth and folklore from all over the world about these birds, members of the family Corvidae. Who knew? Candace Savage&#8217;s brilliant book Bird Brains explores some of the current science on these clever birds; it&#8217;s a fascinating read if you&#8217;d like to&hellip;</p>

<p>I was recently invited to submit a reading list to the new website Shepherd.com &#8211; a site that aims to connect authors and readers through personally curated &#8220;Best Of&#8221; lists. Rather than go with art technique or inspiration, I decided to share my favorite recent reads on natural history topics. Nature is endlessly fascinating, and&hellip;</p>