Artist Jill Bliss organizes the vibrant mushrooms of the Salish Sea ecosystem into collages, which she then photographs. These exuberant works showcase the rich biodiversity of this unique region, which covers the coastal waterways of northern Washington state and the southern part of Canadian British Columbia. For her, “nature is my church.”
Many of her mushroom collages are assembled on islands — Decatur Island, San Juan Island, and Cortes Island, among others.
Bliss states that since discovering the Salish Sea, “I’ve been living, working, traveling and exploring” here ever since.
By trade, she works as a naturalist aboard a tour boat exploring the Cascadia region.
However, when tourist season is over, “I satisfy my nomadic nature by holing up in various off-grid cabins, preferably with wild animals and semi-feral people for neighbors, mentors, and muses. These are the months for hibernation, quiet reflection, close observations of discreet moments in nature, and art making.”
