I’ve been working on this relatively small painting in between jobs for over a month now! I’ll probably tweak it a bit more yet, but I couldn’t wait to share it now that it’s finally coming close to what I envisioned. This mushroom, like its climber, is entirely imaginary, but it was inspired by various real species. If you are a fan of fungi in its many fanciful forms, be sure to check out this fascinating blog: When we die, we become one with the earth. Beautiful photos of some amazing shrooms!

The background engraving was scanned from The Practical Standard Dictionary, 1943; the borders were from an old map.

The not-so-secret message in the annulus refers to a series of books by Eleanor Cameron that I loved as a child. Working on this really made me want to reread those books!

p.s. This one’s dedicated to my friend Heather, an avid mushroom-hunter, & my father, a soon-to-be truffle farmer!

Edit: Prints of this painting (along with the original) are now available in my Etsy shop!