Northern Swan Creations

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I find my joy in painting and drawing animals full of emotion and soul, then sharing them with the world so they can find their way to someone who will love them as deeply as I loved creating them.

Another follower request for the Bad Art Journal!This time: a puffin.Finding a copyright-free puffin reference was easy....
06/04/2026

Another follower request for the Bad Art Journal!

This time: a puffin.

Finding a copyright-free puffin reference was easy. Finding a copyright-free Horned Puffin? Not so much. Since I’m an Alaskan artist, I decided to make this one a Horned Puffin anyway.

That turned this little bird into a bit of a Frankenstein project. I used an Atlantic Puffin for the pose, then studied several Horned Puffin photos to adjust the bill and markings.

One thing I learned? That little “horn” above the eye gives them a permanent eye-roll expression. Atlantic Puffins look cheerful and curious. Horned Puffins look like they’re silently judging your life choices. 😆

Not scientifically perfect, perhaps, but definitely inspired by Alaska’s puffins.

And before anyone says it… it’s a puffin, not a penguin. 😉

Well… we’re back to this.My back had been much better since October. I’d finally gotten back to carrying laundry, vacuum...
06/03/2026

Well… we’re back to this.

My back had been much better since October. I’d finally gotten back to carrying laundry, vacuuming, and doing normal life things again.

Apparently a day spent squatting and planting seedlings had other plans. 😆

So for now, the stand-up art desk is making a comeback.

It’s not fancy, but it gets the job done—and if it lets me keep drawing birds and making art without aggravating my back, I’ll call that a win. ❤️

This adorable little bird, suggested by the same follower who provided me with a list of birds to try ❤️, is the common ...
06/02/2026

This adorable little bird, suggested by the same follower who provided me with a list of birds to try ❤️, is the common redpoll.

Another bird I haven’t had the opportunity to see at my feeder.

Tiny, fluffy, and full of personality, I think he (okay, I’m putting my money on he, and maybe only during breeding season, but I’m guessing) would be a sassy friend of the fluffy chickadee.

Another bird added to the Bad Art Journal. ❤️

Here is the correct bird—a pine grosbeak, suggested by one of my followers. ❤️I thought I’d attempt a view I don’t usual...
06/01/2026

Here is the correct bird—a pine grosbeak, suggested by one of my followers. ❤️

I thought I’d attempt a view I don’t usually draw because everything is fair game in the Bad Art Journal.

I did struggle with this one more than once, but that’s kind of the point. The journal is where I try new things, make mistakes, and learn along the way.

But in the end, I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out.

Her? Him? I have no idea. 😆 I suspect a male, though, because in the bird world the boys usually seem to get all the flashy colors.

When one of my followers suggested a grosbeak, I looked up the bird and spotted the rose-breasted grosbeak. Having spent...
05/31/2026

When one of my followers suggested a grosbeak, I looked up the bird and spotted the rose-breasted grosbeak. Having spent years in Minnesota, my brain immediately went, “Yep, that’s the one!”

It was not, in fact, the grosbeak she had in mind. 😆

But that’s okay—every bird is welcome in the flock.

So I present another resident of my Bad Art Journal, a little sketchbook made from brown shopping bags and Amazon packing paper.

Sometimes the wrong bird is still the right bird. ❤️

Sometimes we have artwork looking for a frame.Today, the frame asked for artwork.This tiny black-capped chickadee was cr...
05/30/2026

Sometimes we have artwork looking for a frame.

Today, the frame asked for artwork.

This tiny black-capped chickadee was created in colored pencil on toned tan artist paper and paired with a decorative white frame that had been patiently waiting for the right piece.

I think they were meant for each other. 🐦❤️

Original artwork by Rhonda McDonald.

Yesterday, summer may have finally arrived in Alaska. ☀️My afternoon project? Sitting outside with spreadsheets, calcula...
05/29/2026

Yesterday, summer may have finally arrived in Alaska. ☀️

My afternoon project? Sitting outside with spreadsheets, calculators, and a whole lot iced water and lime while figuring out product pricing that’s fair for both my customers and myself.

Selling online sounds simple until you start adding up: materials, packaging, shipping, platform fees, payment processing, and all the little costs that happen behind the scenes.

I’ve chosen Etsy for many reasons, but at the end of the day, if the platform takes all the profit, small artists and makers can’t keep creating quality products.

So yes… sometimes “making art” looks a lot like sitting with spreadsheets wrestling numbers. 😅

Let me introduce the bird torpedo… the nuthatch. 💙This speedy little backyard visitor was another bird requested by a fo...
05/27/2026

Let me introduce the bird torpedo… the nuthatch. 💙

This speedy little backyard visitor was another bird requested by a follower — and honestly, they are such funny little birds to watch. While most birds climb up trees, nuthatches scoot down them headfirst like tiny feathered acrobats.

This comical little fuzz ball may be joining the others soon. 🖤Chickadees absolutely have my heart. Tiny, round, fearles...
05/26/2026

This comical little fuzz ball may be joining the others soon. 🖤

Chickadees absolutely have my heart. Tiny, round, fearless little backyard visitors with endless personality.

These adorable stickers are heading toward becoming their own sticker sheet — but I think they need one or two more back...
05/25/2026

These adorable stickers are heading toward becoming their own sticker sheet — but I think they need one or two more backyard friends first.

We currently have, left to right:
• slightly angry Dark-eyed Junco
• dramatically judgmental Steller’s jay
• extremely round American Robin 😄

Who should join them?
I’m thinking maybe a chickadee or a nuthatch next… though knowing me, a raven might sneak in eventually.

Address

Chugiak, AK

Website

http://NorthernSwanCreates.etsy.com/, http://NorthernSwanCreations.com/

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