Mushroom art.
Healing body,
mind, rooms.
Shaggy Mane (Coprinus comatus).
Mature Coprinus mushrooms (also known as Shaggy ink caps) can be used as writing ink. When Coprinus are placed in a jar for a few days, the mushrooms deliquesce into black ink that can be used for writing or drawing.
Many ancient manuscripts were written with Coprinus mushroom ink.
Coprinus comatus are also considered an edible mushroom when picked while young and firm.
Coprinus comatus emerging from a log in the French Alps.
“Freud’s Rorschach” 20x20 Encaustic wax on birch board. $4300.
“Dissolution” encaustic on board, 20x20.
“Kundalini Rising” 20 x 20 Encaustic wax on birch board (sold)
Healing Space Creatively
What do we do with mushrooms? We hunt for them, cultivate them, cook with them, travel with them 🍄, get creative with them, and heal our spaces with them.
Rather than projecting onto the mushrooms, this body of work asks the mushrooms what they want. By meditating with them, my work emerges as a co-creation between the world of fungi and their expression in the human world.
(Images shown here include “Phyllotoposis” far left and “Dissolution,” “Freud’s Rorschach” in black frames.
“The Lucid Dream”
Encaustic wax, pigment, and 24 grams of mushrooms. 36 x 36 unframed. More than a hero’s (heroine’s) journey. $9300.
The many faces of mushrooms loved by chefs and beautiful as abstract art.
“The Cosmos” encaustic wax and mixed media on birch board 36 x 36.
“Flying Anemone.” Photo of the cap underside of a Sarcodon imbricatus (hawk’s wing) mushroom on museum-quality paper, metal, or glass. Price is based on material and size.
“Underworld” (above) encaustic painting over photo, on birch board 20 x 20.
“Emerging” (below) encaustic wax on board 20 x 20.
Porcini mushroom encaustic paintings (in progress). Each piece is 20 x 20 on solid birch board.
Every chef’s dream! A perfect porcini growing in a Colorado forest.
The iconic Amanita muscaria
Amanita muscaria.
Amanita muscaria are noted for their intoxicating properties due to their main psychoactive constituents: muscimol and its neurotoxic precursor, ibotenic acid. This iconic mushroom was historically used to induce hallucination by the indigenous shaman of Siberia, Kamchatka, and the Vikings, as well as in Central and South America. A. muscaria appeared on rock paintings dated back to at least 3500 BC. The Amanita allegedly inspired the stories of Santa Claus and flying reindeer, along with Alice in Wonderland.
Today, muscimol is being studied as a medicine for various conditions. The rising pharmacological interest in Amanita muscaria neuroprotective role against some neurodegenerative diseases such as anxiety, sleep disorders, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s,
“Amanita Dreamer” manipulated photo print on archival paper. Price based on size and material.
Amanita mushrooms are the most recognizable fungi on the planet. Some species invoke fear for their toxicity, while others are considered choice edibles. Identify your mushrooms carefully before ingesting them 🍄. Patricia Bukur is a contributing author and photographer in Foraging Mushrooms of the the Rocky Mountains.
“Psychedelic Amanita Contemplating Life”
36 x 36 encaustic wax and pigment on board $9200
“Flight of the Amanitas” 2024, 30 x 30 encaustic painting with embedded with hand foraged and dried Amanita muscaria mushrooms.
“Amanita Blanc de Blanc” encaustic wax on board, 36” x 36”.
$9200 unframed
Some Amanitas – such as the grisette – are considered a choice edible, but others – such as the Panther Cap (Amanita pantherina) can be deadly.
What is encaustic? Pigments are mixed with hot liquid beeswax. After the wax is applied to the painting surface – usually wood, plaster, or canvas mounted to a board, a heating element such as a heat gun or blow torch is passed over the surface until the wax is fused to the surface. Encaustic wax has many of the properties of oil paint, and in addition it offers a brilliant and elegant surface that traditional paint cannot achieve. Encaustic painting was invented by the ancient Greeks and has continued on for thousands of years.
Why abstracts? Can non-realistic images embody an idea or feeling? I would argue that they can. Trained in realism it was all that I KNEW. And yet…while hiking in the forests and studying mushrooms, the mushrooms themselves taught me how to abstract them into stunning images for homes, healing centers, hotels, and retreat centers. I believe that the soul of each mushroom shines through each encaustic painting.
“The surface of “Polyamorous” is nothing short of extraordinary. It is like a rare stone.” Alex M. client
Turkey Tail: The Master Healer
Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor)
Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor) is a functional medicine mushroom known for building a strong immune system. Research also proves its strong anti-tumor qualities. Imagine meditating on this image in your healing space!
“The Tiger Awakens” and “Turkey at Work” encaustic wax on board. $4,400 each unframed.
Turkey tail grows in the wild in much of the world. The photo above is growing symbiotically with Oyster mushrooms on a log. It is also cultivated in facilities and extracted into powders and liquid extracts.
Why does art from the forest matter? Because it’s beautiful…AND it is necessary.
“Art isn’t just decorative anymore.
It’s part of the entire model of healthcare.”
— Dr. Lisa Harris
“When you are an artist, you are a healer.”
— Naomi Remen
Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor.) Archival photo print on museum quality paper (any size). Perfect for a healing center, doctor’s office, home, or hotel.
Contact us for a price based on your space.
What do you find in the FOREST?
How many people these days really search through forests? Forest of Enlightenment is a journey deep into the wild heart of nature with emphasis on fungi and the mycelial network hiding in lush forests. My work takes me deep into nature to observe the secret world living among the trees. My process begins by wandering off-trail into quiet and remote places with eyes on the ground. My close relationship with flora, fauna, and fungi through photography, mixed media, encaustics, and oil continues to expand.
My fascination with the philosophical and biological interconnectedness of the human world and nature is a driving force behind this work. My lifelong love of wandering in nature involves deep looking, meditating, and capturing the special intersection of subject and light that calls to be seen. When abstracted or realistically portrayed, mushrooms deliver healing, beauty, and art that is worthy of deep reflection.
How do we integrate the secrets of the forest?
By bringing it inside!
Shelf polypore (Fomitopsis pinecola). Droplets – or guttation – is a source of bioavailable compounds. Fomitopsis is used in research for its anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-viral properties.
“Drops of the Divine” photo above on museum quality paper, metal, or glass. Please contact us for a quote based on your space requirements.
“Rosy polypore” growing on a log in Winter Park, CO
Yum. Delicious in dishes and on walls.
“Oysters in Love,” photo on archival paper. Call for a quote based on size and material.
Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) grow wild but are also cultivated for culinary purposes. in the wild Oysters grow on hardwood trees such as beech and oak, but also on conifers.
Abstractions + Dreamy Realism
Mushrooms are magical no matter how you look at them.
“Shakti Rising” (Larch bolete/Suillus). Photo on archival paper printed to size.
“Cup of Life” (Clitocybe gibba). Photo on archival paper printed to size.
“Hawks Wing” (Sarcodon imbricatus). Photo on paper, metal, or glass.
An edible mushroom found throughout the world including the Colorado Rockies.
