HELENE SCHALKWIJK-BARENSEN has spent many years collecting mushrooms in western Canada, especially near her cabin at Sandy Lake, Alberta. In the process, she has come across thousands of different species. Helene also has been painting the fungi where she finds them for almost 40 years. She says, "When I spotted a mushroom new to me, I sat down and painted it in its own environment, always life size. When the painting was finished I collected a few of the mushrooms in different stages of development, and used them back at home to record further details in my sketchbook and to prepare dried specimens to send to several academic contacts who used them in their research."