Story behind the art of Gillian Rice

Curious Allies: Mutualism in Fungi, Parasites, and Carnivores

The Fifth New York Botanical Garden Triennial

Nigel's Treasure

Amanita muscaria

In late October 2022, my brother Nigel sent me photos of mushrooms. He was excited by the red one with white “spots” and asked me if I could paint it. He had never asked me to paint anything before, so I was delighted, and keen to try.

These mushrooms were growing in northern France, where Nigel was on holiday in his camper van. His favorite places to park are always in woods, forests, and out of the way places where he has more chance of finding wildlife on long walks. It’s astonishing that having hiked miles all over Europe, he had never come across Amanita muscaria before. He discovered the mushrooms in a grassy meadow close to woodland. They grew singly and in clusters among damp autumn leaves, dried-up wildflowers, grass, and shrubby undergrowth. Of the autumn leaves, I could identify beech and oak, but others also had fallen about the mushrooms.

Just like Nigel, I fell in love with these beautiful ornaments of the autumn detritus. I live in Arizona’s very dry low desert, and I don’t see many mushrooms – they do grow in my vegetable garden (most likely when I overwater) and occasionally around an old olive tree stump. But none are as pretty as the fairytale Amanita muscaria. I had been searching for a subject for the Curious Allies exhibition and now I had one.

I decided to compose my painting with one specimen as the hero. Strands of grass, some green, some pale and dead, curl around the mushroom’s stipe or stalk. When I researched the species, I learned that the white wart-like odd-shaped “spots” are remnants of a white veil of tissue that first encloses the young mushroom. As it grows, the spots are less prominent and are sometimes washed off by rain. Nigel’s specimen did not have many spots and I wanted to give the impression of the dampness.

I chose a light colored vellum because I needed to be able to paint the pale parts of the mushroom without using white paint. For paints, I used a new brand that I had used in my sketchbook and wanted to try for a special work: Beam Paints. These are handcrafted by Anong Beam’s small indigenous company in M’Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, Canada. She learned how to collect pigment with her father in the La Cloche Mountains near their home. Her “paintstones” are non-toxic and come in plastic-free packaging. Made with Manitoulin maple syrup; tree sap; hand-gathered, washed, and sifted stone; lightfast pigments; and gum Arabic, the paints have wonderful Ojibwe names. Two of my favorite paints are Dwaagi Aadzibuk’aande (fall poplar yellow) and Miinun Azhbik’oong (blueberry mountain). The paintstones arrive wrapped in beeswax cloth smelling of the forest. I can’t resist the delicious scent and keep the cloth!

I don’t mix many colors before applying paint but build up layers gradually using a stippling drybrush technique. For the red cap, I added some Holbein vermilion hue.

The species Amanita muscaria has value as an ally of woodland species. It is a type of fungus that forms a symbiosis with a plant. This symbiosis is called a mycorrhiza or fungus-root. Mycorrhizae are essential for tree growth. By associating underground with many trees, including birch, cedar, oak, and pine, Amanita muscaria fungi help transfer nutrients into the trees’ roots that they could not otherwise retrieve from the soil. In return, fungi obtain from the roots the sugars they need to grow.

This mushroom’s common name of fly agaric originates in a traditional use of insecticide. Sprinkling pieces of the cap into saucers of milk would attract and kill flies. The species has long been used in shamanic ceremonies especially in Asia, but I was more interested in its role as a fairy tale toadstool. I always fall in love with my subjects, otherwise I cannot paint them. This mushroom conjures up warm, joyful emotions in me. I hope when people view my art, they will feel happy and recall pleasant childhood memories.

I named this painting “Nigel’s treasure” because I realized it was a special countryside find for him. Thousands of miles separate us, and I miss him. If only I could have shared in his moment of discovery when he spied the mushrooms!

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Read more about this artist's work:26th Annual