Mushroom Mania

 I have been fascinated by mushrooms for years! How they appear out of seemingly nowhere, how delicate and sublimely beautiful. They embody the whimsical nature of fantasy, and yet in many cases cause people to steer clear for fear of poisoning. They are brief in their existence and so have generated a sense of mystery to use humans who eat certain varieties for both culinary and vision inducing purposes.

Oh how I love mushrooms! I have been photographing them over the last few years. It is like a grand treasure hunt for the smallest of wonders. I often find them in the strangest and most remote places on my treks through the forest. Under rotting logs, inside old trees, high up on a rock face, everywhere you can imagine!

 Each new find causes an inspiration in me that brings new drawings to life. Ideas of little worlds and whole civilizations that live in the shroomy forest grow in my mind until they find a way out into the world through words or art. I have created a whole world with a race called the Wee’Ones, a tiny species of ‘people’ that are intimately connected to the mushrooms of the forest. They embody the jovial side of human nature that seeks to come out in the most awkward and inopportune times. They are pranksters and poets and architects of grand structures of small stature. Indeed I do spend quite some time in my mind walking through the simple dwelling and vaulted cathedrals of the small mushrooms of the forest.

As it turns out, there are many people who are drawn to this strange flora. It seems that humans are deeply connected to this mystical plant and are drawn to it in many different ways. Either through food or art or games, sometimes stories; there is always a way in which we can enjoy mushrooms. 

In the last year I have started to use a wood lath and quickly found myself drawn to making mushrooms on it. These little wooden sculptures caused quite a stir among some of my friends and I was urged to continue to explore making mushrooms on the lathe. One slow work day I was sitting at with my ideas sketch book and was drawing out different shapes when an idea came, why could I not make an incense burner that was also a mushroom? Needless to say, I was smitten with some kind of mushroom frenzy until I finally got a design that I liked. I went off to the lathe and created a bunch of different incense burners. I tested different styles and configurations and am continuing to refine them slowly.

 I took the first two I had made down to some friends working  the local new age store, lit up some incense and watched them both smile from ear to ear. After thirty minutes of talk and watching the smoke curl up and around the mushroom caps I walked out of there with a handful of money and short two mushrooms. 

 

As is usually the case with me, I got excited about this and went out to buy all the supplies I would need to streamline the whole process. I made ten more mushrooms on the lathe and then…I found something else to get excited about! OK, so this is not new for me but it is very funny that I now have ten mushroom incense burners sitting all over the place. I do hope to get back up to the shop and make some more, maybe sell them to local shops, or even put them on eBay.

My mushroom Mania comes and goes from time to time but it is always there in the background. Whether I’m drawing, photographing, researching, or growing them they are always there in the back of my mind, inviting me to engage in another fantasy that could take me, well, anywhere!