STORY BEHIND THE ART OF RONDA DICK
24th Annual International
American Society of Botanical Artists and Marin Art and Garden Center
Collection of Lichen and Mushroom
Pycnoporus cinnabarinus, Trametes versicolor, Phaeophyscia adiastola, Usnea hirta, Melanelia olivacea, Lepraria lobificans
Being a compulsive collector of things from nature, I have a very hard time NOT picking things up from the ground when walking anywhere. On longer walks or hikes I am always on the hunt for something “interesting” or I may challenge myself to only pick up specific colors, shapes, or sizes of plant matter. Once home, my treasures are displayed in vignettes around my house or go to my studio to be stored in containers and drawers by categories. (Yes, I enjoy sorting, also!)
A number of years ago I was interested in learning about lichen after I found out they were different from moss, which I had been calling them. I picked up the book Lichen of the North Woods by Joe Walewski and learned they actually are not plants, but an organism composed of fungi, algae and, sometimes, cyanobacteria. When introducing people to lichen, Walewski uses the following story, which is quite endearing:
“Freddy Fungus had a spacious home to himself and all the necessary life skills except cooking. Without food, he would soon fade away. Now, Alice Algae was a master cook who seemed to make meals from nothing more than air. Living alone, she tended to make much more than she could possibly eat. One day they met, and they immediately took a “lichen” to each other. They developed a relationship in which they lived symbiotically ever after.”
On camping trips to the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota, I took to hunting for lichen on our hikes and found it everywhere…on the ground, rocks and trees. Being miniature, lichen makes you look closely and when you do, you are so pleasantly surprised by the wonderful shapes and subtle color before you. It was easy to fall in love with this subject matter and use it as inspiration in a painting.
Lately, I have been using the material I have accumulated and composing them into “collections” to paint. Each collection incorporates objects that are connected or linked together in some way such as same species, characteristics of color/shape, or even of a specific time in order to document a trip or memory.
For this painting, I was attracted to the many interesting branches and wood pieces I had collected that had lichen and mushrooms attached. The challenge was whittling down the number of branches and playing with the arrangement until there was a pleasing composition, where the color and shapes (positive and negative) were balanced and interesting. It was so enjoyable painting from life for this painting, where I was able to touch, turn and really look at these branches, mushrooms, and lichen, over and over again.
To me, these seemingly dead objects are as beautiful as a blooming flower and I NEVER get tired of looking at them. By painting them, I feel I am giving them another opportunity to live.
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