Amelia Hansen has been a freelance illustrator since 1989, specializing in nature and natural history subjects (animals, plants, habitats, landscapes, natural artifacts and, of course, people). Early projects called for precise pen & ink line work, like the drawings she created for naturalist John Eastman's series of habitat and bird books, the best known being The Book of Swamp and Bog.

Now more widely known for her work in watercolor and mixed media, Amelia's representational style is warm and humorous when working for children, accurate yet painterly when illustrating science and nature topics for general audiences. In addition to book illustration, Amelia is often hired by environmental organizations and parks to provide artwork for interpretive exhibits and trail signage.

Amelia Hansen's work has been used to illustrate:
• Children's books
• Nonfiction books for general audiences
• Interpretive signage and exhibits (both trailside and indoor installations)
• Magazines and journals
• Educational materials
• Workshop materials
• Posters, notecards, calendars
• Websites
• Advertising and product labels
• Fine art commissions have included animal portraiture, landscapes, and commemorative paintings

"For me, illustration is about taking an idea and making it visual. Sometimes the image serves to support text, sometimes it's a powerful communication tool that speaks more clearly than words. As an artist, the ideas I most like to explore involve 'nature' — more specifically, the connections and relationships between people, animals, plants, and the earth.

Depending on the audience and purpose, I can express these connections and relationships through a wide range of stylistic approaches, from extremely realistic to impressionistic to just plain silly. Flexibility in approach, technique, and medium is essential because everybody responds to something different.

I feel that we humans all have a relationship to nature, whether we realize it consciously or not. As an illustrator, I've been given a huge opportunity to interpret and bring that connection into view . . . and then fan the flame."

— Amelia Hansen

The Book of Field & Roadside
John Eastman, author
Stackpole Books, 2003

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selected list of clients

Borgess Medical Center, Kalamazoo, MI

Borgess Navigation Center, Kalamazoo, MI

Custer State Park, Custer, SD

Exhibit Concepts Inc., Vandalia, OH
project site: West Woods Nature Center, Geauga Park District, Chardon, OH

Geum Services, Inc., Richland, MI

Globe Pequot Press, Guilford, CT

The Gryphon Press, Edina, MN

Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of State Parks and Reservoirs, Indianapolis, IN

Interpretive Ideas, Okemos, MI
project site: Celery Bog Nature Center, West Lafayette, IN
project site: Chilo Lock & Dam Historic Site, Clermont Co., OH
project site: Prophetstown State Park Park, Battle Ground, IN
project site: Providence Manor Park, Portage, IN
project site: Spring Mill State Park, Mitchell, IN

Jeff Bernstein Exhibition Design, Kalamazoo, MI
project site: Public Museum of Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids, MI

Kalamazoo Nature Center, Kalamazoo, MI

Land Conservancy of West Michigan, Grand Rapids, MI
project site: Palomita Preserve, West Olive, MI
project site: Saul Lake Bog, Rockford, MI
project site: Maas Family Nature Preserve, Rockford, MI

MG Taylor Corporation, Palo Alto, CA

Martinus & Associates, West Olive, MI
project site: Spring Valley Park, Kalamazoo, MI

Michigan Breeding Bird Atlas II, Kalamazoo, MI

Michigan Health Sciences Library Association

Michigan State University Press, Lansing, MI

The Nature Conservancy Blue River Project, Laconia, IN

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Raleigh, NC

Ottawa County Parks and Recreation Commission, West Olive, MI
project site: Grose Park, Chester Township, MI
project site: Hemlock Crossing, Port Sheldon Township, MI

Rosene Creative Services, Jasper, GA
project site: Chippewa Nature Center, Midland, MI
project site: Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, Augusta, MI

Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy, Portage, MI
project site: Chipman Preserve, Comstock, MI

St. Joseph County Parks, South Bend, IN

Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA

Taylor Studios, Rantoul, IL
project site: Volo Bog State Natural Area, Ingleside, IL

Tillers International, Scotts, MI

University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, MI

Wildlife Habitat Council, Great Lakes Regional Office Detroit, MI

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2009
40th Anniversary Natural Science Exhibition of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators
juried exhibition; Acadian Archives/Archives Acadiennes, University of Maine Fort Kent

It's Raining Cats - and Cats!, written by Jeanne Prevost and illustrated by Amelia Hansen, receives the ASPCA's 2008 Henry Bergh Children's Book Award for Fiction, Companion Animals. Named in honor of The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals founder Henry Bergh, the annual award recognizes books based on their exemplary handling of subject matter pertaining to animals and the environment.

It's Raining Cats - and Cats! has been selected as a 2009 KIND Children's Honorable Mention Book by Humane Society Youth, the youth education division of the Humane Society of the United States. The annual award "recognizes an exceptional children's book with a humane focus on animals or the environment."

Natural Edges
solo exhibition, Ann Harrison Gallery, Kalamazoo, MI

Guild of Natural Science Illustrators Summer Workshops Exhibit
Pierce Cedar Ceek Institute, Hastings, MI

2008
Guild of Natural Science Illustrators Annual Members Exhibit
Cornell College of Art, Architecture, and Planning, Ithaca, NY

Guild of Natural Science Illustrators Exhibition at the Digital Content Consortium
North Carolina University at Pembroke, Pembroke, NC

2007
Guild of Natural Science Illustrators Annual Members Exhibit
Montana State University, Bozeman, MT

2006
Other Earthlings: Exploring Nature Through Illustration
solo exhibition, Kalamazoo Nature Center, Kalamazoo, MI

Focus on Nature IX
New York State Museum, Albany, NY

Focus on Nature IX Purchase Award for the painting "Newborn North American Black Bear Cub"
New York State Museum, Albany, NY

Guild of Natural Science Illustrators Annual Members Exhibit
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI

2005
West Michigan Area Show
Luis Jimeñez, juror; Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MI

2004
Focus on Nature VIII
New York State Museum, Albany, NY

Guild of Natural Science Illustrators Annual Members Exhibit
College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA

Irving S. Gilmore Emerging Artist Grant
Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo; Kalamazoo, MI

2003
100 Art Alumni Centennial Celebration Achievement Award
School of Art, College of Fine Arts; Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI

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B.F.A., Watercolor, 1987
School of Fine Art, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
Magna cum Laude

Foundation studies, 1983
Kendall School of Design, Grand Rapids, MI

artist, writer, photographer friends
Susan Carr
http://www.carrcialdella.com/susan.html

Gary Cialdella
http://www.carrcialdella.com/gary.html

Gail Guth, Guth Illustration & Design
http://www.guthillustration.com/

Leslie Helakoski, Children's Author and Illustrator
http://www.helakoskibooks.com/

Consie Powell: Illustrator, Visual Storyteller, Writer
http://www.consiepowell.com/

Burnell Yow!
http://www.ravenswingstudio.com/

artist's blogs
Drawing the Motmot
http://drawingthemotmot.wordpress.com/

Gurney Journey
http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/

Julie Zickefoose
http://www.juliezickefoose.com/blog/index.php

interpretation
Interpretive Ideas: Interpretive master plans, training workshops, college courses and interpretive media for natural resource agencies.
http://www.interpretiveideas.com/

Wil and Sarah Reding, Rent a Rambling Naturalist
http://www.rentaramblingnaturalist.ws/index.htm

marketplace
Native Connections: Native Landscapes, Ecological Restoration, Native Seed
http://www.nativeconnections.net/blog/

Nature Connection of Kalamazoo
http://www.natureconnect.com/

miscellaneous
Handprint.com: the Material Attributes of Paint
http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/pigmt3.html#painttests

organizations
Association of Midwest Museums
http://www.midwestmuseums.org/index.html

Guild of Natural Science Illustrators
http://www.gnsi.org/

Land Conservancy of West Michigan
http://www.naturenearby.org/RenderTable.aspx

Kalamazoo Nature Center
http://www.naturecenter.org/

National Association for Interpretation
http://www.interpnet.com/

Pierce Cedar Creek Institute
http://www.cedarcreekinstitute.org/

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
http://www.scbwi.org/

Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy
http://www.swmlc.org/

Tillers International
http://www.tillersinternational.org/

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