A UNIVERSITY has commissioned an specialist artist to paint mushrooms.
The Institute of Medical Sciences at University of Aberdeen asked Bournemouth-based Peter Thwaites to produce three paintings of microfungi.
The commission will be used to advertise the new mycology centre sponsored by the Wellcome Trust Strategic Award for Medical Mycology and Fungal Immunology.
Mr Thwaites has made a living out of painting watercolour landscapes, seascapes along with wildflowers, berries and other plants said it was a special challenge despite being a land agent and chartered surveyor by profession.
He said: "This has proved a unique and fascinating challenge to one more accustomed to seeking fruit bodies on the forest floor than studying intricate microscopic organisms through a lens."
The three paintings are of Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus and Cryptococcus neoformans.
Mr Thwaites has used painting and drawing to record the natural world around him.
He is self-taught, having tsken it up after being encouraged by one of the founding members of the Society of Wildlife Artists.
Professor Neil Gow of the university, who commissioned the work, said: "These pictures were donated to be used to further the work being carried out by the Wellcome Trust Strategic Award in Medical Mycology and Fungal Immunology."
The painter has spent his life researching Candida and is considered to be one of the leading experts in this field, according to the annual international conferences of the British Mycological Society held at various universities.
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