Story behind the art of Theresa Ream

Curious Allies: Mutualism in Fungi, Parasites, and Carnivores

The Fifth New York Botanical Garden Triennial

Turkey Tails Galore

Trametes versicolor, Evernia prunastri, Hylocomium splendens

I always find solace in hiking in the Pacific northwest woods. Alone, it is calming and an ideal time for meditation. Joined by family, it is a satisfying way to connect, share discoveries, and catch up with each other. 

My son and daughter-in-law live in North Bend, an easy drive from my home in Seattle, and one of our preferred hiking spots is the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River. We know it well, yet it never fails to offer surprising finds. I gravitate toward the lower plants and organisms and am usually looking down.  Tramping through the snow, I’ve had large pieces of lungwort-covered bark fall at my feet – a later painting project. In the spring and summer, mushroom foraging is a precursor to some delicious dinners.

Sometimes, though, one doesn’t have to venture very far to find a treasure. Last spring, while visiting my family, I found this gem: a branch over six feet long, covered with a world of lichens, mosses, and mushrooms. Of course, the crown jewel was this cluster of turkey tails, Trametes versicolor. Tempting though it might have been to paint the entire branch, I selected the central section with the cluster and some lichens and mosses for background.

Turkey tails are a favorite of mine. These bracket fungi are very common throughout North America and can be found much of the year in the Pacific northwest. Although their primary growing season runs from May to December, I’ve found them year-round. Trametes versicolor lives within decaying wood as a whitish network of cells known as mycelium. The species is a saprophyte, which means that it can obtain nutrients by decomposing the dead matter. 

When it is ready to reproduce, the mushrooms – the fruiting bodies of the species – emerge from the log. These mushrooms grow in groups, rows, or clusters on decaying logs and stumps of hardwoods, or in wounds of still living trees. They develop large, overlapping or even tiered shapes, with concentrically zoned colors, usually gray, shades of brown, and buff, but can also show yellow, bluish, reddish, black, white, and even green coloring from a coating of algae.

In China and Japan, extracts of these mushrooms have long been considered to have beneficial medicinal properties. Scientists continue to investigate possible immune-boosting and anticancer properties of Trametes versicolor, but much work remains to be done.

Regarding my composition, this turkey tail subject was easy to position on paper – it defined itself and presented a balance best created by nature. I paint primarily with a drybrush technique but do lay down an initial light wash of color in some areas, such as the bark and background for the lichens and mosses. For this piece, I relied on my trusty nos. 1, 0, and 000 brushes for the detail work. I seek out subjects that will afford me the opportunity for this detail – my favorite part of any composition. Capturing the white in the mushrooms was a challenge here. I was able to paint around those areas but did use some diluted gouache on occasion. 

There are pieces that you can’t wait to start, and enjoy every hour spent creating them on paper. Then you feel a bit sad when you finally complete them. This was such a piece for me.

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