Art and Alchemy Lab

Marty Grabstein is the beloved voice of the anxious, purpley-pinkcartoon dog Courage, from Courage the Cowardly Dog. Today we talk about why that show meant so much to so many of us — and became a gateway into becoming horror fans. Marty himself has long been a horror aficionado, both in literature and film. We dig into the alchemical archetype of the VILE FIGURA or despicable face —that Stephen K...

My friend Tanya Taylor Rubinstein was a guest on my second-ever podcast episode, where we talked about family constellations and ancestral reparation — I’ll link that one in the notes. She’s the first guest to come back for a second interview! Since we first talked, I’ve consulted her several times for family constellation work and writing guidance. Here is the link for that episode. I’d originall...

In this episode, psychic healing practitioner, Lauren Wyatt (also known as the Black Belt Mystic) shares her journey into animal communication, the spiritual significance of animals, and how alchemy and mental discernment play roles in personal transformation. Discover how animals serve as messengers and guides in our lives. You can find more about Lauren’s gifts and/or hire her to work with your...

In this episode, which was recorded in early June, 2026, I talk with art historian and author Bridget Quinn, who's spent her career spotlighting the women written out of history. She's the author of She Votes: How U.S. Women Won Suffrage, and What Happened Next , the award-winning Broad Strokes: 15 Women Who Made Art and Made History (in That Order) , and her latest, Portrait of a Woman: Art, Riva...

Hi all. My podcast schedule is all mixed up. So if you are reading this and we have recorded an episode together, please have patience with me. It’s not for lack of amazing guests…its just that life sometimes throws curveballs. There is a reason I used the word “curve”: everything cycles around, just not always in cahoots with my personal planner (or plan.) I’m going to preview a segment of a very...

Hello again! First things first! Thank you to all who purchased a painting from the studio clearance last week. Because of you, I was able to reach my goal of $5000 in a little over a week. I had to push myself out of my comfort zone and become a potentially-annoying salesperson, but one thing that helped me with that growth was the fact that in the background, I was editing this very episode. The...

“You create your thoughts, your thoughts create your intentions, and your intentions create your reality.”—Dr. Wayne Dyer Today’s guest is someone whose voice you have most likely heard, even if you didn’t know it, especially if you like anime shows. Shes voiced characters in Full-metal Alchemist, One Piece, Dragon Ball, and My Hero Academia — and that’s just the start of a very long list. You may...

Well well well, didn’t I plan this well? Happy 07/07 , my friends—aka July 7th . On that note, here is a little throwback art from my 49th birthday. A tin-can of whoopass: 7x7. What a beautiful and oddly-peaceful summer day it is here in southern California as I publish this episode, knowing there could not be a more numerically perfect time to share this conversation with the lovely artist/writer...

Happy Solstice! This is the time of year with the most light or the most dark, depending on the hemisphere. It’s a perfect day to release this episode on the blackening stage of alchemy. For this very special 50th episode of Art and Alchemy Lab, my esteemed guest is Stuart Semple, a multidisciplinary British artist whose work spans painting, performance, internet art, and installation, and he’s al...

When I discovered this episode’s erudite guest Sophie Cournoyer’s writing about creativity and the occult — I was immediately drawn in. Sophie is the artist behind Aethereal Moods , where she explores the occult dimensions of creativity. In her studio practice she paints surreal yet deeply symbolic portraits. In our conversation we get into the yoga of articulation — the work of finding language f...

Welcome back the the laboratory! My guest this episode is Kirstin Wilson, calling in all the way from Australia. Kirstin is a business empowerment coach who works with women entrepreneurs through intuitive guidance and personal growth strategies, helping them align with who they actually are rather than who they think they should be. In this conversation she shares how tools like Human Design and...

The Architecture of Poetry This episode is a really fun one for me. I only knew my guest Eva Yaa Asantewaa from a handful of interactions on Substack. I always enjoyed the things she wrote or restacked, and I noticed her generous enthusiasm for amplifying other voices. Since Eva does so many things — writer, editor, dance critic, novelist, Tarot guide, animist spirit worker — I wasn’t sure how to...

This episode’s guest is “Curator or Awesomeness,” Scott Erikson (aka Scott the Painter on his popular instagram account.) Scott is an artist, author, and performance speaker, who is passionate about creating a visual vocabulary for spiritual contemplation. He’s the writer and performer of two one-man shows, the author of 5 books, and the illustrator of countless “visual prayers.” We talk about the...

Today’s guest is Claudia Bonnie — a painter based in southwest England, whose artwork conjures mythical heroines, saints, goddesses, and epic animal icons. Her paintings live in that delicious space between mysticism and myth, where superstition is sacred, relics can heal, and a painting can work like medicine. With a background in education and therapy, Claudia is endlessly drawn to what’s happen...

Today’s esteemed guest is Cyril Coetzee, an internationally esteemed lecturer in Art History & Esoteric Science and a renowned portrait artist whose work spans continents and collections. He’s also regarded as the favorite portrait artist of Nelson Mandela (which we talk about a bit in this episode as well.) I discovered Cyril and his ability to teach about mystical creativity through a series of...

My guest, Matthew Ashdown, is joining me from Vancouver Island in beautiful British Columbia, though he spent much of his early life growing up in Great Britain — a landscape rich with the tradition of Arthurian legend and Tolkien’s magical worlds — and as you’ll hear, those stories have left a lasting impression on the way he thinks and works. I know Matthew through our shared work in the Gene Ke...

Today’s guest has spent her life turning pain into prose — and teaching others to do the same. I am really proud of this episode…I loved chatting with Erika, and I feel honored and inspired to keep championing survivor’s voices. Erika’s voice is especially rich, out loud and on the page. Erika Schickel is a memoirist, teacher, and storyteller whose second book, The Big Hurt , published in 2021 is...

My guest is Katja Swan, a personal embodiment coach in Germany. Katja and I met a few years ago through a Gene Keys course, and when I first heard her origin story, I was fascinated and curious to find out more. We are about the same age, both teenagers during the Cold War, but I’d never met anyone who had grown up in East Germany. Katja and her family fled the GDR when she was just 17, four month...

Hi everyone. I wanted to get this out before the Lunar New Year on Feb 17th, which brings in the Fire Horse of the Chinese zodiac wheel. For the past 12 years, Shannon Nicole, founder of Wild Heart Pilgrimage is my knowledgable and passionate guest. For the past 12 years, Shannon has used Chinese astrology as a transformative self-discovery tool, finding it to be an invaluable guide for understand...

Welcome, February! Today is Imbolc (the seasonal marker between winter and spring) and the moon is full in the FIRE sign of Leo (That’s MY personal moon, btw!) Coming up later this month is the Lunar New Year, which introduces the elemental animal of the FIRE HORSE. Lots of hot, igniting energy in the collective field—I’m sure you have been feeling it too. Above is a snippet my interview with Shan...

“Grief is the the growing up of the heart that bursts boundaries like an old skin or a finished life.” —adrienne maree brown Today, we’re joined by Paul Bond, an award-winning oil painter whose work exists in that liminal space between dreaming and reality. Drawing from the Latin American tradition of Magic Realism, Paul creates what he calls “fairy tales for adults”—canvases where symbolic and fa...

“Jupiter has no leisure to attend to little things.” — Ovid This week, I’m joined by my friend David Beatty—actor, filmmaker, playwright, and someone who embodies what the alchemists called the Jupiterian spirit: expansive, generous, and unafraid to work across multiple creative realms. We sat down to talk about David’s creative ( spiritual) process and explore the concept of JUPITER in alchemy—th...

I met this week’s guest at a cartoon convention a few months ago—we were set up at neighboring booths, as we are with the same agency, shout out to Celeb Works. I have been wanting to interview a voice over actor on the circuit, so I was so pleased she agreed to join me today! Janie Haddad Tompkins is a brilliant actress and voice artist you’ve heard countless times—she’s the voice of Margaret on...

Today I’m talking with illustrator Ed Hose, calling in from the charming town of Brunswick, Georgia. We’ll explore her creative process, the joyful intention that drives her work, and then we’ll dive into the deep end, literally. We’ll be talking about the element of water and whether it might have a magical consciousness of its own. From there, we wander through bathtub break-ins, the remarkable...

Today’s guest is someone I first met over 30 years ago when we were students at the California Institute of the Arts. I’ve invited Jill on to share the fascinating and meandering path from professional student to professional professor, and give some insights to the archetype of Divine Androgyne, representing the Union of opposites in the alchemical Magnum Opus (or Great Work.) Jillian St. Jacques...