a painting and an obsession

i've never been one to like mushrooms. oh, they're pretty enough, sure. but eat one? ugh. slimy. but then a weird thing happened. i watched a program devoted to fungi on some educational channel. and suddenly i wanted to eat them. it's very strange, but you know, they're very tasty sauted with butter and garlic.
and then i wanted to paint them, and so i did. they're even better to paint!

at the same time, i came across a picture of a dumbo octopus in national geographic. i really think they're a very adorable and cute creature. the ocean is full of such inhabitants. i've always been drawn to things that are so ugly they're cute.
so, onto researching my new subjects. for images a scroll through flickr would be my best shot. there are surprisingly few photos of the dumbo octopus, also known as Grimpoteuthis. they're a little deep in the ocean, places where we (homo sapien) don't get to a whole lot (which is a good thing, imho). i found around 12 or 13 on the whole. mushrooms are a little easier, there are entire groups devoted to this subject.

oh, and i like to work small (kinda obvious huh?). the above painting is 5" x 7".