Were I to compare my current artistic adventure to mountain climbing, yesterday I reached the place where I needed oxygen.
The part I think that is fueling my adoration of this craft is that it uses ordinary things that can be found all around me. Living things. Mundane bits of plants that I see every day. Oh I admire them, I notice them, heck, I take photos of them all the time! But putting them through this crazy process gives them the opportunity to reveal their inner aspects that otherwise we would never get to see. I am deeply attached to the idea of looking for the transcendent in the seemingly ordinary. It's the game of hide and seek I play with God.
Petunias have a public face that they cheerfully show to the world every day.... But this is what they look like when transformed Alchemically....
Surrounded by sage leaves, mint leaves and Smoke Tree blossoms.
One more:
This particular batch has changed me, perhaps forever. I feel like I could disappear into my laboratory and never come out until the Zombie Apocalypse. And when I did come out, I could bring the Zombies back to life and health by holding up just one of these wonders of nature like a talisman that even they could not destroy.
And that is another reason these experiments appeal to me so much... they ARE nature. But the mysterious, etherial, secret essences that only reveal themselves under pressure, heat, and transformative chemical processes. Much like we ourselves, when put through the rigors of existence on this planet, can either turn bitter and toxic, or release our exquisite colors and singular unique expressions into the alchemical soup of life.
(You are drawing a lot of highfalutin conclusions about throwing leaves and flowers into a pot with rusty horseshoes and pickle powder Cupcake. You might want to dial it back just a tad don't you think?)
Not today you perennially curmudgeonly punctuation.
Not today.
But I will cease the commentary and let the pictures speak for themselves.
Here's the whole batch...
And some close ups...
And finally, here's your Rorschach test for the day. What do YOU see?
Surrounded by sage leaves, mint leaves and Smoke Tree blossoms.
One more:
This particular batch has changed me, perhaps forever. I feel like I could disappear into my laboratory and never come out until the Zombie Apocalypse. And when I did come out, I could bring the Zombies back to life and health by holding up just one of these wonders of nature like a talisman that even they could not destroy.
And that is another reason these experiments appeal to me so much... they ARE nature. But the mysterious, etherial, secret essences that only reveal themselves under pressure, heat, and transformative chemical processes. Much like we ourselves, when put through the rigors of existence on this planet, can either turn bitter and toxic, or release our exquisite colors and singular unique expressions into the alchemical soup of life.
(You are drawing a lot of highfalutin conclusions about throwing leaves and flowers into a pot with rusty horseshoes and pickle powder Cupcake. You might want to dial it back just a tad don't you think?)
Not today you perennially curmudgeonly punctuation.
Not today.
But I will cease the commentary and let the pictures speak for themselves.
Here's the whole batch...
And some close ups...
And finally, here's your Rorschach test for the day. What do YOU see?