Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Herbert.
Amanda, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I definitely see things differently than most people and I have a compulsion to go over the top with most aspects of my life. When glitter is an option make sure it is also UV reactive.
I was raised in a strict religious home and diversity was frowned upon by my family. That always bothered me becuase i felt like it was stupid to hate other people for stupid reasons. My friends tend to use seasoning, so they weren’t allowed over. I would often spend most days reading the encyclopedia collection or practice piano at my grandma’s house. My other grandma that I would stay with, was much older, so I would end up caretaking for her, sometimes when she had energy we would do art together.
Grandma “Buffy” as I called her owned a ceramics studio and was a very talented oil painter in her younger years. We made a habit of watching Bob Ross paint every afternoon and occasionally we would paint along with him too.
I had many art projects that I did in school shown at city hall and the Hult Center in Eugene, but I had to chose between art and music in middle school. I ended up learning every instrument after school in my band director’s office to avoid the other kids at waiting for the bus. She kept all the books in there, so I would just borrow a new instrument everyday and try to see how far I would play through the method book.
I continued on to Oregon State Univerisity and graduated with my Bachelor’s of Arts in Music.
Through economic hard times and trying to survive this capitalist hellscape, I stopped playing music for many years. I dabbled with crafts here and there, I built a home and had many upper management careers.
I have also struggled with my mental health and feeling like I was lost. I watched Bob Ross for 3 years, every night, until I fell asleep. For 3 years, I listened to his happy trees and it gave me hope. He said that I could do this too. My mom bought me his painting set with DVD and you know what, my first painting as an adult was actually pretty ok. I painted a few more over the next few years and then Covid-19 freed up a lot of time for activities.
We has canceled all our streaming services about a year before lockdown and didn’t bother renewing them. I watched quite a bit of YouTube tutorials and found many artists living their best life on YouTube. I started painting along with Bob and after a few weeks, I was just as fast of a painter as him. My friend who owns a bakery needed an artist for her gallery and asked me to fill her entire 90′ long wall with art. I accepted and busted out 40 oil paintings in about 4 months. I sold quite a few too!
I have also always been scared, yet fascinated by mushrooms. Mushrooms, like Bob saved my life. I started learning about mushrooms and nature (only to be able to find more mushrooms due to the symbiotic relationships) Later, I became a citizen mycologist and nature enthusiast. I love dressing up in costumes so I built a cos play mushroom hat modeled after Amanita muscaria. I wore it to the Yachats Mushroom Festival and I fell in love with everything the mushroom community showed me. People asked to take pictures with me and I felt like such a celebrity. I developed the Amandanita Muscaria character first, however it was a scientific nickname that was confusing and only funny to the hard-core mushroom nerds. I rebranded to Mandy Cap Mushroom and it has really been a great improvement.
Currently, Mandy Cap is oil painting while telling nature and history stories, hosting grow your own mushrooms on recycled cardboard demonstrations, and she is now a published author with her new Activity Book about space and mushrooms.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I have lit my path with every bridge I have burned. I have wanted and even tried to give up so many times and I keep getting pulled back to the mission. I must keep creating my art and sharing my love.
Can someone help me? I am tired of challenge mode.
I bought my trailer as an escape from a domestic violence situation with my 401k that I cashed out. I moved to Florence to be closer to the mushrooms. I have been taken advantage of and assaulted by men who claimed that they loved me. I have built many opportunities for myself and I keep showing up with a full face of makeup. I just got my transient business license so I can perform on the streets legally. I rarely make much money playing my ukulele or painting. Everyone says they love my work though…
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I dress up like a mushroom and I paint oil landscapes while describing the history and ecology of the area I am painting. I really love nightscapes like aurora borealis or milky way and I love to incorporate them into my skies. I also love to explain the science of the different colors of chemical reactions of the protons in Earth’s atmosphere as they are pulled in by our magnetic field. Did you know oxygen burns red or green based on altitude, while nitrogen burns blue, pink or purple?
While I am describing the chemical reaction, I start painting it in the sky with white paint over my translucent colors on top of the black canvas. This creates the magic of the aurora borealis to the painting and viewer.
I love that people always leave my shows saying that they learned a lot about science, mushrooms, painting and local history. They leave feeling curious and I like that.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
My mom has been keeping me alive for 40 years. Thanks mom. Without her continued love and help with the bills, I wouldn’t be here. She helped me through college and she is helping me land back on the coast while I build this crazy mushroom business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/mandycapmushroom
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mandycapmushroom
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amandanita.muscaria
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@mandycapmushroom
