Bracket Tree Fungus
Wandering through the back-country of Muskoka, you will undoubtedly find “Bracket Tree Fungus”. It will almost always be on a standing dead tree or on a tree that has died and fallen over. I harvest the fungus and allow it to dry for a year (it dries as hard as wood). I sand out the imperfections and apply Gesso as a base for acrylic paint. Spar varnish seals the exterior and brings out the fantastic colours. Recently I performed wood burning on one and it turned out very cool.
Here is the Wikipedia overview:
Bracket fungi, or shelf fungi, are among the many groups of fungi that comprise the phylum Basidiomycota. Characteristically, they produce shelf- or bracket-shaped or occasionally circular fruiting bodies called conks that lie in a close planar grouping of separate or interconnected horizontal rows. Brackets can range from only a single row of a few caps, to dozens of rows of caps that can weigh several hundred pounds. They are mainly found on trees (living and dead) and coarse woody debris, and may resemble mushrooms. Some form annual fruiting bodies while others are perennial and grow larger year after year. Bracket fungi are typically tough and sturdy and produce their spores, called basidiospores, within the pores that typically make up the under-surface.
