Hi friends, I hope you are having a good summer.

Earlier this year I had the chance to visit the Fungarium at Kew. I’m doing a little bit of a personal/experimental project inspired by the hidden realms of the forest and the forest understory, like fungi and lichens. It’s very much a process at the moment, no solid outcomes yet. I’m enjoying being creative and experimenting with different approaches. I’ll share some photos later in this post of some of my process so far.

The Fungarium at Kew is a fascinating place. It’s one of the largest and oldest fungariums in the world, home to 1.25 million specimens of fungi from around the world. It’s where important research is undertaken, like studying the relationship between fungi and plants. Take a look at the fungarium website, it’s really interesting. I met a lovely lady, Amy, who works at the fungarium. She helped me find some of the specimens I was interested in seeing. Amy is also a jeweller, which I was so excited about! Take a look at her beautiful jewels - https://junnojewellery.com. I’m in love with the fungi jewellery she is currently creating, have a look at her lovely instagram page, I love watching her reels - @junnojewellery.

Rows and rows of magical green boxes, each containing different fungi specimens.

I wish I’d had more time to look in more boxes! It was like opening treasure.

Many of the specimens were very old- the note attached to this reads “Schizophyllum Commune - on trunk of dead palm tree - Botanic gardens Sydney. Collector A Grant. Date 5/5/1898”

The textures of fungi are really beautiful. Some are almost coral-like, some with a geometric structure, and others with delicate gills. I’d brought my loupe with me, seeing all the details under magnification was fascinating.

Lately I’ve been experimenting with ways to create fungi-inspired textures in a jewellery piece. I have more of an art approach to making, rather than a jeweller approach. I’ve been carving into wax but started out with print-making to visualise textures. Then I tried imprinting textures onto different materials. I’ve made some samples in silver. I’m unsure where it’s going, I’m thinking to give them some form, and create clusters maybe. I find the creative process both exciting and a little frustrating, but trust it every time. I’ve always believed that creativity is a process, and not necessarily an outcome - either way this release of creative energy is a good thing. It feeds my brain and soul! Here are some of the things I’ve been making, if my ideas develop some more I will be sure to share them.