Botmaskop is a mountain range behind our house with a beautiful pine and eucalyptus forest. I often go there for my run. These photo’s were taken as I went to forage (yes my run had a lot of pitstops!) for charcoal, fungi and clay that I could potentially use to make pigments for paint. Just the process of finding these beautiful places to photograph was already a sensory pleasure.

Back at the studio I stored my finds and decided to try and make a dye-bath using the fungi that I foraged. Below I will show the process. I look forward and can’t wait to share the rest of the process.

My collection after my run with Charlie the Viszla (my running partner) in the photo.

Below is a short video showing how I boil the chopped mushrooms in water in order to get it’s pigment. I still need to get hold of certain chemicals before I can continue the process and make a lake pigment.

I used a Phellinus gilvus (common name: Golden bracket). Here is some information I found:

Phellinus gilvus

As well as a Pycnoporus sanguineus (common name: Orange polypore or blood-red bracket):

Pycnoporus sanguineus
The first stages of making pigment from 🍄’s

To be continued…

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