Mushrooms have sparked all sorts of creative works, leading to some fantastic art depicting mushrooms, and in some cases using mushrooms as part of the craft. Artists love to play around with the cool shapes, colors, and textures that mushrooms offer.

Mushroom Photography

Mushrooms are fun to photograph, due to their intricate details and variety of forms. They can also be challenging to capture when they grow in dark and/or hard-to-reach places--especially when your photography setup is minimal (to make room for carrying your collecting gear!).

Photographers love to capture mushrooms from different points of view:

• Fruiting in habitat: Beauty shots, specimen studies, and quick snaps of mushrooms in forests, fields, and lawns show them off in their natural habitat. Browse our Mushroom Photo Gallery for some examples.

• Macro and microscopic photos: Close-ups that highlight the tiny details of mushroom caps, textures, spores and structures. We occasionally post examples on this website, such as in our free FFSC Online Learning programs, and you can browse the Web for thousands more!

• Life cycle changes: Some people document how mushrooms change through their life cycles, and/or how patches change across seasons. Check out this Time Lapsed Laetiporous article in our News section for an example. If you have an interesting life cycle series to share with us, let us know!

Mushroom-Themed Art and Crafts

If you're looking at this website, you might already have a few of these in your closet or cupboard or on your walls!

• Crafts: Some of us depect our favorite mushrooms in pottery and tiles, glass, clothing and jewelry, gift cards and stickers, wall hangings and more.

• Paintings: Artists paint mushrooms, depicting them in the wild or reimagined in abstract ways.

• Sculptures: Some talented folks craft mushrooms in 3D, using clay, wood, glass, or metal.

Explore the works of local artisans in the vendor areas of the Santa Cruz Fungus Fair for some examples.

Mushroom-Based Pigments

Besides looking cool in artwork, mushrooms are also a wonderful source of natural pigments for creating art.

• Eco-Friendly Dyes: Mushroom dyes are a green alternative to synthetic ones, perfect for eco-conscious creators.

• Unique Color Palettes: Different kinds of mushrooms create a range of colors, from earthy browns to bright reds and yellows.

• Textile Techniques: Artists use various dyeing methods, like immersion or tie-dyeing, to create unique patterns and effects on fabrics.

Browse our Arts menu for links to more information and some tips on how to get started with with mushroom dyes. Or visit the Craft Room at our annual Santa Cruz Fungus Fair and volunteers will show you how! (Or, if you already have experience with this art form, you can become a Fair volunteer and help others learn, too!)