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!

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!

Woodlands Advent Calendar

February 2, 2025February 2, 2025 | terriaw

I had a lot of fun making this Woodlands Advent Calendar in Melanie Chadwick’s class.

Woodland Advent Calendar by Terri Wilhelm

The front piece is a tree with doors cut into it for each day. I painted the background with watercolor and the tree with colored pencils and Neocolor II wax pastels.

The piece behind is a grid of woodland flora and fauna illustrations for each day of Advent.

I also cut out a mat frame to put over the illustrations so I could display this all year long.

I adore Advent calendars so I’m already starting a second one with a frosty blue background for winter animals.

Commission Illustrations

December 27, 2024December 27, 2024 | terriaw

I was recently commissioned to illustrate two animals – a Peregrine Falcon and a Duck-Billed Platypus.

I decided to illustrate two versions of the Peregrine Falcon, one standing on a beach and another in flight.

The Duck-Billed Platypus is a strange creature, in a cute way.

Each illustration is on a 6 inch by 8 inch piece of hot press watercolor paper using watercolor and colored pencils. I framed each one with an 8 inch by 10 inch mat frame I cut out from cold press watercolor paper.

Contact me if you’re interested in commissioning an animal illustration of your own!

New Wild Things Collection

December 9, 2024December 8, 2024 | terriaw

I started a new collection in my online shop called Wild Things, which is filling up with more fun products with my illustrations printed on them, such as ornaments and postcards, new tote bags, stickers and coasters!

I adore doing these nature-inspired wreath illustrations with some of my favorite sayings in my sketchbook with watercolor and colored pencils, and then turning them into fun products!

A few screenshots from my online shop of new products:

I’m always drawing, practicing and filling up sketchbook pages with nature-inspired illustrations so check back for more fun projects!

I Love Stickers

Animal Faces Sticker Sheet by Terri Wilhelm

November 29, 2024December 6, 2024 | terriaw

I love stickers of all kinds so I’m having lots of fun creating stickers with a variety of my illustrations, and creating illustrations that I can turn into stickers. I’m also working on getting my artwork printed on coasters and ornaments.

Animal Faces Sketchbook by Terri Wilhelm

I have sketchbooks full of illustrations that would work perfectly for stickers and sticker sheets, coasters, ornaments and more, so stay tuned!

Let me know if you’re interested in any of the stickers featured in this post!

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!

Wild Things

September 11, 2024September 21, 2024 | terriaw

Wild things in my sketchbook lately. I love this theme so much that I’m going to keep filling up more pages like these. I’m working on turning them into repeat patterns for products and new sticker sheets!