Cold Prairie Studio

While spring is making tentative steps forward, I’m trying to do the same. I’ve recently wrapped up a series of winter illustrations for the One School One Farm non-profit organization. These will be used in their educational materials. I thought I’d share some winter birds here, before I begin the spring illustrations.

The OSOF project connects classrooms and farms for hands-on working experiences with prairie shelterbelts where the students and landowners partner together in the “hope to create wildlife corridors for species large and small throughout the agricultural regions in Canada, starting with Saskatchewan.”

Clockwise from top left: Magpie, House Sparrow, Redpoll, Blue Jay, Hairy Woodpecker

As a prairie dweller, I’ve observed the importance of these corridors in seasonal growth and migration cycles. I’ve worked on many of the illustrations using plants and photos from the shelterbelts in my own ‘backyard’. To work with plants and wildlife as they appear through the seasons -and to do so for a wonderful program with such important & impactful outcomes- has been a dream project. Wishing them all the best as they embark on another planting season, and my thanks to OSOF for bringing me along for the ride!