Inside the Apothecary Emporium-A Peek-a-Boo Project

As stated in my last post I have had a long fascination of apothecary  but not in the traditional sense I described there but more of that of the Harry Potter stories those shoppes found on Diagon Alley-Slug and Jiggers Apothecary-although not mentioned often as compared to the other shops, it's definitely an exciting place to think about. It is where the Hogwarts students buy ingredients for potions class. I like to think of the weird and magical ingredients found there.  I like to image the twee boutiques, with their eclectic  collection of herbs bundles, unpredictable potions, intoxicating elixirs, cleaning crystals, oozing ointments, jars of jubilee, and other magical enchantments. These are the inspirations for this artwork.

Supplies:  GSLC Tiny Apothecary Bottles, GSLC Vintage Triptych Florentine, DecoArt One Step Crackle Finish, Glossy Accents Clear Dimensional  Medium, Alcohol Inks, Micro Clear Glass Beads, Halloween Stickers, Tim Holtz Curator Ephemera Pack, Tim Holtz Vintage Wallpaper Pack, Wooden Grain Pictorial Paper, Cosmic Shimmer Lava paste, Transparent Red Iron Oxide Paint, Nickel Azo Yellow Paint, Art Alchemy Metallique Hazelnut Paint, Small Plastic Palette Knife, Heat Tool, Tim Holtz-Scattered Straw, Salty Ocean, Bundled Sage  Distress Stains, Strips of Bookboard, Micro Screws, Awl Screwdriver, Folk Art Painted Textures Moss, Clamps, Hinges, Painters Tape, Chili Powder, Cinnamon, Crackle Texture Paste,  Interference Blue(Fine) Paint, Matte Gel Medium, Hairspray

1.  Gather Supplies

2.  Coat GSLC Tiny Apothecary Bottles with a Layer of DecoArt One Step Crackle Finish and  Glossy Accents Clear Dimensional  Medium.

3.  Sprinkle on Micro Clear Glass Beads.

4.  When Fully Dried Add Alcohol Inks Randomly.

5.  When Dried Again Carefully Remove Tiny Apothecary Bottles from Their Base.

6.  Use Tim Holtz Curator Ephemera Pack for Labels for the Bottles.

7.  Attach Using Glossy Accents Clear Dimensional  Medium as an Adhesive.

8.  Cover Back Portion of GSLC Vintage Triptych Florentine with Wooden Grain Pictorial Paper.

9.  Cover Inside Portion of GSLC Vintage Triptych Florentine with Tim Holtz Vintage Wallpapers.

10.                Coat Frame of GSLC Vintage Triptych Florentine with a Mixture of Cosmic Shimmer Lava paste, Transparent Red Iron Oxide Paint, Nickel Azo Yellow Paint, Art Alchemy Metallique Hazelnut Paint Spreading  Randomly with  a Small Plastic Palette Knife. Use this Same Mixture to Coat Small Strips of Bookboard.

11.                Cure with a Heat Tool.

12.                Splatter Tim Holtz Vintage Wallpapers with  Tim Holtz-Scattered Straw, Salty Ocean, Bundled Sage  Distress Stains.

13.                Make Small Shelves for Flaps of  GSLC Vintage Triptych Florentine.

14.                Screw Frame and Tiny Shelves into Place Using a Screwdriver and Microscrews.

15.                Add Halloween Stickers to Background of Shelves.

16.                Edge  GSLC Vintage Triptych Florentine with Folk Art Painted Textures Moss.

17.                Hold   GSLC Vintage Triptych Florentine Together with Clams and add Hinges with Microscrews and a Screwdriver.

18.                Use Painters Tape to Isolate Hinges.

19.                Make a Concoction of Chili Powder, Cinnamon, Crackle Texture Paste,  Transparent Red Iron Oxide Paint and Nickel Azo Yellow Paint. Spread on Hinges and Cure with Heat Tool.

20.                Add Highlight to GSLC Tiny Apothecary Bottles with Interference Blue(Fine) Paint.

21.                Use More Halloween Stickers To Decorate Back Portions of GSLC Vintage Triptych Florentine.

22.                Coat Entire Artwork with Hairspray of Matte Gel Medium.

 

Some Final Thoughts.

I found this poem, The Apothecary's Den, by Hybrid Doll intriguing:

In the heart of the woods

An aromatic hovel stood

desolate is vivid disarray.

A  hopeful asylum for ailing strays,

A flimsy curtain between life and death,

For souls hanging by abysmal thread.

 

Herbal Remedies, by Gothicghost95, explores the magical medicinal properties found in these sometime flamboyant flora sometimes pedestrian plants:

 

Lavender, Basil, Rosemary and more

happily spread you love forevermore.

The ancient battles of timely folklore;

Aloe Vera does not mind the gore.

 

Chamomile, Foxglove, and St. John's Wort too.

blithely bring relaxation to you.

The deadly might of Aconite is true,

just like the terminal poison of Rue.

 

Agrimony, Comfrey, and great Yarrow

hire the dire wounds of any fellow.

Demon Protection helps you to mellow

use dainty Mugwort's Flowers of yellow.

 

An Eye disorder or aliment we fight

with the healing herb of mighty Eyebright,

Profound melancholy, vertigo, fright

the very curative Feverfew shall smite.

 

A gift, immortality surely would,

if only majestic and noble Sage could

Absinthe infused with bizarre Wormwood

Careful! for far too much cannot be good.

 

To soothe burns with Poplar you must combine

jointly with Poppy and Henbane in time

Chives and Garlic, Oregano and Thyme

used in cooking is superbly sublime.

Echinacea, an awesome herb to trade

purifies blood and is never delayed

But Lobelia, Saffron and Nightshade

will only cause your life to slowly fade.

 

 

 

 

The Witching Hour--A Peek-a-Boo-Project

In Folklore, the witching hour or devil’s hour is the time of night when supernatural creatures are thought to be their most powerful, a time of magic and mischief. One of our favorite musicals is “Wicked” the untold story or the re-imagining of “The Wizard of Oz.”  More recently I’ve started following “Nocturne” a storytelling show that explores the night, the landscape of the unseen, and how thoughts, feelings and behaviors transform in the dark. These are the inspirations for this instillation.

 

Supplies:  Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-ATC Shrine - Time, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Trading Coin Covers Halloween, Metallic Green Acrylic Paints, Paintbrush, TH Distress Stain Crushed Olive, Allure Forest Foliage Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Weldbond, Photocopy of Witch, Glossy Accents, Skull Stamp, Black Permanent Ink Pad, Transparency Scrap, Scrap TH Abandoned Paper, Circle Template, Pen, Watercolors, Paper Clay, Metal Clamps, TH Clock Key, Screwdriver 

1.  Cover all pieces of Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-ATC Shrine - Time with a variety of green Metallic Paints. Do this quickly and randomly use a dry brush technique.

 
2.  Once dry, fill in any empty spaces with TH Crushed Olive Distress Stain.

3.  Working quickly before pieces dry, sprinkle with Allure Forest Foliage Embossing Powders.

4.  Cure with a Heat Tool.

5.  Assemble GSLC ATC Time Shrine and secure with Weldbond.

 

6.  Make a photocopy of a witch of your choosing. Decide what type of material you want to print it on.

7.  Cut and secure to inside of GSLC ATC Time Shrine using Glossy Accent as an adhesive. Once in gently coat photocopy with a thin layer of Glossy Accent.

 

8.  Use a skull stamp and black permanent ink to make a transparency to put behind clock face.

9.  Trace with a circle template and glue to a Scrap of TH Abandoned Paper using Weldbond.

 

10.                Take apart Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Trading Coin Covers Halloween.  Trimmed cat on fence so that I could use it inside the shrine.

11.                Paint coin covers with watercolors.

12.                Use a metallic green paint to paint the edges of coin covers.

13.                Use a bit of paper clay to make a ledge to secure cat on a fence piece inside the shrine. Securing with Weldbond.

14.                Paint with green paint and sprinkle with Allure Forest Foliage Embossing Powder and Set with a Heat Tool.

15.                Attach two Coin covers to clock face, one inside and one outside. Secure in place with metal clamps.

 

16.                Once dry add a TH Clock Key as a handle securing with a Screwdriver and adding a bit of Weldbond.

 Some Final Thoughts. I like the idea of magic and mischief cohabiting in the midnight hours and re-imaging long-held perspectives.  Wicked Quotes: “Everyone Deserves the Chance to Fly”

“I’ve heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn, we are led to those who help us grow the most if we let them, and we help them in return. Well, I don’t know if that is true. But I know I am today because I knew you.”

“The trouble with school is they always teach the wrong lesson. Believe me, I’ve been kicked out of enough to know. They want you to become less callow, less shallow, But I say ‘Why invite stress in? Stop studying strife and learn to live the unexamined life.’”

I have several favorite episodes of “Nocturne” among them being “I’m a Monster” a gay man journey into embracing his true self as he portrays a monster in haunted attractions, “Finding the Void” about a secret apartment hidden in the bowels of a giant mall, and “Blackfish” the story of Malcolm Saunders, a fishermen from Cornwall, on the southern tip of the UK. These a just a few of my most revisited episodes.