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 also the man behind the world’s blackest-black paint, and has earned the title of the ‘Robin Hood of Colour’ for making pigments and materials accessible to artists everywhere. He was absolutely the right guy to talk with me about the all important NIGREDO stage of alchemy. And it turned out we have a mutual friend! What a small world. I really enjoyed meeting and talking to Stuart, and I hope you enjoy the conversation too.

I invite you to check out more of Stuart’s fascinating projects on his website or follow him on Substack, on his page: The Diary of an Artist. Or even better, order some of his black paint and join the quality paint revolution.

Stuart’s art-share is the incredible painting The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio, painted in 1601. He was another artist that knew a thing or two about the color black.

For more goodies and updates on the on the oracle deck, etc. please visit my new LinkTree landing page and/or follow me on Instagram as I’ll be sharing more ways to use the cards, create the kickstarter, and bring more art your way! I ordered the maiden card deck last week! It was such a big deal to finally send it off to be published. This is just a one-off for now, but hopefully by the end of the month, I’ll have it in my hand. I’m one step closer to getting these cards into your hands too. (Thanks to all who have been supportive with their words and interest! It means a lot as this has been a slow journey of a project.)

Thanks again for celebrating 50 episodes with me. This is a milestone I’m proud of! And there are more to come!

Keep shining,

Allison

PS Here is a link to my late husband Vernon’s Google fonts, they are free to use if you haven’t already got them! He was a “Robin Hood of Type,” along with our good friend Dave Crossland, as mentioned in this episode. The other names listed on these fonts are type designers who have been part of the necessary updates since his death ten years ago. Its cool that they still have a successful life of their own after all this time.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit artandalchemylab.substack.com/subscribe