Emily S. Damstra
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emilydamstra.com
Emily S. Damstra
@emilydamstra.com
870 followers 220 following 94 posts
• Science illustrator, coin designer, native plant gardener, goldenrod enthusiast
• Great Lakes region of N. America
• she/her
emilydamstra.com
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emilydamstra.com
Canada Post released this set of 5 #fungi #stamps last week. I'm so pleased to have had the opportunity to illustrate them!
Design by Joce Creative.
More stamp images: www.emilydamstra.com/canada-post-...

#fungifriends #postagestamps #stampcollecting #philately #fungiart #mushrooms #lichens #SciArt
Front of the 2025 Canada Post fungus stamp set's Official First Day Cover, featuring images of 5 different fungus stamps against a background that includes larger-size cropped portions of the oyster fungus illustration.
September 3, 2025 at 1:20 PM
emilydamstra.com
This #paleoart shows 3 views of the Devonian brachiopod fossil Paraspirifer bownockeri; one is reconstructed w/ some epifauna and boreholes. These are fun to find; they're an impressive size (for brachiopods). I had an excellent specimen to use as a reference for this painting.
#FossilFriday #sciart
Detailed color illustration showing 3 different views of the same specimen. Two at the bottom are the unreconstructed fossil from different angles. The reconstruction at the top shows the brachiopod in life position, with 9 visible boreholes and the common epibionts Cornulites and a bryozoan. The shell has pinkish and whitish horizontal stripes and the valves are slightly agape, with cirri lining the opening.
February 21, 2025 at 7:01 PM
emilydamstra.com
In this illustration of a false map turtle carapace, I show the scutes on the right side & the underlying bones on the left.
Notice the way that the scutes overlay the bones, so that their edges don't line up. Like a brick wall!
#sciart #herps
Detailed color illustration showing a dorsal view of a False map turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica) carapace.
February 19, 2025 at 5:13 PM
emilydamstra.com
Canadians are feeling a bit territorial at the moment, so it feels appropriate to share this photo of a 2012 Lucky Loonie. It's the only circulating coin I've designed for 🇨🇦; it was inspired by a scientific paper describing the territorial behaviour of loons.
#numismatics #sciart #coindesign
Photo of the reverse side of a 2012 Lucky Loonie coin, which includes the inscriptions "Canada" and "Dollar." It features a loon rising up from the water with its wings spread - a territorial display. It also includes the Olympic logo, a stylized maple leaf (like on the flag), and a security feature that's a circle a little above centre, with a maple leaf design inside it. Lastly, my initials ED are near the bottom left.
February 18, 2025 at 3:20 PM
emilydamstra.com
This painting, from a specimen in my yard, features one of many associations between insects & Late goldenrod. Fly larvae (P. atra) induced the plant to form 16 rosette galls, which ornament the stem like green flowers.
#sciart #ontarionativeplants
Original: www.emilydamstra.com/product/late...
Watercolor painting of a the top portion of a Late goldenrod (Solidago altissima) plant in summer, showing an array of leaves and rosette galls. White background.
February 14, 2025 at 2:19 PM
emilydamstra.com
Though I make a living as an illustrator, I also enjoy writing. So I was delighted when asked to write the foreword to this excellent 2022 book: "100 Greatest Canadian Coins and Tokens" by Harvey B. Richer. Read the foreword here, if you like: www.emilydamstra.com/foreword-to-...

#coins #Canadiana
Image of the book cover, with the title near the top and a collage of photos of Canadian coins and tokens below.
February 13, 2025 at 2:47 PM
emilydamstra.com
I assume it is Trump's racist/sexist/anti-LGBTQ+ executive orders that prevents the US Mint from celebrating #BlackHistoryMonth this year.
Because of that, I'd like to share this compilation of People of color on US legal tender #coins - curated by my friend Asa:
www.facebook.com/media/set/?v...
Compilation of 30 coin images, all modern US legal US tender coins.
February 12, 2025 at 8:32 PM
emilydamstra.com
Many years ago, I did an illustration of that predator/prey scenario! #crinoids #scratchboard #sciart
February 11, 2025 at 4:57 PM
emilydamstra.com
Margot Lee Shetterly’s book "Hidden Figures" inspired a movie & an Act of Congress to award Congressional Gold Medals to the black women mathematicians who helped win the space race. Here's 1 side of Dorothy Vaughan's medal. About its design: www.emilydamstra.com/dorothy-vaug...
#BlackHistoryMonth
Image of the reverse side of Dorothy Vaughan's Congressional Gold Medal. The design shows Ms. Vaughan standing in front of two magnetic tape units— components of a mainframe computer—instructing two women, who are seated and taking notes. Although I don’t know if she ever actually stood up in front of a mainframe instructing others, I felt that showing her as an instructor w/ people literally looking up to her was a good way to symbolize her inspirational leadership qualities. She was someone whose colleagues looked up to her in the metaphorical sense. Below, three inscriptions highlight important aspects of Dorothy’s career: Fortran expert; Scout Launch Program; and Supervisor, West Area Computers. In the background of the design, a sun symbolizes enlightenment, and also suggests that Ms. Vaughan was beacon for others, leading the way for African American women—and indeed, all women—at NACA and NASA. Inscribed in the center of the sun are Dorothy’s compelling words: “I changed what I could, and what I couldn’t I endured.”
February 11, 2025 at 2:21 PM
emilydamstra.com
I 💜 blastoids. They're the fossils that got me interested in fossils. Specifically, the Mississippian species Pentremites godoni. ~25 yrs ago, I acquired this specimen and, using a microscope, made this pen and ink stipple drawing. Of my own work, it is one of my favorites.
#sciart #FossilFriday
Two side-by-side detailed pen and ink stipple drawings of a blastoid; one is from a side view, one from an oral view.
February 7, 2025 at 1:52 PM
emilydamstra.com
I created this digital illustration for an interpretive sign in British Columbia. It features the Blue-grey tail dropper slug (known from only 5 locations in Canada) & the iconic Banana slug. There's quite a size difference! A Douglas fir cone & twig hints at their habitat. #sciart #invertebrates
Detailed, realistic color Illustration of a banana slug, Blue-grey tail dropper slug, and a Douglas fir cone and twig Ariolimax columbianus, Prophysaon coeruleum, and Pseudotsuga menziesii
February 6, 2025 at 8:56 PM
emilydamstra.com
5/5
The holes left behind by feeding adult beetles gave these Stiff goldenrod leaves such a lovely, lacy appearance. I drew them & their intricate shadows w/ a graphite. The leaves are from my front yard in Southern Ontario 🇨🇦.
#ontarionativeplants #sciart
More: www.emilydamstra.com/projects/gol...
Detailed pencil drawing of two complete Stiff goldenrod leaves and their cast shadows
February 3, 2025 at 3:49 PM
emilydamstra.com
4/5
This watercolor painting of a Stiff goldenrod leaf shows the elongated holes from feeding adults, a row of poo-covered eggs (which I assume are now empty), as well as the browned, hollowed-out leaf tip where the larvae fed.
#herbivory #sciart
Original here: www.emilydamstra.com/product-cate...
Watercolor painting of the top surface of a complete Stiff goldenrod leaf
February 3, 2025 at 3:44 PM
emilydamstra.com
3/5
It’s pretty easy to spot these beetles, along with the holes they’ve chewed and their poo-covered eggs, in early summer. It’s also common to find the browned bulging leaf mines, wherein the hatched larvae have fed between the leaf’s epidermal layers. Pupation occurs inside those leaf mines.
👇
Two photographs of Solidago altissima leaves. One shows the underside of a leaf w/ ~15 poo-covered egg piles. The other shows the upper surface of the leaf; its tip is browned and curled.
February 3, 2025 at 3:41 PM
emilydamstra.com
2/5
The beetles lay their eggs (white discs) on the underside of goldenrod leaves (Solidago altissimo, here) and protect them with a coating of poo, as seen in this photo I took. I’m unsure why the male is still along for the ride at this point.

👇
Photograph of a female Goldenrod Leaf Miner beetle with a male on top of her. She has just laid three eggs in a stack on the underside of a goldenrod leaf (Solidago altissima) and is in the process of coating the eggs with poo.
February 3, 2025 at 3:39 PM
emilydamstra.com
This stylish little beetle (3-7 mm) is the Goldenrod Leaf Miner, Microrhopala vittata. I illustrated it as part of project to highlight the fauna associated w/ goldenrod, my favorite wildflower and a biodiversity superhero.

The beetles rely on goldenrod for all of their life stages.

#sciart

1/5 👇
detailed color illustration of a Goldenrod leaf miner beetle, dorsal view
February 3, 2025 at 3:35 PM
emilydamstra.com
Lichens! I illustrated these as Artist-in-Residence @ Glacier Nat'l Park & Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park. One isn't allowed to collect specimens in a NP, so I noted the exact placement of the rocks bearing these specimens, brought them to my cabin to paint, then carefully returned them to their home. #sciart
Detailed colored pencil drawing of The Elegant Sunburst Lichen; Xanthoria elegans. Detailed color painting of lichens from Rocky Point in Glacier National Park, Montana. Acarospora fuscata, Aspicilia ceasiocinerea, Rhizocarpum geographicum Detailed color painting of Lichens on pink granite from Rocky Mountain National Park. Rhizoplaca melanophthalma, Dimelaena oreina, Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca Detailed color painting of Lichens on pink granite at Rocky Mountain National Park. Aspicilia sp., Rhizoplaca melanophthalma, Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca
January 31, 2025 at 2:07 PM
emilydamstra.com
Last fall, I witnessed one of our Front Porch Snakes trying to slip inside its usual hidey hole, only to find that a recent meal had made it too rotund to fit! I didn't realize, until watching this video w/ the sound ⬆️, that I had whispered "You're going to get stuck."
#gartersnake #Yearofthesnake
January 31, 2025 at 3:50 AM
emilydamstra.com
I don't always have access to a specimen when I need to illustrate something, so I was pretty happy to find an excellent specimen of a Western diamondback at the UMich Museum of Zoology's herpetology collection in 2006. This gouache painting shows the rattle, sectioned.
#sciart #snake #Crotalus
Detailed color painting of the rattle of a Western diamondback snake. The rattle is illustrated as if cross-sectioned, so you can see inside and understand the way the parts nest.
January 30, 2025 at 2:51 PM
emilydamstra.com
Using gouache paint, I illustrated these goldenrod stem galls in 2016. I collected each specimen and—w/ some help from @stephenbheard.bsky.social—learned to identify them. There are 7 different types of galls shown. Prints are available w/ or w/out ID key: fineartamerica.com/profiles/emi...
#sciart
Detailed realistic illustration of 14 different goldenrod stems with 7 different types of galls. Some galls have exit holes from the insects that induced and lived inside the galls. Some of the fly galls show damage from a bird. All are dried, as you'd see them in late fall or winter.
January 29, 2025 at 3:41 PM
emilydamstra.com
I drew this Northern paper wasp in 2019, as part of a project to illustrate some of the insects & spiders associated w/ goldenrod. It's one of the most common insects I've seen visiting goldenrod. I think they're handsome. More about the project: www.emilydamstra.com/projects/gol...
#sciart #bugsky
Detailed color illustration of a Northern paper wasp on a white background
January 28, 2025 at 8:26 PM
emilydamstra.com
I added a couple drawings of darters and a few paintings of gar to my shop, where there's a variety of my original artwork available. If you're in the market for some detailed original
#fishart, shipping is free to most addresses in 🇨🇦 & 🇺🇸:
www.emilydamstra.com/product-cate...
#sciart
#originalart
Detailed color illustrations of a Central Johnny darter and a Florida gar
January 22, 2025 at 2:15 PM
emilydamstra.com
“Hope is a song in a weary throat” -- those inspiring words are from a poem by The Reverend Dr. Pauli Murray, a civil rights activist, advocate for gender equality, lawyer, episcopal priest, and author. That line is an apt summary of Murray's life work, and it is resonating w/me today.
#HerQuarter
Image of US quarter reverse featuring the Reverend Dr. Pauli Murray's face within the large word HOPE.
January 21, 2025 at 4:45 PM
emilydamstra.com
3 years ago this month, the US Mint released into circulation the 1st of 20 American Women Quarters. I was thrilled to have designed that first coin—Maya Angelou—and 3 others: Anna May Wong, Edith Kanaka`ole, & Pauli Murray. These women inspire me, especially in times like these.
#coindesign #coins
Images of US American Women Quarters reverse sides: Maya Angelou, Anna May Wong, Edith Kanaka`ole, and the Reverend Dr. Pauli Murray.
January 21, 2025 at 4:32 PM
emilydamstra.com
A 2024 professional highlight for me: Canada Post stamps featuring a Fowler's toad & Oregon spotted frog. Working w/ designer Jocelyne Saulnier, I illustrated the postage stamps, souvenir sheet, OFDC, booklet, & cancellation mark. See them here: www.emilydamstra.com/canada-post-...
#sciart #frogs
Image of Canada Post souvenir sheet featuring a stamp with an illustration of an Oregon spotted frog, a stamp with an illustration of a Fowler's toad, and an illustration of a Oregon spotted frog's head poking up from the surface of a pond covered in duckweed. © Canada Post
January 16, 2025 at 2:19 PM