University of Illinois Wildlife Medical Clinic

This weekend I attended the ninth annual Doodle for Wildlife fundraising event for the Wildlife Medical Clinic at University of Illinois. Both me and my husband Jay happily donated various pieces of artwork for the auction, as this is a cause we enthusiastically support. The clinic relies heavily on vet student volunteers, and treat a wide range of animals. Some of the birds, mammals, and reptiles they rehabilitate are no longer able to survive on their own in the wild. When this happens they find caring homes for them, or they become residents of the clinic. As a result, they have a number of resident raptors. Some of these raptors made an appearance during the event as avian ambassadors of the clinic. There was Odin the Red-tailed hawk, Nokomis the Great-horned owl, Pistol the American Kestrel (by far the feistiest of the bunch), and a tiny Saw-whet Owl named Noel that stole my heart. Each had injuries that had been treated at the clinic. Any one of these resident raptors can be 'adopted' here. For my part, I bid on (and won!) a wonderful collage by a favorite U of I professor of mine. He's retired now, but he was the first to introduce me to the medium of printmaking, specifically etching. Speaking of which, I am excited to announce I will be working as a guest artist at White Wings Press in Chicago making a new etching! More details soon. In the meantime, consider making a donation to this wonderful wildlife clinic.