Greetings!

As land-dwelling creatures it’s all too easy to forget about our oceans and how they’re doing. Luckily, the greeting cards made by wildlife photographers and visual artists are handy and affordable ways to stay connected to where the whales live.

Two Different Styles

I have pretty different reactions to photography compared to artwork; take a look for yourself, comparing your reactions to the Orca photo and visual art below.

Photography

Photography seems to bring me out into the Orca’s world. I’ve been enjoying our local whale watching blog where citizen scientists are bringing us great photos of unexpected numbers of whales and our five young Orcas. The still photos posted with comments by local citizen scientists convey the excitement of recognizing individual Orcas by name. The occasional video (scroll to September 21) really gives me the sense of being out on the water and watching the whales live.

Photo by winky of vancouver canada

Visual Art

Rather than bringing me out onto the water, art images of marine life bring the ocean right into the everyday flow of my life. Greeting cards over my desk, stuck in the corner of a mirror, and caught on the fridge door bring the Orca shapes and movement home to me in a more intimate way.

One of my favorite local artists, Francy Blumhagen makes each of her individual nature notecards by hand including Orcas in their watery world. Her personal style using handcarved stamps and torn art papers emphasizes for me the overall textures of the Orcas' watery atmosphere rather than any biological details. You can enjoy and treat yourself to her very affordable art online or at Brackenwood Gallery in Langley, Washington.

Francy Blumhagen

Take a minute to think how you stay connected to those often distant waters where the whales play. Maybe it’s a keychain, picture books for your kids, or a bumper sticker. Or maybe it’s time to treat yourself to some new art or photography.