The Seagull That Stole Our Hotdog: How Wildlife Inspires My Art

Setting the Scene

It was my first time in New York, twenty-five years ago, in the kind of December that wraps the whole city in magic — and bitter cold. Snow in the park, steam rising from subway grates, coat collars turned up as everyone hurried past with festive purpose. My husband and I weren’t married yet, but we were already collecting the kind of stories that last a lifetime.

One of those memories involves a queue, a hotdog, a missing sausage… and a seagull with either impeccable aim or brilliant timing.

The Hotdog Heist (A True Crime Story)

We were standing in the long, slow-moving line to visit the Statue of Liberty. It was freezing. The kind of cold that sinks into your bones. My boyfriend (future husband) left the queue to find us something warm to eat — you know, the classic New York movie moment: a footlong hotdog, a warm pretzel, the whole scene set.

I stayed put, shuffling forward an inch at a time. Eventually he returned… with a bun.
Just the bun.

Sauce running down the sleeve of his coat.
No hotdog.

He told me – very convincingly – that a seagull had swooped down and stolen the sausage clean out of the bun. A bold, mid-air snatch-and-grab. A true feathered felon.

To this day, I tease him that he was so hungry he probably ate the sausage himself and blamed the nearest bird.

We never did make it on the ferry. But we did walk away with a story that has lasted 25 years. And for me, it’s become one of those tiny, memorable moments that continue to shape how I notice and appreciate wildlife today. 

 

That Memory Stuck With Me

There’s something unforgettable about the combination of hunger, cold, and a rogue seagull with excellent comedic timing.
But underneath the humour was something else – a reminder that wildlife is full of character, charm, and unexpected behaviour.

Nature isn’t just beautiful.
It’s full of attitude.
It’s mischievous, bold, curious, and sometimes chaotic.

And that, oddly enough, has influenced my art ever since.

Birds Have Never Really Left My Work

Although my surface pattern design business only really began in 2020, after I published my illustrated children’s book, birds quickly became a recurring theme in my creative world from that point on. They’ve appeared across sketchbooks, fabric designs, Spoonflower collections and even early doodles for new ideas. Some are elegant, some expressive, some have more personality than seems possible for a creature with feathers — but all of them, in one way or another, tie back to the idea that wildlife has its own sense of character.

This is where ideas like my seagull sketches and Admiral Snacks began — not with careful planning, but with a memory that refused to fade.

Why Wildlife Matters to Me

As my illustration work grew into surface pattern design, my life became more intentionally intertwined with the natural world — and not just aesthetically. When you draw wildlife, you begin seeing it differently:
• every tiny posture
• every splash of colour
• every behaviour
• every little spark of personality

Over time, that awareness turns into care.
Care turns into purpose.
And purpose becomes a quiet guiding thread behind the work I choose to put into the world.

How This Led Me to Create a Teemill Fundraising Project

Earlier this year, I realised I wanted my business to reflect that purpose more actively. Not through preaching, not through guilt, but through small, practical acts.

Teemill felt like the right fit:
• eco-friendly manufacturing
• plastic-free packaging
• made-to-order, no waste
• a platform I could use to donate a portion of profits to wildlife charities

At the moment my Teemill shop features my first wildlife character, Admiral Snacks, with plans to add more seagulls — and eventually other animals — as my schedule allows. So the fundraising element will naturally grow alongside my designs.

The aim is simple: to let my art do a little good, supporting the wildlife that inspires so much of what I create.

 

A Full-Circle Moment

Twenty-five years on from that freezing December day, my husband and I recently celebrated our silver wedding anniversary. And yes — every time we see a seagull, we still trade that familiar look:

“Do you think that one was the sausage thief?”

He still insists it was.
I still suspect otherwise.
But either way, that moment shaped far more than we realised at the time.

It became part of my story.
Part of my art.
Part of my values.
And part of why my creative business now supports the wildlife that inspires so much of it.

Funny how something so small can take flight.

If You’d Like to Explore More

If you enjoy the idea of art doing a little good in the world, you’re welcome to take a look at my Teemill shop. Every hoodie, or T-Shirt featuring my wildlife characters helps raise funds for wildlife / animal or nature conservation efforts — a small thank you to the creatures who add so much character to our lives (and occasionally steal our lunch).

If you missed my last post, you can read my earlier Monarch Butterfly post here