Mushroom art on - mushroom paper!! How neat is that? Storm made me mushroom paper, the same way you make paper from old egg cartons with water & a blender & dried on a screen (short form) but with mushrooms! It reminds me more of jerky than it does paper but it was more of a pleasant painting experience than I anticipated.
The surface was a but ruff and it took a long time to dry so water colours and gouache are out of the question, I didn't want to get it wet as it's also absorbent. Gesso to the rescue, just like a real canvas'I gently sketched and then filled in with white gesso. I intentionally kept the background unpainted to show off the paper. Once dried I painted with acrylic as I would normally on any canvas, it went on smooth (thanks to the lesson) red nicely and I framed it - now the glass will help to protect it.
It wasn't overly delicate, not like tissue paper or even average wet paper but the edges break easily. I left it ragged until ready to paint and stored 'the dry mushroom paper' in a big book to keep it flat until ready to use. I think if a few sheets of hemp paper were added to the main mushroom mixture it might make it even better! I'm excited to try more, Storm and a friend recently taught mushroom paper making & the class was a success. I'll have to wait now until the spring!
Below are a few step by step photos - I'm sure you could still make some, there's still mushrooms on trees that can be used.
Remember to be kind and only collect what you can use, need and do not hurt/disrupt the nature around you. Created to create & Be kind to nature.
The surface was a but ruff and it took a long time to dry so water colours and gouache are out of the question, I didn't want to get it wet as it's also absorbent. Gesso to the rescue, just like a real canvas'I gently sketched and then filled in with white gesso. I intentionally kept the background unpainted to show off the paper. Once dried I painted with acrylic as I would normally on any canvas, it went on smooth (thanks to the lesson) red nicely and I framed it - now the glass will help to protect it.
It wasn't overly delicate, not like tissue paper or even average wet paper but the edges break easily. I left it ragged until ready to paint and stored 'the dry mushroom paper' in a big book to keep it flat until ready to use. I think if a few sheets of hemp paper were added to the main mushroom mixture it might make it even better! I'm excited to try more, Storm and a friend recently taught mushroom paper making & the class was a success. I'll have to wait now until the spring!
Below are a few step by step photos - I'm sure you could still make some, there's still mushrooms on trees that can be used.
Remember to be kind and only collect what you can use, need and do not hurt/disrupt the nature around you. Created to create & Be kind to nature.
