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Alchemizing

 I first met Rosie and Olivia when I journied to California for our Color of Woman graduation in 2015. Rosie - coming from New Zealand -booked our stay in a lovely lodge on the Russian River! 

In 2025, Rosie is coming to the states again, and will connect with SiStars along the way too co-facilitate classes in our respective states, and in Oregon, Olivia and I will be her co-hosts! It's crazy to think it's been a decade since we meet (& 4 years since I offered a painting class in person.)

In the Still Room - 1st Apothecary 

For our theme, Rosie suggested we offer Apothecary, a process of 'alchemizing our access to inner knowing, using creativity as the path and vessel.'  We will set out to explore how each of us gains access to this inner knowing, and uses it to transform old stories into healing elixirs.

Early this week, Olivia and I met at the lovely Milieu Gallery at Bridgeport, where many of her amazing paintings are on display, and discussed possibilities for teaching there. 

Olivia • Sepha • Uma • Nadya • Jan  (MECA 2019)
Olivia, Rosie and I have taken Apothecary with our teacher Shiloh, and a couple of years ago, I joined friends Linda Allen, Cindy Jacobs and trish o'malley in their Apothecary offering, 'Wise Women Walk the Walk!' 

As we meet both in person and virtually to prepare for our offering, I began a new Juju journal to contain some of the process, details and alchemical  Magïc.

Apothecary of Alchemy
 Journal covers are always fun to create (remember doing this in school?) -  used brown paper, then paint, and stencils for the vessels .... I love the simmer of metallic paint and sparkles! 

  • Composition book
  • brown paper for cover 
  • Golden Fluid acrylics
  • Stencils
  • Glue
  • Sparkle and Magic 🪄 

In some Apothecary classes, we followed journal inquiries from Jena, including collage, crafting canoptic vessels and a universal remedy, the bezoar. Linda, trish and Cindy  brought journal prompts of their own to Wise Women.

Canoptic jars
I'll likely also craft prompt cards before class.  These will be specific to Apothecary, as the steps are a bit different than those used when painting a face. As we move closer to class time, we'll decide which of us will present each step. 
Are you called to join our alchemical journey in April? 
Stay tuned for details!

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