The Cellar, Crawlspace, and Under the Sink

  A few years ago, I lived in a town house that had been built during the turn of the century and had caught on fire sometime in the forties.  The concrete foundation in the basement was cracked, the window was kicked in and patched with a Rembrant portrait, and the every square inch of wall space was tagged in spray paint.

  On days it rained, the water would literally spurt from the basement walls and many days it was more like living outside than in.
  It was kind  of like living in a Friedrich painting were nature and time were ravishing man's monuments.  In this space between feral and forgotten and my domestic efforts, small orange mushrooms began to sprout.
 

  I've always been fascinated by the mycological; fungi are a kingdom to themselves and are both magical and murderous.  They are here today and gone tomorrow, unpredictable, and seem to create an intimate grouping where ever they pop up.

   It's interesting to note that the part of the mushroom or fungi that we see is only the fruiting body, that is the part that spreads spores to create new mushrooms.  If you are interested in learning more about mycology I suggest visiting American Mushrooms or Tom Volk's website.

  These three pieces are created using a combination of paper I made from cotton linters mixed with assorted fibers (mostly daylily and iris leaves).  The center portion is made with water color canvas, acrylic paint, and technical pen.

  As always, thanks for taking the time to check out my latest work!  I'm always available anwser any questions or hear any comments at gracewillard(at)gmail(dot)com.