Bumblebees are busy working the last of the ‘Aurora’ haskap flowers (planted next to ‘Borealis’, its compatible companion for cross-pollination). Edible blue berries develop from pollinated flowers, ripening by mid-June for us and backyard birds to enjoy. #ediblegarden #pollinatorplant

Our wild saskatoons (aka serviceberry or shadbush) that are beginning to bloom on the prairies are also great native shrubs for gardens, with white blossom-smothered branches that supply food for pollinators that emerge in early spring. 🐝 #nativeplants #garden #spring #pollinators

Our native prairie crocus flowers blooming on #EarthDay give bees a warm place to rest and plenty of pollen in their solar-collecting bowl-shaped blossoms.

Just learned from a post by Dr. Theresa Crimmins @theresacrimmins.bsky.social acknowledging valuable work done by Dr. Yasuyuki Aono, that he passed away earlier in 2025. Here’s the good news that his remarkable cherry blossom record-keeping will continue. 🌸 www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

Excited to find the first native prairie crocus buds in my garden today, all dressed in fur to protect them from tonight’s incoming snow. #nativeplants #spring #garden

A beautiful piece by Julie Francella juliefrancella.substack.com/p/grandmothe...

Spotted the first cherry blossoms last week in Vancouver. Welcome spring! #spring

A preview of spring with plum blossoms from the west coast #spring

These native prairie crocus seeds I planted last October are getting some welcome snow from today’s winter storm. When it melts, the moist, chilly soil will be just what they need to sprout this spring. 🌱 #nativeplants #seeds #garden

Best (and easiest) time to sow your native plants for pollinators is in fall, but there’s still time to successfully germinate your seeds if you set them outdoors in containers this month. Learn how from the free handout on my website. www.juneflanagan.ca/newsevents/

Alberta’s lichens play a multitude of different roles in our ecosystems. Neither plant nor animal, these strange symbiotic partnerships can be incredibly diverse and colourful. Take a look for them on old trees and rocks the next time you’re out on a walk! #whatsyour60 #naturefacts #albertalichens

Wrapping up #ArtAdventCalendar with a bit of sparkle to wish you joy this season and in the coming year ✨ Thank you all for your likes, reposts, follows and lovely comments and special thanks to @jayispainting.earthskyart.ca for hosting this event.

Bohemian Waxwings for day 23 #ArtAdventCalendar

This piece was in our main library in 2015 for a couple of months & a woman told me she would stop by on her lunch break & just sit & look at it almost daily because it gave her some peace. Few better compliments. Shore 55×40 140×101cm Oil on Canvas 2015 #ArtAdventCalendar

Day 23 of #ArtAdventCalendar!! Another older cyanotype, made using an orange slice and salt crystals as well as pressed plants. :)

#artadventcalendar Day 23. Aurora above an Alberta grain elevator.

This is a piece I did at the and of last year. Seeing a hummingbird often symbolizes joy, love, resilience, and good luck. Here’s to a fabulous New Year. Watercolor, JD cake layers, TH inks and stencils for the flowers #artadventcalendar day 24

It's a lovely winter day in Glasgow, cold but sunny, and the first snowdrops will soon appear in the garden. Here's a reminder that spring will arrive before long. But for now... Merry Christmas everyone! for #ArtAdventCalendar day24

water soluble encaustic on paper. #artadventcalendar #pleinair #botanicalart

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 24 A snowy embroidery scene for Christmas Eve.

🅳🅰🆈 24 - "Frør..." I live in a hard cold place that's currently in a dark cycle, literally & figuratively. Yet #photography is mostly about finding good light. This is also a good strategy for #life in general. Stay alert. Be kind. #artadventcalendar #frozen #alberta #yeg #beauty #nature #yuletide

Day 24 Copper inclusions and kiln carving using ceramic fibre and papers in this under the sea fusing experiment. Bubbles courtesy of the kiln firing process add to the sparkle! #ArtAdventCalendar #StainedGlass #FusedGlass

Day 23 #ArtAdventCalendar Daisy Sterling silver amber pendant with silver daisy and keum boo gilded centre finished with a brandy citrine. A little reminder of sunny spring days. #art #artyear

For Day 23 #ArtAdventCalendar Dawn at White Sands 24×36 61x91cm Oil on Canvas 2017 Commission

Day 23 Another fusing workshop piece that I made at a Cambridge Glass Studio demo by Michell Mativi a prize winner of the Stevens Architectural Glass Competition in 2015, awarded by The Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Glass Painters. #ArtAdventCalendar #StainedGlass #Optics #GlassFusing

Day 22 #ArtAdventCalendar “Japanese Garden” 36x48” A view of the Kurimoto Garden at the U of A Botanical gardens just outside of Edmonton. If you’ve never been put it on your list to do next year, it’s so beautiful there .

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 23 Coloured pencil sketch of a poinsettia flower This holiday plant was bred from a shrub that grows wild in Mexico to emphasize its star-shaped flowers. It naturally blooms as nights grow longer towards the solstice.

Some of Nature’s jewels for Day 23 of #ArtAdventCalendar #art #jewels #ice #crystals #nature #water #unique #winterscape #macro #classicmono See ALT for more.

#ArtAdventCalendar 2025, Day 22: Ammonite scarf. My first hand-painted textile project. I still think that silk is a beautiful medium! 🧶 Medium: Pebeo Setasilk paint and silver gutta on 8mm Habotai scarf. Dimensions are 14 x 72 inches.

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 22 A coloured pencil sketch showing amaryllis flower buds at various stages of opening

And for today's #ArtAdventCalendar, a cyanotype made a couple winters ago using salt crystals and a pressed arbovitae twig. Hope you all have had a lovely Winter Solstice so far!! ❄️

#ArtAdventCalendar Very late to participate this year. As is, unfiltered photo taken with iPhone11 at Trochu, AB arboretum. July 2025. trochuarb.ca Amazing to me it looks like a painting.

25 Days of White Christmas ❄️🎄. Featuring 25 of my favorite winter shots over the years. Day 21: A Winter’s Glow. Also Happy Winter solstice! #ArtAdventCalendar #Stunday #ColorADay #OrangeSun #snow #winter #photography #landscape

#ArtAdventCalendar 2025 day 21 Minninglow Beeches, Winter Hopefully appropriate for #solstice too - bring on the light! ☀️ More information on this work can be found here https://cognissart.co.uk/minninglow-beeches-winter/ @textileart @fiberarts #Art […] [Original post on mastoart.social]

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 21 I’m sharing this prairie sunrise to welcome back the lengthening days. Happy Solstice!

Sunrise at Elk Island National Park. #ArtAdventCalendar

This figure from a scientific review paper on plant phenology (the cycles of seasonal changes) was a commission from @richardnair.bsky.social and we worked together to bring it to this final form Link to paper in Alt text More on the design process in the 🧵👇 #ArtAdventCalendar #SciArt

Day 20 #ArtAdventCalendar Was away for a few days but I'm back with JOY for you! Winter Solstice V 24 x 36 in. Acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas 2022 With thanks to @jayispainting.earthskyart.ca for inspiring Art Advent Calendar

Day twenty of #ArtAdventCalendar Here’s a pair of miniature woodcock (made out of clay) reading all about themselves in my Observer’s Book of Birds.

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 20 This aerial landscape is one of my favourites. I really like how the different stitches show the slope of the river banks.

#ArtAdventCalendar day 20 Yikes! #artist #oilpainting #birdsofBlueSky A pretty bull finch.

Day 20 of my #ArtAdventCalendar ✨ “There's Such A Lot of World to See” — a reminder of how much beauty waits just beyond the bend. This piece is full of movement, color, and curiosity. Only a few days left in the calendar, and I’m loving every moment of sharing my work. #torilart #art #painting

Day 20 #Artadventcalendar Galadriel Tweed/kilt pennanular pin with enamelled ivy leaf and peridot and Elven Vine enamelled ivy leaf and peridot pendant. #Art #artyear

A curious fox that came to my camp at sunset in Algonquin, painted acrylic on 16”x20” canvas in the style of Giovanni Segantini, one of my favourite artists. Day 20 of #ArtAdventCalendar #OpenHouse #natureart #BlueSkyArtShow #canadianart

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 20 "City of Math", 2025 Futuristic towers, each based on a single mathematical function (Created with hand-written code, not AI). #MathArt

For Day 20 #ArtAdventCalendar Chinook Sunset 36×48 91x122cm Oil on Canvas 2022

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 20 A splash of spring colour to brighten a winter day

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 19 One of the favourite handmade books I've made. Each page features a pull tab that changes the inset photo.

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 19 Another experiment, where I illustrated our native cottonwood tree on a t-shirt, using watercolour ink pencils. Hot tips - activate the pencils in a pool of water and add 50% fabric medium to prevent bleeding, use cheap silicon brushes to paint, and iron to set the dye.