Michelle F Mitchell | Sword Fern Studios
banner
swordfernstudios.bsky.social
Michelle F Mitchell | Sword Fern Studios
@swordfernstudios.bsky.social
Artist | Portland. Painter, forager, photo industry freelancer, & creative.

Obsessed with fungi, & noticing the little things that make life wonderful. Texture & details make me happy!

🛒🛍️ https://swordfernstudios.company.site
Made one of my older mushroom illustrations into a cute sticker! Foraging folks will know this one; the Lobster Mushroom! 🍄🦞

Made with weatherproof vinyl- Perfect for your water bottle, foraging gear, or nature journal.

swordfernstudios.etsy.com
January 18, 2026 at 9:47 PM
Feeling the flow today. I live for days like this.

Or maybe I saw an opportunity flying by and latched on to it for dear life!
January 14, 2026 at 8:04 PM
My favorite painting from last year is now available in sticker form.

Cute frogs, Pacific Northwest wildflowers, carnivorous plants, and pollinators galore!

Perfect for your water bottle or nature journal 😉
January 14, 2026 at 5:21 PM
AHHHHHHHH! 😱

Anywho, small win; I added some new stickers of my paintings on Etsy!

Sometimes thats all ya got, and it’s gotta be enough. 🤷🏼‍♀️
January 13, 2026 at 10:15 PM
@brendanlh.bsky.social and I visited elk rock island the other day. So many cool plants!

I was surprised by how much wooly sunflower and stonecrop there were. I also realized how badly I had needed some outside time. 😊

Whew!
January 13, 2026 at 6:17 PM
Art can buffer you from despair & inspire a glimpse into the future you want. The creative thinkers certainly have a role here.

Please continue to support creatives, if you can. Sorry I haven’t posted much, juggling life.

Here are some paintings of flora & fauna species I care about 🥹
January 12, 2026 at 10:18 PM
Small Camas Flower painting.

We could all use something beautiful right now.

Something to look forward to.

Spring WILL come again.

Sow those seeds.
January 11, 2026 at 4:57 PM
Oops, I added a picture of choppy anyway. 🤭
January 9, 2026 at 2:37 AM
*feeling endless rage*

Anyway, I picked up some paints & blocked in a fritillary this afternoon. Blocking in flowers & details tomorrow.

Trying to channel intense energy so I don’t go off the rocker, or say too many things about choppy. Remember to find bits of joy between this f#cking insanity.
January 9, 2026 at 2:37 AM
The moonrise the other night was insaaaane. Hope y’all caught it too. Can’t remember if it was full this night or the night before. It certainly LOOKED full.

Side note: I’m super lost in time and this may have been two days ago or a week ago. 🤷🏼‍♀️
January 6, 2026 at 10:17 PM
It’s National Bird Day! What bird first sparked your curiosity? Do you have a favorite?

I enjoy raptors & corvid!

As a child I’d watch the red tailed hawk & bald eagle hunt from the edges of rugged basalt cliff in the gorge.

Here’s my American Goshawk study

#birds #birdlovers #birdwatching
January 5, 2026 at 6:14 PM
For today’s #ArtAdventCalendar I’d like to share a mini painting inspired by the Columbia River Gorge.

‘Camassia Quamash’

A perennial herb, native to western N. America in large areas of southern Canada & the northwestern United States. A staple food to First Nations people, & pollinators love it!
December 20, 2025 at 10:08 PM
2/2:
He reached out & asked if I could contribute 3 paintings w/ about 10 days notice. A quick turnaround, however it was an opportunity I couldn’t say no to!

Here are a couple detail shots:
December 19, 2025 at 6:35 PM
1/2:
My porcini & ferns painting for both #artadventcalendar & #forestfriday
One of my favs! This piece got me my first gallery invite! The gallery owner was out walking his dog & saw my work in a coffee shop.
December 19, 2025 at 6:35 PM
My painting ‘Courtship’ for Just Like Honey, opening this Friday. If you're in PDX please come to the opening, it’ll be a party! Details in alt text

Antler & Talon Galleries
12/19, 5-8 pm. Two new exhibitions, DJ, drinks, & tattoos

Pls share!

#portlandart #pdxart #pdxgallery #artforsale #painting
December 17, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Hey Oregonians & fellow Portlanders! Donate to @barkformthood.bsky.social via Give!Guide. Every $10 donation earns you a 10% discount at SymbiOp, plus a chance to win today's Big Groceries Day package - New Seasons gift cards from $100-$500! Learn more 👇

giveguide.org/nonprofits/b...
December 17, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Another little friend, the Western toad for #ArtAdventCalendar

I’d like to explore more watercolor in 2026.

#frogs #frogart #wildlifeart #animalart
December 16, 2025 at 4:44 PM
I’ll definitely share as I make more.

Here’s a couple of pictures from the last version of the show!
December 14, 2025 at 5:43 PM
I’m excited to share my newest painting ‘Courtship’ with you!

I shared WIP shots a while back, here’s the finished piece for a gallery show. Just Like Honey 2 opens at Antler & Talon Galleries in PDX 12/19

I dig these hexagon panels.

#ArtAdventCalendar #natureart #salamanders #mushrooms #lichen
December 14, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Hey Portland Oregon folks! I’m at a holiday market in SE this evening.

Support art by real living artists! I make nature inspired art. If that’s not your thing there is also a variety of jewelry, plants, decor, vintage, baked goods, & other goodies!

Here til 10pm. Come through!
📍5939 SE 82nd ave
December 14, 2025 at 2:01 AM
Here’s a detail shot of the delicate flower. Appropriate for the #bloomscrolling tag
December 13, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Today’s #ArtAdventCalendar is a colored pencil illustration. The Western Wood Anenome (Anemonoides oregana), a montane flower species.

Their delicate pale blue flowers light up my path through the woods as I forage morels in the cascades every spring. Thanks for letting me share! 🥰

#botanicalart
December 13, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Over a decade of efforts between ranchers & conservationists to keep grouse off the endangered species list could be undone.

‘Grouse on the Lek’ for last years bird show at Antler Gallery. The original is still available & 20% goes to the OR chapter of Audobon Society.
#conservationart #birders
December 12, 2025 at 6:03 PM
I like to keep it froggy whenever possible!
December 12, 2025 at 3:24 AM
It’s not too late to do my #ArtAdventCalendar post!

‘Symbiosis’
Acrylic on panel

Cascades frogs hunting prey with the sundew, hidden among mountain wildflowers, as pollinators buzz about.

#artist #natureart #ranacascadae
December 12, 2025 at 1:05 AM