The Birds are Back

March 11, 2026March 11, 2026 | terriaw

Have you been noticed migrating birds returning to your area this early spring? I’ve been seeing more robins, more mourning doves, more killdeer, and I’ve been hearing more and more birdsong each day. I’m deeply connected to the rhythm of the seasons, so I’m excited every spring to discover new birds returning.

I finished this hand-drawn bird illustration collection featuring a variety of colorful North American songbirds, carefully rendered with watercolor and colored pencils. Each bird is illustrated in a natural side-profile pose, highlighting distinctive plumage, markings, and personality.

The composition includes a diverse mix of species—from the bright red cardinal and vibrant goldfinch to the deep blue jay and the striking red-winged blackbird. Softer neutrals like finches, chickadees, and woodpeckers balance the palette of warm earth tones and bold, lively hues.

I wanted to capture the delicate beauty of backyard wildlife. The illustrations are designed to translate seamlessly into a repeating surface pattern, making them ideal for textiles, stationery, wallpaper, and nature-inspired home décor.

great lakes wildlife mug by terri wilhelm

I kept them as simple patterns without any layers of motifs, similar to my Great Lakes Wildlife pattern, my National Parks Wildlife pattern and my Zoo Life pattern. It turns out they print well on my products!

The illustrations celebrates the charm and diversity of everyday birds, bringing a sense of nature, movement, and gentle color into any design.

Can’t you just picture a cheerful kitchen towel or fun sticker sheet of backyard birds!

Stay tuned for a preview of an upcoming bird pattern!

Tree Canopy Illustration

October 8, 2025 | terriaw

Check out my new habitat illustration – Tree Canopy! I wanted to evoke a tree canopy teeming with wildlife in a playful and artistic way.

I did this illustration similar to my previous ones, with a watercolor background that is a gentle gradient of blues to a warm glow, depicting the sky at dawn or dusk.

And then I added lots of collage elements, beginning with a cut out of a gnarly oak tree canopy.

The big oak tree is centrally placed, with thick, textured brown branches extending outward and upward, with clusters of green oak leaves and acorns and touches of fall color here are there.

Throughout the tree, you will also find woodpeckers, a blue jay, Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal, several crows, a hawk, and owl, a squirrel or two, a chipmunk, even a raccoon and squirrel hiding in their hollows. Two monarch butterflies flutter by.

This piece is three-dimensional full of detailed flora and fauna, beautifully captures the rich ecosystem of a temperate forest during fall, inviting viewers to explore every corner of the scene. Similar to the rest of my series of habitats, this composition balances naturalistic detail and biodiversity with a whimsical, storybook-like charm.

I encourage you to visit my other habitats in this series:

Under the Sea, The Nature Preserve, Marsh, Shoreline, Marsh Wetlands, Stargazing and Woodlands Map.

Bird Nerd

May 6, 2025May 5, 2025 | terriaw

I discovered recently that I’m a bird nerd! I’ve always love birdwatching, especially the challenges of trying to get a photo and identifying them.

Often times, they move too quickly to get a photo. So I’m happy to be able to illustrate them.

I recently saw a ruby-crowned kinglet in my yard for the first time. I wasn’t familiar with this bird so I loved learning about it by drawing and painting it.

Then decided to turn this into a theme, illustrating migrating birds I’ve only seen passing through, like this white-throated sparrow. I identified them by their high-pitched, piercing whistle.

I’ve only seen a flicker once and would love to see them more. They remind me of a red-bellied woodpecker which I see all the time.

I don’t see Baltimore orioles too often, and usually remember to put out jelly and orange slices a little too late. But I’m grateful I’ve seen then a couple times.

And last, the scarlet tanager which I’ve only seen once in my yard or anywhere. It was quite a thrill!

I used a variety of mixed media, starting with a base of watercolor, then adding details with colored pencils, Neocolor II water soluable pastels, and white ink for highlights.

There are so many birds that I could spend a lifetime watching them and illustrating them!

Wood Lands Map

February 27, 2025February 26, 2025 | terriaw

There’s always a big list of ideas to draw, brewing in my head. My husband recently suggested I draw a map. Which I jumped on right away. I love looking at maps!

This illustration project was a lot of fun to play make believe and dream up a new wood lands.

I started out with a version in my sketchbook using colored pencils. I loved it so much I did a second version on Arches paper with watercolor paints so I could have it as a stand-alone print.

This illustrated map is full of deer grazing in a clover meadow, fox and raccoons drinking from a river, bunnies romping among the trees, squirrels hanging out in their tree hollow, turkeys chasing each other, bear surveying the woods where their secret den is. There’s also a crow and hawk flying overhead.

Fallen logs allow for crossing the river and tracks help you make your way on the trail. A couple run-down outbuildings might be a good spot to rest and have a picnic.

January’s great illustration project was all about Stargazing, February was all about this woodlands illustration map. Stay tuned for next month’s great illustration project!

Stargazing

February 3, 2025February 2, 2025 | terriaw

January is always a great month to stargaze – the air is crisp, skies are dark and clear.

I’m excited to share my new illustration series called Stargazing.

I really love how these illustrations turned out. I did them with watercolor, colored pencils and Neo Color II wax pastels on hot press watercolor paper.

I’m planning to order postcards and stickers so far, but there are many other nature gift shop-oriented products out there, like this adorable zipper pouch.

ZipperPouch-StargazingAnimals-TerriWilhelm

Remember to look up at the night sky and keep dreaming!

New Collection – Great Lakes Wildlife Products

September 30, 2024October 9, 2024 | terriaw

I’m so excited to announce that I have a new collection of products to share with the world with my Great Lakes Wildlife illustrations printed on them!

I love nature centers and gift shops but I can never seem to find the products I’m looking for. So I created my own – Terri’s Nature Center Gift Shop – which carries a mug, tumbler, water bottle, chili or soup bowl, tea towel, string backpack, tote bag, notebook, gift wrap sheets, zipper pouches and so much more!

It’s a print-on-demand shop which means the item gets printed as soon as you order it and then it’s shipped directly to you. It also means I don’t have to buy a quantity upfront to store in my house and then do the shipping on my own.

I am also working on ordering a supply of items so I can do art fairs next year.

I created the original illustrations on a large sheet of paper with watercolor and colored pencils, inspired by wildlife commonly found in the region where I live, so it’s called the Great Lakes Wildlife collection.

I’ve been ordering prototypes and have been very happy with everything.

I also have a fun sticker shop where you can order some of my nature illustrations as stickers and temporary tattoos. More coming soon!

Go check out all these new and wonderful goodies! And help me celebrate a dream come true!

If you are a retail store or a nature center interested in carrying these products, please contact me!

More Wild Things

September 23, 2024September 22, 2024 | terriaw

I’m on a roll lately, filling up sketchbooks pages with more wild things using watercolor and colored pencils. It’s a wonderful time of year to find inspiration in the woods and my own backyard – Autumn provides so many nature treasures and colors.

I go in streaks, some weeks with a lot of illustrating, other weeks with digital work. I’m turning many of these sketchbook illustrations into stickers and sticker sheets. Stay tuned for announcements on where you can purchase my stickers!

Zoo life Pattern

July 8, 2024July 7, 2024 | terriaw

I made another new pattern, this one from my zoo animal drawings!

After illustrating a variety of animals on a giant page, I Photoshopped each animal to its own layer and arranged them into this cool pattern.

I also made a badge/banner for use on my website and on my Illustrator For Hire page.

l painted the original layers with watercolor and added details with colored pencils.

I think it’s a fun hero pattern for a new collection, so I’m working on ideas for coordinating and blender prints.

Wouldn’t this be fun for fabric, gift wrap, stationery, and postcards for gift shops or end pages for a picture book?!

Wildlife Pattern

June 28, 2024 | terriaw

I made a new pattern!

After illustrating my page of local wildlife, I started messing around in Photoshop and ended up making this cool pattern.