April 2023 | Hope
Playlist : LDR - Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd | Little Soul YT | Charlie Cunningham - Starlings
Favorites : #12 at Pho Hong VT | Vermont sunrises | Rainy weather | Only Murders in the Building Season 2
Whenever I rummage through thoughts of prairie animals for new pin ideas, I start envisioning bison casually grazing across open fields with endless room to roam. The first time I saw a bison in the wild was in South Dakota driving through Badlands National Park. Their huffs and snorts during dusk in the distance was wild to hear—a pretty eerie thing when you’re unprotected in the middle of a field. They’re full of fascinating features, it’s almost understandable why people want to get so close to them, and eventually chased or thrown in the air by their horns (most of us have seen this from Yellowstone). They seem approachable due to their subdue temper, until you get too close. Everyone likes their space, even animals. We should probably give it to them.
American Bison are one of the most iconic animals of North America, yet they were almost completely wiped out fairly recently (relative to earth’s entire history of course). They were incredibly close to extinction, because of our over-consuming nature, and that honestly makes me feel ashamed to be a human sometimes. Luckily, conservationists and indigenous communities miraculously brought them back. Now, there are almost 21,000 bison protected in wildlife refuges across North America and almost half a million in privately owned herds. I remember coming across wood bison of the Aishihik Herd in the Yukon and seeing newly born calves resting in the grass everywhere. It was pretty remarkable to see how far they’ve come, and just made me feel hopeful about other current declining species
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Spring has been officially here for about a week, and honestly this warmer weather is making me feel optimistic that I’ll start to see some flowers. Here in Vermont, the winters feel like they drag on for an exceptionally long time, to the point where I start to forget what it’s like to not wear a coat. Even though this time of year tends to be muddy and kind of gross, I definitely yearn for rain instead of snow.
I’m in the process of deciding how to release pins for the remainder of the year. My intention was to release a pin once a month, though I’m not sure if that is realistic for me—either once a month or bigger seasonal releases. I guess we’ll see how quickly I can get drawing!
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Bison pins are now available, and I am super proud of them. I told myself I can’t call my business Prairi Lu Studio without having a bison! I hope you all love them as much as I do.
-Shannon
