Brighten the Corners with Mushrooms

A few weeks ago, I began to notice that peak mushroom season was fading away with the remains of summer. Those around me know that I'm a mushroom fanatic, and that my passion comes alive as soon as black trumpets begin to timidly reveal themselves through the forest duff come August. But it will be nearly a year before I'm once again filling a basket with fleshy, fungal fruits. So on a chilly, gray morning, I retrieved one of the Museum's mushroom paintings from storage and positioned it in the hallway corner. At least I can take some joy in brightening my indoor surroundings with mushroom art. 

What other purpose do these Lois Nestel paintings serve--beyond my own taste for workplace décor? As I wrote a few weeks ago, artistic depictions of fungi allow us to place the species within their environment. This could simply be a mushroom growing out from their preferred tree host. The mushroom's meaning is heightened by their connection with the surrounding plants, animals, or other fungi in the background. Artwork can convey just as much information to the viewer as a specimen paired with a well-crafted label. It's just another method of interpreting the natural world. 

You can find our Lois Nestel mushroom paintings on display when we reopen, or stay tuned for a virtual display that you can access at cablemuseum.org/virtual-displays/ when available.