Mushroom Ensembles & Ornaments.....

From the sketch book

to the greenware stage....

sanded and into bisque firing....

To final pieces, this one is a 'Mushroom Ensemble' showing an animated connection between fungi in the network below the forest.

The final ornaments sold out at christmas 2022, so a new batch arrives in February....earthstars, chanterelles, bollettes, and some cool hybrid creations too. (like a bollette had a baby with a turkey tail!)

MUSHROOM DEVOTION
Its November....
In my mind there is a frenzy of mushroom. Single bolletes with purple tops. Big super white shrooms, and tiny pink orbs on a log. Chanterelles are golden and hard to find next to fallen leaves. And those delicate 2 inch LBMs growing all around the entry to my house are like sentinels ushering me home.

Ah yes! Chanterelles melting on my tongue... cooked in butter for breakfast. 

Walking is a daily occasion. Near my home are many forest trails. And fungi can also be hunted in our local state parks. My imagination is filled with the memory of mushrooms. In the studio I translate those memories into clay. Often I refer to my mushroom book or iPad for clarity. Because of this obsession, my eyes just gravitate to the little fruiting bodies anywhere I go.

Yesterday, I see what look like Avenging angels in my neighbors yard, and rush home to look them up. It's a passion that I share with many amateur mushroom enthusiasts!
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This month in the studio I am making mushroom ornaments, and what I call 'Mushroom Ensembles'. The Ensembles are sculptures featuring many species of mushrooms at once and with mycelium attached- or at least an attempt to represent the beauty of their connections.

They are in their greenware stage drying and will get fired next week. After that they will be glazed and then china painted. Delivery to the gallery, Childhoods End Gallery in Olympia, WA should occur the first of December!  

​HEADS UP! the ensembles only just got done in January 2023, I just dropped them off. More ornaments are coming soon.

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