Our Summer 2025 Contributors

Alison McGill

An ardent animal lover, McGill has always been curious about backyard chickens. For this issue, she spoke to local flock owners who told her having chickens brings more than just a spate of farm-fresh eggs into their lives — it also brings immeasurable joy. 

“I had no idea that chickens could be cuddly or become as bonded to their humans as cats and dogs,” says McGill. “Everyone I spoke to for this story said they could not imagine life without their chickens!”

McGill is an award-winning editor, writer, brand strategist and podcast host. She is the former editor-in-chief of Weddingbells and is a contributor to publications The Kit and ELLE Canada. McGill hosts a wedding and lifestyle podcast, Aisle Seat, and is a frequent guest on television morning shows. Although her media career has always been city-based, home is in the countryside of Halton Hills.

Shelagh Armstrong 

Armstrong’s whimsical illustrations capture scenes of rural life and touching family moments and have appeared on our pages for more than two decades. She says she never tires of depicting the humorous or sensitive tales told in Dan Needle’s “Fence Posts” and Bethany Lee’s “Headwaters Nest.” 

Armstrong has worked in the visual arts since 1985 and considers herself a student for life, earning a master’s in illustration with distinction from England’s Falmouth University in 2023. Working internationally, some of her acheivements include illustrating Canadian stamps and Olympic coins as well as children’s books. Now based in Toronto, Armstrong also teaches observational painting at Sheridan College. Besides travel, one of her secrets to staying energetic and inspired is her daily jog beside Lake Ontario. Being born in Grey County, raised in Dufferin County, she feels most connected and balanced in nature.

Ruth Ann Pearce 

Since 2012, Pearce’s creative artwork has graced both In The Hills features as well as the “Country Living 101” department, which launched in 2022. In addition to illustration work, Pearce has taught art and design, illustrated for Ducks Unlimited Canada’s Conservator magazine, published her own children’s book, A Bird Chronicle, and staged exhibitions of her work at the Bata Shoe Museum and Quest Art School + Gallery in Midland.

Born and raised in Oakville, Pearce earned her bachelor of fine arts in 2007 from the Ontario College of Art & Design, now OCAD University. 

Pearce previously lived in Dunedin and now calls Chatham home, where she and her husband run the Chatham Creative Company. She cherishes moments with her husband and two young boys, filling their days with biking, hiking, baking, foraging for mushrooms and playing board games.