When I started my second watercolor mushroom, I was inspired to rotate it 90 degrees, giving more drama to the small, fragile-looking mushroom I'd chosen to paint.This little yellow mushroom was growing in Armstrong Woods. The fallen needles and sorrel leaves give an idea of its size.
The Paul Stamets quote I chose for this one is, Because ectomycorrhizal mycelium grows beyond the plant’s roots, it brings distant nutrients & moisture to the host plant, extending the absorption zone well beyond the root structure. The mycelium dramatically increases the plant’s ingestion of nutrients, nitrogenous compounds, & essential elements (phosphorous, copper, & zinc) as it decomposes surrounding debris.
How amazing is that! All those trees I love so much, continuously nourished by fungi I notice only during their brief "fruiting"!
This painting is now hanging with 6 other mushroom watercolors at Sebastopol Gallery. This rotation runs through February 27. I also have there a new chapbook of poems that includes 3 mushroom poems & 4 mushroom painting reproductions.
I continue to study mushrooms, in guidebooks & Stamets Mycelium Running, along the bikepath, in friends' yards, in the woods & fields, & at my drawing table.
My sense of mystery & gratitude deepens....
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