A Purpose-driven Life & Business Model -

Future community education goals and how you can help

As my business grows, I hope to donate a larger portion of my earnings in support of environmental preservation, community youth education, and wildlife conservation. And I hope to lend my design and marketing skills to help fledgling conservation organizations get their message out to a larger audience. You can help me to achieve these goals by making a donation (large or small!)

Click the Paypal ‘Donate’ button below to donate any amount you wish to this cause. You do not need to have a Paypal account to donate, you may choose to use a credit card if you wish. Thank you!

I believe in being of service to my community and thus I often volunteer my artwork and design skills to environmental organizations, my time to ecological restoration projects, and my teaching to children in outdoor education programs, and a percentage of my earnings to conservation organizations.

Free Series of Live online nature sketching workshops

I’ve led 200+ free nature sketching sessions for folks house-bound during the Coronavirus pandemic as we were all ‘sheltered in place’. In each session, we covered the biology and anatomy of a different plant or animal followed by a step-by-step sketching demonstration.

Vallarta Bird and Nature Festival

I taught free bird sketching workshops for adults and kids for 3 years at the Vallarta Bird and Nature Festival in Mexico.

Bird Sketching Workshop in Mexico

Los Artesanos y Guias de El Pino, Honduras

I taught a free drawing workshop for a youth group, Los Artesanos y Guias de El Pino, a small volunteer organization on the northeast coast of Honduras where young men and women from the community of El Pino are training to be nature guides, artists, and future conservationists and leaders. I visited their facility on a previous trip to Honduras and was so impressed with what the kids and the volunteers are accomplishing, that I knew I had to give back to the next time I visited.

Workshop for kids in Honduras where they learned to draw hummingbirds.

BirdsCaribbean

Donated to conservation organization BirdsCaribbean, in support of their hurricane relief efforts where they are working on the islands that were devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The funds raised are helping to provide bird feeders, habitat surveys and equipment, and native vegetation restoration projects. Learn more about BirdsCaribbean and donate to their hurricane relief project.

United for the Macaw, Jalisco, Mexico

This organization works in the state of Jalisco to educate local groups about endangered birds, primarily the Military Macaw, and also conduct research and population surveys of this beautiful and threatened species. I donated a portion of the proceeds from my sketching tour, and also created this bird sketching handout for them to use when visiting school groups.

American Bird Conservancy

When leading my Birds & Blossoms Nature Sketching Holidays, I donate a percentage of the proceeds to local conservation projects. For example, in 2015 I was able to contribute $600 (through Paradise Birding, the company I ran my trips through) to the American Bird Conservancy project that is working to protect the Honduran Emerald hummingbird, an endangered species in Honduras.

Honduran Emerald Hummingbird

BirdsCaribbean,20th Annual Meeting. 2015. I participated in the international meeting in Jamaica of BirdsCaribbean, an organization dedicated to studying and helping to conserve the endemic and migratory birds of the Caribbean, many of which are endangered. I gave presentations and workshops, as well as leading children’s activities as part of the BirdSleuth Program co-developed by the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology. Additionally, I donated an original painting of an endemic Jamaican bird species, the Red-billed Streamertail hummingbird, to the fundraising auction in support of BirdsCaribbean’s conservation work.

Skype in the Classroom Educator

Skype in the Classroom is an online community that enables thousands of teachers to inspire the next generation of global citizens through transformative learning over Skype. I connect with classroom teachers and their students with live Skype sessions as well as prerecorded lessons.

Equine Rescue

As a lifelong horsewoman, I volunteer with several equine rescue organizations in Bend, Oregon where I work with horses rescued or surrendered to us. I help to teach them to trust humans again and get them ready for their forever homes by grooming, gentling and handling them.

Christine with Little Hank at Equine Outreach

23rd Annual Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, Homer, Alaska. 2014. I painted a custom watercolor of a local bird species entitled “Lapland Longspur & Lupines on St. Paul Island, Alaska” to be auctioned in their fundraiser.

Nature Sketchers & Journalers Meetup group of Bend, Oregon. Founder and leader. 2014-2017.

Young Birders of Bend, Oregon. Led bird sketching activities to deepen the understanding of bird anatomy. 2014.

Audubon Society of Bend, Oregon. Donations to an annual fundraising auction of original watercolors of local species (including the Gray Jay below) and private bird drawing workshops.2012-2016.

Gray Jay painted for Audubon fundraiser

Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua. Donated money earned from my bird henna paintings. 2013.

Migratory Bird Festival, Harney County, Oregon. Led bird sketching workshops for kids and adults. 2014.

Guild of Natural Science Illustrators National Conferences- Speaker on topics of salmon life cycles and of carnivorous plant diversity. Northern California GNSI Chapter Secretary2006-2011.

California Native Plant Society and Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society- presentations.
South Yuba River Citizens League – Wild & Scenic Film Festival volunteer.
Friends of Deer Creek/Sierra Streams Institute -Created 100+ illustrations of stream invertebrates for The Bug Book and conducted stream surveys to monitor the health of local watersheds.
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory – Newsletter writer & illustrator, and taught scientific illustration workshops

The Nature Conservancy, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Marine Mammal Center, and Northcoast Environmental Center– Environmental education internships.

Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue

Closest to my heart is the dog rescue work I did for 5 years after my first golden retriever passed away. I volunteered at Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue, assisting with placing dogs in adoptive homes, grooming and handling dogs, and fostering 3 dogs with cancer to live out the remainder of their lives with me, pampered and spoiled. I would still be volunteering today if I hadn’t moved away and been on the road so much for my jobs. Please consider adopting a rescued pup for your next best fur friend.