“Mycelial Mind” © 2023 D. Yael Bernhard
Anything can be a subject for art. I once heard the word “poet” defined as “someone who lives the life of a poet and writes about it.” Similarly, a painter is someone who lives the life of an artist, and expresses it in paint. I was 13 years old when I fell in love with painting, and after 50 years of dabbling with a brush, I see almost everything through a painterly lens.
Like many artists, I portray what I wish to celebrate or consecrate, transform or transcend. Whatever is on the front burner in my life is a likely subject. For the past five years I’ve been foraging wild mushrooms – my latest passion that takes me into the woods near my home. When I found my first hedgehog mushroom, pictured above, it was an occasion to rejoice! Also known as “Sweet Tooth,” “Wood Urchin,” and other common names, Hydnum repandum are considered choice edible mushrooms, delicious when sautéed in butter. They’re unique in that they’re a toothed polypore, with hundreds of fringe-like projections on the spore-bearing undersurface of the cap. Most cap-and-stem mushrooms have gills. With few lookalikes, the Hedgehog is relatively easy to identify.
But my delight in discovering this humble specimen at the base of a tree extended far beyond one mushroom. Hedgehogs grow toward the end of the foraging season in the fall. After months of tromping through leaves and stepping over roots, I was keenly aware of the mycelium under my feet – for this living underground mesh of fungal roots is everywhere, breaking down rocks into soil, exchanging minerals and water with trees for plant sugars, and providing a communication network for the entire forest. In consuming the fruiting flesh of this fungus, I felt as if I were consuming the tree with which it had partnered, the soil that was home to its mycelium, and the rocks, rainwater, and air of the forest. In fact, I was eating a fungal expression of the entire ecosystem. I imagined the fine white lace of the mycelium growing into my flesh. An image of this intermingling came to mind in the shape of a tall rectangle – a narrow column of figure and fungus growing together, lit up with life.
The challenge here was to bring the mushroom into harmonious visual relation with the figure. By crossing the hands, I figured out a way to make them into a sort of pedestal for a trophy. To keep the composition organic, I made the shape of the mushroom itself asymmetrical and irregular. I did not want the structure to be too tight.
The viscous quality of oil paint was an absolute must for this painting. But the water-based oils I use are not capable of articulating fine detail such as thin white lines. So I ended up scratching the mycelium into the paint with a razor blade. It worked.
The original painting of “Mycelial Mind” measures 18” high, and is for sale. Please inquire if you’re interested. It’s also on exhibit right now along with 14 other paintings of mine at the Phoenicia Healing Arts Center. If you’re local, check it out.
Foraging season will soon begin here in the Catskills. I’ll be out there!
A good week to all –
D Yael Bernhard
children's books • fine art • illustration
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