Ever since I was a child growing up on the Georgia coast, I have always had an answer to the inevitable question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

I always knew that I wanted to be a naturalist, even before I knew what a naturalist was or that it was a real career a girl could do (considering every naturalist I met as a child during field-trips and classroom visits was a grown man at least 40 years old). I attended the Warnell School of Forestry at the University of Georgia, where I graduated with a B.S in Forest Resources with a certificate in Environmental Education. Since earning my degree, I’ve been a full-time naturalist & environmental educator at locations across the United States. While I am a naturalist by trade, I have always loved art and finding new ways to express myself and explore my passions in life.

Over the past few years I have been teaching, I’ve noticed something troubling. I have known hundreds of students who could describe the hunting tactics of a Bengal tiger in Nepal, the relationship dynamics in a pride of African lions, and even the venom potency of a King cobra in India. However, only a handful have been able to identify animals native to North America- the kinds of animals they’d find in their own backyard.

It was this realization that inspired The Overlooked Opossum. I decided to combine two of my favorite things in life (art & environmental education) and start creating pieces that focused on animals native to North America, with the hope that it would gain the viewer’s interest and spark their curiosity in the piece’s subject.

I hope that you enjoy viewing these pieces as much as I enjoy creating them. With each piece that is created and shared, we are one step closer to valuing our native wildlife the way that they deserve. I hope that you decide to bring these pieces into your home and continue to spread the love for these animals with those around you.