Story behind the art of Albina P. Herron

Curious Allies: Mutualism in Fungi, Parasites, and Carnivores

The Fifth New York Botanical Garden Triennial

Caesar's Mushroom

Amanita caesarea

While I know this Amanita species is the fruiting body of a larger organism, I was almost convinced that some otherworldly gnome or elf lived under its brilliant red cap. That red cap is one of the basics of fairy tales and folklore, often seen in illustrations of fairy folk, and I couldn't get this image out of my head. I loved how saturated the red was against the cool neutrals of the leaf litter. I decided to paint it in transparent watercolor and to pay particular attention to the rich abundance of leaf litter and twigs, which fungi feed upon in their specialized role in our environment.

I painted the twigs and leaves primarily with blues and browns — cobalt and ultramarine for the blues, and burnt sienna and burnt umber for the browns. I added some of the other colors like reds, yellows, and oranges in very small amounts in the background. The leaf litter was challenging! I had a photo and piles of assorted leaf litter to work from, to try and give depth and texture to the scene. I used masking fluid in some areas when working on the skeletal framework of the leaves. I slowly added multiple layers to build up the shadows, to show the depth of the dead leaves, twigs, and nut shells/seeds. I painted the mushroom last, with very pale washes of red, gently building up the saturation with different red pigments, and carefully saving the highlights.

This painting took me seven months to complete. In the middle of it, I was hospitalized with COVID-19, so I lost a bit of time. I told the doctors that they couldn’t let me die until I finished the painting, because I was already several months into it. They promised me I wouldn’t die, and I would finish it. During the months of recovery afterward, I was only able to paint for limited amounts of time. As well, two kittens joined the household, who delighted in 'assisting' me with the scattering of the leaf litter, as well as climbing over my shoulders to watch me paint, occasionally trying to snag the brush I was using.



Painting leaf litter with skeletonized leaves and fragments of partly decayed vegetation really brought home to me just how interrelated all the life around us is. The mushrooms we see are transitory and beautiful, the fruiting body of a larger organism that exists mostly unseen, acting to recycle nutrients from fallen leaves and other detritus and providing for future generations of life in all its many forms.

Next Story

Back to List

Read more about this artist's work: 25th Annual