Artist creates incredible life-like embroidered mushrooms

By Elizabeth Hunter via SWNS

An artist creates incredible life-like embroidered mushrooms - which form part of a new fungus-themed exhibition.

Amanda Cobbett photographs the fungi on walks with her dog, before painstakingly embroidering life-size replicas of them in intricate detail.

Her stunning creations can take more than two weeks to complete and were born out of a fascination with the importance of mushrooms in the natural environment.

Amanda from Surrey works from real specimens - either by collecting mushrooms from the woods, or returning over the span of several days to take multiple reference photographs.

Now in a limited-time exhibition entitled Fungi Forms several of Amanda's works are on display at Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Gardens.

"Fungi was something I'd been interested in as a student, but I put it to one side," said Amanda.

"It wasn't until we moved to the Surrey hills 18 years ago that I picked it up again.

"We’re surrounded by beautiful nature, so when you’re getting out and discovering things – even by taking a dog walk – there’s just so much to see.

"Quite often, I can work from real specimens, and they’re changing all the time, so I’ll take lots of photographs of them.

"If I can’t take something from the forest – and I certainly don’t take things off trees or anything that isn’t in abundance – then I’ll take lots of photographs when I’m out walking.

"I’ll also go back and take a look at them and see how they’re changing.

"I get to know the pieces – I take lots of photographs and then choose the day that I think it was looking at its best or most interesting.

"It’s hard to say how long each piece takes - the process for each one is really different, and I try to change it up.

"I work on and off, so I’ll have one day of sewing, and then the next day, I might be making the stem of the fungi.

''That’s made with paper mache, so I’d make the base and let that dry and then come back to it two days later when it’s solid."

Each mushroom in the exhibit is one that Amanda has seen in her own travels around the Scottish Borders - including her personal favorite, the amanita muscaria, or fly agaric.

"Those pieces are part of a bigger collection which I’ve made for the Buccleuch Estate," said Amanda.

"There are about 20-25 pieces that will eventually go on display as a whole in his stately homes that are open to the public.

"We decided that I would make some embroidery based on what I could find during the time that I was there.

"It’s a collection of what I could find and reproduce into a collection of embroideries that have taken almost two years to complete.

"I did research into the pieces and how relevant they are to the Scottish landscape. It’s been a beautiful project, and it was such a gift for me to be able to do.

"I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to be able to be a part of it."

Amanda hopes that the exhibit at the Royal Botanic Gardens will encourage art-lovers and plant-lovers alike to appreciate the work - and go out into nature and spot the real thing.

"Mushrooms are the most underappreciated part of the natural environment," Amanda said.

"We know so little about them. I’m glad we’re not ignoring it anymore – there is so much more that’s now being researched about mushrooms, and to be a small part of that is just incredible.

"If people can come to the exhibition and enjoy the embroidery and the art, and then they can go out into nature and discover these things for themselves, then that’s a really good thing."

The exhibition will be on display in the Inverletih House Gallery inside the garden grounds, and will also feature mushroom-inspired pieces from the likes of Stella McCartney and Iris van Herpen.

Amy Porteous, Producer of Creative Programs at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh explained: “Fungi are integral to life on Earth as we know it.

"Yet, most of us are unaware of how much they touch our lives, from their role in creating countless everyday products to profoundly impacting the crops on which we rely and taking action as our ultimate recyclers.

“Fungi can be as ordinary as the breakfast mushroom and alien enough to trap microscopic worms in the soil.

"They have inspired artists down the centuries, from featuring in Roman frescoes to Baroque masterpieces and beyond.

"As we learn more about these incredible organisms, we realize their potential uses in everything from fashion to design and engineering are more than we could have ever imagined.

"As an art gallery within an international research institute, we believe it is important to celebrate the wonderful world of fungi through this eclectic exhibition of sculpture, sound, style, scents, illustrations, literature, and just the right helping of science.”

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