Mushrooms In The Rain

It’s been a while since I walked in the woods.  Late July and all of August were full of hot, buggy days.  I chose to swim in the Battenkill over walking.  But today it’s cool and rainy.  The bugs were still out, but nothing a hat on my head couldn’t handle.

Even though we’ve gotten a good amount of rain this summer, it wasn’t as much as last year.  So I wondered if I’d see any mushrooms.

I wasn’t disappointed.  Some of them looked as if they’d been growing for a while.

While others were just emerging.

The salamanders were out too.  So many of them were near or under mushrooms. I couldn’t help thinking they were staying dry under the natural umbrellas.  But of course, it’s the rain that makes the salamanders come out. Their skin is porous and they need the moisture so they don’t dry out.

Some of the mushrooms were the size of a dinner plate growing on the stump of a toppled tree.

And some were tiny and growing out of bark surrounded by moss,  making the tree trunk look like a fairyland.

Not all stood up straight and perfect.  Some had been toppled and eaten by animals and insects.  I’m not sure if I interrupted the cricket eating this mushroom or if they were just passing by.

This mushroom pushed through the pine needles shiny with rain, its orange center a juicy beacon or bullseye.

It was impossible not to notice the brightly colored mushrooms.  I imagine also, the most poisonous.

But the softer colors caught my attention too.  Sometimes because of their subtle markings, their shape, how they looked in their surroundings….

…or their texture.

These were only some of the mushrooms I saw on our walk in the woods today.  Once again, I was inspired by them, thinking I’d like to recreate them in my studio somehow.  I though the same last year, but it never happened.

Maybe it will this year.

“Mushrooms and Flowers” in Sally’s Cozy Reading Room

Sally sent me this photo of her cozy reading room with the Gelli Print Pillow Mushrooms and Flowers that she bought from me last week.

She wrote that she loved the pillow which makes it even nicer.  I do enjoy seeing where my art ends up. One of the things I usually don’t know when I make something is who I’m making it for. But they always seem to find each other.

The Orphaned Woods, Mushrooms At My Neighbors

When I last walked in the Orphaned Woods, I had to push my way through the small path I mowed early in the spring just to get to the Gulley Bridge. Beyond that my feet sunk in the mud from the overflowing stream.  The grasses were taller than my five foot two and I parted them like a tunnel of wet stringy curtains as I walked.

A wild raspberry bush guarded the break in the stone wall.  The berries already eaten by birds, their prickly stems grabbing my leggings.  The thorns hanging on even when I left the rest of the plant behind.  I walked the overgrown path and was swarmed with mosquitos.  On the way back, I must have disturbed a nest, because a single yellow jacket followed me out of the woods, stinging me twice behind my knee.

So today I decided to walk on the path that belongs to my neighbor.  This way I could avoid most of the insects and all the tall grasses.

And what a peaceful walk it was.  Not as many mushrooms as in the past, but a few that caught my eye…

This one reminded me of a scallop shell.

The top of this mushroom was like a cross-section of a tree trunk. The growth rings in so many shades of brown and a little green plant sprouting through it.

This mushroom had the most unusual texture.

And this mushroom seemed to sing.

 

 

Something New! My Gelli Print Pillow, Mushrooms and Flowers…Sold

Mushrooms and Flowers  my Gelli Print Pillow is 15″x15″. It’s $90 + Shipping and is sold.   is for sale in my Etsy Shop. 

I got my first Gelli Print Pillow stuffed and sewn this morning.

It’s exciting to use the fabric that Emily made when she came to my studio and we made Gelli Prints together a few weeks ago. Since Emily uses paper in her collage art, (you can see Emily’s work here) she got all the prints we made on paper and I got all the prints we made on fabric.

I love that this fabirc is a handmade, original monoprint.  Which means it can’t be duplicated.  I see each square as an original abstract print.

I wasn’t sure how I would use the fabric  Emily and I made, but this came about very natrually.  I think the soft floral squares highlight the abstract Gelli Prints.

 Mushrooms and Flowers is for sale in my Etsy Shop it’s 15″x15″ and is $90 + shipping.

Shipping prices have changed drastically for a package this size and  I’ve been trying to figure out how to deal with it for months.

The price of shipping a pillow this size varies from the East cosat to the West.  Prices can be as low as  $16 to more than $50. So I’ve placed a calculated shipping price on my pillows.  That means the price of shipping depends on where you live. And  you’ll be able to see the price of shipping before you purchase the pillow from my Etsy shop.

You  will be charged the exact price for shipping that I will pay for it.  I’m not adding any handling charges, because the  shipping prices can be prohibitive enough depending on where you live.

Ok, now I’m off to make a couple of more Gelli Print Pillows.

Flo with Mushrooms and Flowers. 

 

 

 

Mushrooms In The Woods

I took my iPhone but had no plans to take any pictures on my walk in the woods yesterday. But with all the rain, the mushrooms were sprouting and I couldn’t resist.  I don’t know their names, but here are some of them….

This one was about six inches round…

These tiny mushrooms were sprouting from a log…

 

Icy Crystals, Like Mushrooms

The last time I walked on the path through the woods, was almost a month ago,  just before hunting season.  That day I watched a moth out of season and a Great Horned Owl glide silently next to me and land in a tree as if I wasn’t there.

Today the animals didn’t show themselves, but I did see Ice crystals sprouting from the earth like mushrooms.  They speared soil, moss small branches, and leaves on their icy tips, not letting anything get in their way.

Yet they were delicate enough to snap in two when I gently touched them with my finger to feel their ribbed texture.

 

More Mushrooms

These first two I saw walking in the woods with Jon this afternoon.  I love how elegant this one is, the opposite of the mushroom below which looks so inviting.

I found these in the woods yesterday, so feathery and soft.

I found this mushroom a week or so ago.  I love how it makes such a cozy space as it popped out of the leaves, like a little cave with an umbrella roof.

So Many Mushrooms

One of the few interruptions from working on my quilt was to take a walk in the woods after feeding the animals in the early evening.

I didn’t plan to take any pictures, but overnight, the woods had filled up with mushrooms.  There were so many different kinds I tried, unsuccessfully to take a photo of each type.  I know little about mushrooms, but I do love their sculptural shapes and textures and varying colors.

I’m also fascinated by how quickly they grow, pushing up and aside anything that gets in their way as they pop up from the earth.

This one was about the size of a dinner plate

A salamander found a home under this half-eaten mushroom.
The most phallic mushroom I saw

 

Yellow Mushrooms In The Snow

Yellow mushrooms

I didn’t a walk in the woods this morning, but seeing the yellow mushroom in this photo that  I took the other day is making me feel grounded and peaceful.  Almost like being there again.   It’s a calm place for my eyes to rest and my mind to retreat.

Full Moon Fiber Art