The Maleny Printmakers were back at Mary Cairncross this year for another printmaking exhibition. Our theme this time was ‘fungi’. We all learnt a bit more about fungi, and the fungi of south-east Queensland in particular as we prepared for our ‘Amazing Fungi’ exhibition.

The exhibition was held from Saturday 15th July to Sunday 23rd July 2023, but it had been long time in the making. For a variety of reasons it was posponed a few times, but eventually it did happen and became our best selling exhibition at Mary Cairncross – something we were delighted about. People were out and about!

The exhibition was launched on the first Saturday with Megan Lee giving a welcoming speech and the rest of us enjoyed the nibbles and the lack of Covid restrictions . There was a celebratory mood in the air.

There were a variety of works too. Some printmakers prefer to restrict their work to one medium but a few of us tend to be more on the mixed media side of art.

I’d enjoyed making my works for this exhibition. The theme of fungi interested me, and I can be often found with camera in hand looking for fungi pics. It became even more interesting as I became aware of the variety of fungi in the area, their importance in the ecosystem and the huge growths of mycelium under the ground. My etching Fairy Ring references the mycelium and highlights the natural science side rather than the fantasy side of the fairy ring. The other two works were cyanotype on Magnani Pescia paper. It was a new paper for me – I’d bought it for etching, but I was pleased with the results with cyanotype and also that it was tough enough for the hand stitching on Golden Curtain Crust.

It is always a pleasure to exhibit at Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve.