Frost and Vapor. Swans flying over the Skagit Valley, originally photographed this winter. Mixed media cyanotype on gampi paper, gilded and hand-painted in aqua bronze.
Ollie Fern
@whalefern.bsky.social
cyanotype artist, photographer, painter, and creature espousèd to @nemerevermore.bsky.social. Pike Place handmade artist! photos mine unless otherwise noted. no ai (ugh). if you see a pigeon tell it i said hi. art at https://www.whalefern.com
When the Chase the Light weekend coincides with some of the year’s best low tides #chasethelight2026 #photographiccenternw #invertebrates
My mom is getting into birds, and while visiting family back east, I talked her into setting up a bluebird house. (Her yard is great habitat.) I was a little worried I’d convinced her to spend time and money fruitlessly…for two days. It took those little blue go-getters TWO DAYS to move in.
On the other hand, Seattle, the best daytime low tides of the year are coming up. It starts getting below -3 on June 13th (10am), and peaks at -4.3 on June 15th.
Corporeal kvetch: My other knee is also on the fritz now, which is a problem because even during production days at home, I’m basically walking in a small circle for 8-12 hours. And I’m limited in the seated work I can do, because my left wrist hurts quite a bit.
btw, I’m running a small-group family cyanotype workshop on June 6th! Parents and kids, all ages welcome. We’ll play with shadows, then create cool prints together on watercolor paper and a cotton canvas pencil case. studiopianonobile.com/shop/the-cyanotype-workshop-family-edition-6626
favorite recent black and white photo: a crystal jelly drifting past the sun, beneath the ferry dock
I like to note when I share photos that look a little surreal: My photographs contain only the details captured when the light hit my camera’s sensor. I will never use the technology that’s currently causing a water crisis (you know the one) to fabricate details my camera didn’t see.
I did not know that fried egg jellyfish got this big. At least a foot across. Absolutely magnificent, undulating in the eel grass.
Immersing my bad knee in frigid Puget Sound for three hours felt amazing; 1000/10, would recommend
My Creature Portraiture mixed-media photographic series is on display this month at Walnut Street Coffee in Edmonds, WA. I think it looks pretty cool, especially in person. (My secret favorite piece is the festive tritona nudibranch in the silver frame with the ribbon motif.)
went for a walk before work and was delighted to see, among the beautiful native plantings on the overlook walk, shooting star flower
Dreaming of the day when I can reliably use a computer for long intervals
a recent print: trumpeter swans flying past the North Cascades. cyanotype on gampi paper, originally photographed at Fir Island in the Skagit Valley.
