It’s never too late to follow a dream or pursue a passion, as proven by Haydenville artist Madge Evers, whose latest collection of mushroom spore prints, “The New Herbarium,” is now on display at Salmon Falls Gallery in Shelburne Falls.

Evers said she has always been interested in art, particularly photography. She studied photography in college and dreamed of the fine arts world. In the ’80s she lived in New York and worked as a photographers assistant.

“The photographers I worked with were so strong and had such chutzpah and I just didn’t have the chutzpah,” Evers said. 

After a 25 year career as a teacher, Evers began to pursue art again, beginning with playing with the mushrooms she planned to feed her family for dinner. 

“When the mushrooms I cultivated fruited, before eating them and feeding them to my family I made a print,” Evers said. “For some reason the print that I made just totally blew my mind. It was kind of sculptural, it has texture so I decided to keep experimenting and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.” 

Mushroom spore prints are relatively easy to make, Evers said. She takes a piece of paper and places various plant’s shes collected on it. She then puts a layer of mushroom on top and leaves it for eight to 12 hours. The mushrooms release their spores and leave behind a silhouette of the plants below. 

The process is similar to cyanotype photography, a camera-less technique that involves laying an object on a piece of paper and submerging it in a solution that reacts to ultraviolet light and creates a silhouette. 

“The New Herbarium” series that’s on display in Shelburne Falls began in 2019, and was inspired by Emily Dickinson’s herbarium.

“I came across Emily Dickinson’s herbarium that she created when she was a teenager at Mount Holyoke,” Evers said.

An herbarium is a collection of dried plants that are cataloged and organized by genus and species for biodiversity, ecological and evolutionary studies. Collecting plants and studying their characteristics was one of the few ways Victorian women, like Dickinson, were welcomed into the scientific world. 

Dickinson’s herbarium included over 400 specimens pressed into 66 pages. 

“I realized that a lot of plants Emily Dickinson kept in her herbarium were the same plants that I would see in my garden or when I’m walking around and I said I could make an herbarium but I could do it with mushroom spores,” Evers said. 

“The New Herbarium” collection includes roughly 20 prints made of plants collected from all over. Evers said she collected specimens at Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum, in her own garden, and even in Ireland, while she was working as an artist in residence at Cill Rialaig Arts Centre in Kerry.

“Wherever I go I collect plants so I can make an image,” Evers said.

Evers also maintains a garden that provides plenty of specimens, including the essential mushrooms. 

“For me gardening has been an incredible journey of understanding the cyclical nature of life and the healing nature of plants,” she said.

Evers said she hopes her art will inspire others to consider their role in the ecosystem, and how humans should coexist with nature rather than domineer it. 

In addition to making spore prints, Evers makes cyanotype prints, leads workshops, and is writing a book on the technique. More information about her art and classes can be found on her website: madgeevers.com.

“The New Herbarium” will be on display in Sherburne Falls until Oct. 28. 

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.