How I made my shrooms!

Dec 22, 20202 min read

I've always loved the structure, colour and the mystery of schroom, mushrooms, fungi! And I've even worked in a mushroom room before, check out my #Whatgardeningtaughtme blog post to found out more about that story!

It was my first time experiencing the English Autumn, and I must say it's my favourite season! The trees started to lose their leaves, the ground started to become muddy and moist, the little mushrooms started to grow along the tree stumps. A whole world started to form, and I just felt I had to capture it in some way. And so the little clay mushrooms started to take shape.

(PS: the little butterfly /moth - was made my partner, Sean-Michael. His a PE teacher...we'll just excuse him shall we!)

I've never had the chance to work with proper clay and a kiln! And I would love to - so if you have any recommendations, please pop me a message! I opted for an air dry clay, I have used it before, and really enjoyed it.

I used a normal cutting board and baking paper - this will prevent the clay from sticking to your board. A normal bread knife and if you have clay shaping tools, great! I used a spoon to shape it more, but the clay is quite malleable.

Using a little skewer or sosatie stick, I made a hole through the top of the mushroom to the base. And then I left them to dry for about 3 days, they dry overnight, but I want them to be quite solid, before painting a layer of white paint over them. I used a white acrylic paint, try not to use water based paints, as this will moisten the clay, and you might end up losing your shroom's shape.

Once they were been painted and left to dry - the fun begins. I wanted my mushrooms to stand out, and most mushrooms that I saw in the woods were brown, yellow or white, so I wanted to bring in some warm colours, using the primary colours red, yellow and white. A lovely mustard yellow, salmon pink or dusty pink and of course a bright red!

I added speckles and fine lines under the shroom heads, just for some fun details. Once they were completely dried, I had to decide to varnish or not to varnish! This was a tricky decision as I love the matte look of the paint, but the shine would look so great on a #christmas tree with the lights! So I opted for a glaze, using the Windsor & Newton glazing medium. It was my first time using it, it wasn't as sticky or clumpy as some other brands that I've used before. And it dried clear and transparent!