SUPERMOON AND MUSHROOM

 

I found a beautiful clump of Amanita Muscarias on the road to the beach and on our way home I picked up a fallen one to bring home to draw.  I added the super moon  the next day after catching a glimpse before the clouds covered it for the night!

MORE MUSHROOMS

 

My Belarussian friend has a knack of finding the best mushrooms thanks to her childhood spent in the forests of eastern Europe.  These boletus were found in a forest in Brittany and were delicious to eat.  I had a lot of fun scribbling with my inktense blocks, spritzing with water and then detailing with the pencils.

Mushrooms and Clary sage

 

My last picture from our latest trip is a mixture of items that just went together so colourfully, a mushroom from the campsite and a bought girolle with a few sprigs of clary sage with their pretty pink and purple bracts.

Mushroom

Sketch of Boletus satanas  on moleskine watercolor.

Eat with your eyes only-Concetta Flore

This mushroom- unedible- was found in a roman Park and it immediately fascinated me with the world of visual stimuli it offered. There are lines, volumes, dots, undefinite shapes, delicate hues, and the maze created by the fragmented surface of the "hat".
For the right-hand study I used a pencil trace, whether for the study on the left, I just plunged with my paintbrush and, starting from a central scale, I lost and found my way into and out of the maze.
It is a feeling of incredible concentration and peace of mind, a  special pleasure that lasts long after saying "that's enough". Because you have to stop before you lose lightness.

AMETHYST DECEIVER

 

My sister-in-law in England has been looking out for mushrooms for me to draw and here's what she found yesterday, an amethyst deceiver.  I love the way the leaves surrounding it seem to reflect the mauve of the fungus.

DELICATE MUSHROOMS

 

It's been such a dry warm summer this year that the mushrooms around here are rather late appearing, although I did see a clump of the red spotty ones that I normally collect a specimen from just too late as they had been destroyed by somebody kicking them over.  These very delicate specimens were growing in the grass at the campsite we stayed at recently near Mont St Michel.  They grew in a day in the grass and were very pretty to draw with their pleated tops and pale mauvy grey undersides.

Red Spotty Mushroom

 

I've been searching for ones of these Amanita Muscaria mushrooms for some weeks now and my patience has been rewarded. It was in the same place I had seen them in previous years but this time I got there before they were kicked over.  I took one specimen home carefully wrapped in a tissue and made sure to wash my hands after touching it.  We had seen a story in the local newspaper about a couple who died after eating another variety of Amanitas so we're very aware of the dangers.

Tiny red mushroom

 

I have had a lot of fun lately, collecting and drawing mushrooms but this one was so tiny, about the size and colour of a Yew berry, that I decided that it was better to photograph it.  I had to get right down in the grass with my camera, giving my granddaughters a lot of amusement, to be able to take the picture!  See more mushrooms on my blog.

Woodland mushroom

 

I found another beauty on my walk down the lane this week, nestling in the long grass under a clump of trees.  I got out my field guide, bought 35 years ago when our favourite Sunday walk with the children was mushroom hunting in the Surrey hills, to identify it.  I hope I've got it right but please do correct me if anyone knows better!

Shaggy Ink Caps

 

I found this little group rather close to the road so I had to take them home to stop them being crushed by cars or people walking by.  Of course they were drawn within minutes of getting home!  The tall one is nearly a foot tall and the ink was dripping all the time I carried them and as I drew.   I'm addicted to drawing on this tinted paper, isn't it strange you can have something in store for years then all of a sudden you find a use for it!

First Wid Mushroom

First Wid Mushroom, a photo by Teri DC on Flickr.

A little bit of rain produced the first mushroom of the season in our woods and DH found it! I put it in an omelet for lunch. So good.

He knows which wild mushrooms are safe to eat but please don't try it if you don't know. Some wild mushrooms are very poisonous!  But they sure are fun to paint.

A royal surprise

It's been hot and dry here so mushrooms were the last thing I expected to find in the woods at Howarth Park! Agaricus augustus is also known as The Prince. They are considered to be quite tasty but a seething mass of larvae got there first.

 

Read more about The Prince:
Tom Volk's Fungus of the Month, August 2002
California Fungi
Morel mushroom hunting
Wikipedia