FABULOUS FUNGUS ART
Gathering a mushroom called the artist fungus (genus Fomes) and decorating them.
by ROGER BOSSLEY
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You can gather a beautiful mushroom called the "artist
fungus" (genus Fomes) from tenceposts, stumps, and dead and
dying trees ... then—when etched with your own
artistic designs—these dani zens of the woods can be
sold for $510 to $10.00 apiece!
Most deciduous trees will ultimately fall prey to such
parasitic bracket mushrooms (the fungi are characterized by
hard-shelled tops and light, spore-covered, leathery
undersides), but the members of the genus Fomes are most
easily found in wet ash or beech woodlands.
When you harvest this natural art product, you are actually
"doctoring" the forest . . because one such living mushroom
releases 30 billion spares in each 24 hour period of its
six-month growth. These tiny "seeds" are carried by the
wind to wounds in nearby trees and grow new, destructive
fungi.
It's best to pick the tough, woody polypores in the late
autumn or winter months ... and then to dry the
well-shaped, usable specimens for a week or more before you
draw on the undersides with a sharp nail, etching tool, or
dry fountain pen. For light shades, apply only a lit tle
pressure to your instrument ... dark tones are obtained by
making deep marks on the fungus' surface. The colors and
shades, which range from buff to dark brown, will also vary
with the abundance or scarcity of powdery spores.
When a sketch is finished, apply one or two coats of
high-grade, nonyellowing polyurethane ... and allow each
coat to soak in evenly. (The varnish will darken the
picture, but only temporarily.) When it's dry, you can
scratch the varnish to further emphasize the light areas of
the etching. Your fungal artwork can then be hung by a
small hook fastened in the top of the hard-shelled side,
or—with three nails as legs—it can be displayed
as a miniature mushroom easel.
