Panther Sneaks Way Into Picture Snapshot Of Camp Doubles As Image Of Big Cat

When art teacher Jan Foland returns to school this fall, she plans to steal the show during “How I Spent My Summer” exchanges.

The Cheney woman has spent it watching jaws drop as she shows off the accidental work of art discovered on her kitchen floor.

It began with a snapshot Foland took four years ago near a kids’ camp near Bellingham. The photo of an island jutting into a lake hung on her refrigerator until it fell off one day.

Foland bent to retrieve it and that’s when she saw the hidden image: a panther head, half formed by the tree-covered island and half by its reflection in Whatcom Lake.

“Oh my gosh, look at this!” she told her husband, Denny.

Upright, the photo depicts a still afternoon at Revelie Island, part of Camp Firwood. But held at a 90-degree angle, the trees’ various shades of yellow and green leaves create the illusion of a panther face with glaring yellow eyes.

Foland spotted the cat only recently and returned to the camp last month for another look. The panther had vanished into a solid green canopy, but she found camp director Darell Smith.

“I’m amazed,” said Smith. “There’s only one time in the fall when that’s going to happen, where the leaves turn color and it all comes together.”

Smith kept a copy of the photograph, which has become a camp conversation piece. Some people look for hidden spiritual meanings, but he sees just a happy coincidence.

“I just think it’s a great picture that happens once in a lifetime,” he said.

Foland has since copyrighted the photo and made copies, large and small. Some she framed.

Others became calendars and greeting cards.

Two weeks ago, The Firs bookstore and Family Christian Stores in Bellingham began selling them on consignment.

“It’s very intriguing,” said Firs manager Julie Lingbloom, who immediately sold a 16-by-20-inch framed version.

Foland, a 53-year-old art teacher at Salk Middle School, admits she’s an amateur photographer who uses an inexpensive camera with a built-in lens and flash.

Still, she expects her students will get a bigger kick out of her panther than all her watercolors and drawings combined.

Always the teacher, she plans to work in a quick lesson on diversity: “Every little leaf, no matter what color they are, help makes the picture perfect.”