When the Mushrooms Grow from the Walls…

                                                                                        Some of my little creations. 

I’ve always been a bit chaotic and prone to giving into whatever random creative whims I desire. I’m also fascinated by the way that people would blend aesthetics with practicality in the past. With mass production comes terrible quality and fewer unique pieces that capture that aesthetic spirit I’m after: bringing the forest into my home.

There aren’t that many places that sell the sorts of things I’m after that are also aesthetically pleasing to me. There is a fine line between campy and ornate, gaudy and elegant. The one place that I know always has trinkets, gadgets, bits, and bobs with a forest vibe is Anthropologie. Unfortunately, despite the often hefty price tag, much of what I’ve bought from them in the past decade has steadily declined in quality. If it’s metal work, I’m cool with buying from them, but if it’s something I can make, then I’m going to and I’m going to do it better.

                                                       The first mushroom hook sculpture that took shape and looked decent.

And that’s how and why I decided to make the mushroom hooks. I' hadn’t sculpted much of anything in my life, but I’ve painted and drawn since I was a toddler. The trick was getting used to the medium. Each medium, whether it’s paint or color pencil or knitting or cooking, requires practice, patience, and a willingness to try after multiple failures. I’d seen other people use polymer clay, so I had a vague notion as to what I’d need. The clay, obviously, sculpting tools (which I already owned), hooks, aluminum foil, and some paint.

When you go to the store, you’re stuck with whatever options they have made, which is almost always an amanita muscaria and possibly another couple of variations. The beauty of making a thing yourself is that your not limited to making one or two variations ad infinitum. You get to experiment. You get to actually mimic the organic nature of mushrooms in the wild. And there are hundreds, if not thousands, of different mushrooms. You can make an amanita muscaria, but you can make them different shapes, sizes, and colors, because there are other variations than the red type.

                                    All the mushroom hooks that I made. Some are for my personal use, but I really loved making them.

So, that’s what I did. I sculpted and sculpted, trying new techniques, attempting to make different mushrooms that aren’t as well known but equally as beautiful. All of the hooks available in my shop were individually made over many hours, weeks, and months. I coated them in UV resin (an interesting experiment in and of itself) to hopefully prevent them from yellowing, damage to the paint, and hopefully protect them from shattering, should they fall. The frail bits may still break if thrown or dropped, but the resin should help make that less likely.

I hope that if you decide to buy one of my little creations, that they bring a little bit of wonder and wilderness into your home.