PODCAST · education
Art and Alchemy Lab
by Turning Lead Into Gold
Art and Alchemy Lab explores transformation through creativity. Host Allison Adams talks with Modern Alchemists - artists, healers, and visionaries who have learned to turn lead into creative gold." artandalchemylab.substack.com
Episodes
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Ep. 60 Taking Flight: The Alchemy of Cross-Pollination
I met Wendy Nicole Davis, a flight attendant, motivational speaker, and writer, on a regional flight last spring. So it was a spontaneous invitation that sparked this conversation. In this episode, Wendy shares how she left an abusive relationship, rebuilt her life, and found purpose in helping...
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Ep.58 True Grit: The Alchemy of Irritation (Version II)
Hi, all. This is an update. I’m reloading this podcast with audio AND visual options. I upload a faulty version: the voices were out of sync in the video. But good news, if you haven’t listened yet, you get to hear the fresh one! And if aleady did, you have a second chance. Either way, please...
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Ep.58 True Grit: The Alchemy of Irritation
In this episode of Art and Alchemy Lab, I sit down with Susan Hayden, memoirist, poet, and the creator of Library Girl, a monthly words-and-music literary event at the Ruskin Group Theatre in Santa Monica, now entering its 18th year. Susan first started the series as a way to find meaning again...
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Ep. 57 Voice Actor Marty Grabstein on Courage and Horror
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…
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Ep. 56 Tanya Taylor Rubinstein: Art as Altar
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…
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Ep. 54 Lauren Kay Wyatt on Pet Communication
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...
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Ep. 55 Art Historian Bridget Quinn on Divine Sisterhood
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…
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Podcast Preview: Introducing Mathew (and Marty) Grabstein
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,...
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Ep.53 Lucy Norris on Manifesting
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…
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Ep. 52 Brina Palencia: Acting with Intention
“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…
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Ep. 51 Alison Dale on Perfection and the Number 7
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...
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Ep. 50 Stuart Semple on the Color Black
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...
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Ep. 49 Aethereal Moods on Magical Realism
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…
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Ep. 48 Kirstin Wilson: Self-Awareness through Human Design
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…
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Ep. 47 Eva Yaa Asantewaa: How to Dwell in Possibility
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…
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Ep. 46 Artist Scott Erikson on Visual Vocabulary
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...
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Ep. 45 British Painter Claudia Bonney on Seeing the Unseen
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...
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Ep. 44 Cyril Coetzee on the Birds of Alchemy
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…
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Ep. 43 Matthew Ashdown on Arthurian Legend
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...
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Ep. 42 Erika Schickel: Writing Into the Dark
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...
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Ep. 41 Katja Schwann on Growing Up in East Germany
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…
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Ep. 40 The Year of the Wildfire Horse
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...
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🔥 Alchemical Word of the Week 🔥
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…
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Ep.39 Painter Paul Bond on Grief and Love
“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…
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Ep. 38 David Beatty on Expansion and Connection
“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…
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Ep. 37 Janie Haddad Tompkins on Acting and Authenticity
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…
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Ep.36 Illustrator Ed Hose on the Element of Water
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…
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Ep 35 Jill St. Jacques on the Rebis
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,...
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Ep. 34 Mariana Tirsa and the Albedo Stage
Mariana Tirsa is a singer-songwriter, artist, and somatic wellness coach based between Oaxaca, Mexico and Asheville, NC. Her bilingual work blends heritage, poetry, and modern folk, while her somatic coaching helps creatives transform self-doubt into confident, embodied visions. For many years…
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Ep. 33 Elijah Parker on the Gene Keys
Hi everyone! If you’ve been listening for a while, you may have heard me mention the Gene Keys a few times. As a Gene Keys guide myself, this system has been a profound pathway in my own life and—and today, I’m thrilled to finally dive deep with someone who knows it far better than I do. Our…
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Ep.32 Art Therapist Sibel Ozer on Creative Listening
Thank you for joining me here in the Art and Alchemy Lab. My guest is Sibel Ozer—a psychotherapist, art-therapist, and spiritual seeker who just returned from an incredible pilgrimage to Turkey. I only recently discovered Sibel’s work, and I was so captivated by her writing that I reached out and...
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Ep. 31 🤎 Lisa M. Berman on the Preservation of Beauty
Today, we have an extraordinary guest whose career reads like a love letter to wearable art and its power to transform culture. Lisa M. Berman is the Founding Director of WAM—The Wearable Art Museum—in New York City. For over 25 years, she’s been a curator, advocate, and cultural connector,...
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Ep.30 Michele Moscone on Persephone's Mythic Journey
Welcome to an episode outside our regular format. Michele Moscone, who happens to be a three-time collector of my artwork, reached out to ask if she could talk about these pieces with me on this podcast. I rarely get an opportunity for feedback from collectors, let alone in this format. I think…
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My conversation with an official National Treasure
Ofelia Esparza is a renowned altarista (altar maker) and cultural preservationist, particularly known for her work with Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) traditions. She’s a National Heritage Fellow and has dedicated her life to preserving and teaching the traditional art of creating ofrendas...
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Ep 28: The Art of Multiplication
Today I’m excited to introduce you to Georgena Senior, a Philadelphia-based artist whose work literally stopped me in my tracks. When I saw her recent ceramic pieces paired with a notebook page of sketches, I was so moved that I immediately reached out—and I’m thrilled she agreed to join us…
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Ep 27: Artist David Allen Burns Reimagines the Tarot
Welcome to the first episode of Season 2. This marks a new calendar cycle for me of getting guests on the calendar and editing these for (hopefully) the highest enjoyment of my listeners. I know… I keep saying I’m going to go to YouTube with these, but truthfully, I’m still patting myself on the...
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Ep 26 Cosmic Alchemy: Eclipse Season
Astrologer Lindsay Garrett on the Significance of Planetary Cycles Welcome back…and Happy FULL MOON, yet again. Funny, how they are so frequent! This episode is put out just in time for the September eclipses, so we can understand a bit more of the cycles we are experiencing together. (Bonus: if...
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Ep. 25 The Element of Air: Art as Autobiography
"The measure of intelligence is the ability to change." — Albert Einstein I was so happy to finally sit down with my dear friend Julia Rogers, a career artist who I've been trying to get on this podcast since day one. Julia called in from her brand new studio in Shropshire, UK, where she's…
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Dee Dee's Laboratory, September
Hi…in the spirit of mid-life integration, I’m sharing this here, as I do from time to time. I mean…why can’t Dee Dee have her own magical laboratory? My agency asks us to do mini promos when a show is coming up, so this is mine. And here are some of my paintings for the show so far…You can order...
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My Interview on BBC SOUL MUSIC
Today marks the ninth lap we’ve made around this sun since the man of our family moved on. Perhaps because he died the same year as David Bowie (and several other ahead-of-their-time icons), it’s easy to imagine him returning to the planet they first fell from. Vernon, the quintessential Aquarius...
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Ep. 24 The Alchemy of Hope
Hello, friends new and old and anywhere in between. My esteemed guest this episode is Ryane Nicole Granados, a LA-based writer and educator, and the author of the international award–winning novel The Aves. We’ll dig into the craft and writing, of simultaneously raising a family, of wildly...
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Ep. 23 BREATH: The Elixer of Life
“He lives most life whoever breathes most air. “ Elizabeth Barrett Browning Hollywood hair and makeup artist, Saida Staudenmaier identifies as a multi-hyphenate (artist, mother, philanthropist, and social advocate). In this conversation, Saida and Allison contemplate the thing that should come…
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Ep. 22 Costuming and Community in New Orleans
Hailey Fynaardt, a vibrant resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, has fully embraced the rich creativity and festive spirit of Parade Culture and community—an aspect of the city that I now realize is far more complex and fascinating than I initially understood. I invited Hailey to join us as an...
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Ep. 21 Remembering the Philosopher's Stone
Meet Jeudi, “The Vintage-Voiced Chanteuse” and intersectional artist who transforms family stories into timeless performance art. Born into a large Latin family of raconteurs in San Diego, she grew up listening to tales of triumph and resilience while pumping foot pedals on the family player…
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Ep. 20 Alchemy of Longing: The Heroine's Journey
My guest this episode is artist and mythicist, Tammy Wampler, hailing from Kentucky (which I learned is not only the heart of bluegrass music, but also the homeland of the fastest horses.) One of Tammy’s published works is the oracle deck and guidebook, The Maidens of the Wheel. In this...
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Ep. 18: Constriction and Expansion
Mandy Thompson is a multi-media artist, social advocate/ally, and journaling coach, who brought a wealth of diverse and practical tools to the conversation, mostly in the realm of journalling practice, which is what I asked her to speak on. Her lived experience and enthusiastic clarity around the...
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Ep. 17 Aesthetic Beauty and the Masks We Wear
It’s still June, which is Pride Month. I’m happy to bring that point back to the surface in the middle of a wild month in the national Un-reality Show currently being broadcast. That said, I will always be an advocate for my LGBTQ+ friends, anytime of year. There is a segment of this conversation...
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Ep. 16 Solving Mysteries through Portraiture
“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come. If we fix on the old, we get stuck. When we hang onto any form, we are in danger of putrefaction.” —Joseph Campbell My guest for this...
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Ep. 15 Rachael Cerrotti on Inherited Memory
“If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.” —George Bernard Shaw In this episode, guest Rachael Cerrotti shares her experiences as a “storytelling alchemist’ and inherited memory collector, which seem to be the unexpected themes that keep unfolding through her...
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Ep. 14 Disability and the Alchemy of Grace
Allison’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. “I do not at all understand the mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.” —Anne Lamott I am honored to...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Art and Alchemy Lab explores transformation through creativity. Host Allison Adams talks with Modern Alchemists - artists, healers, and visionaries who have learned to turn lead into creative gold."
artandalchemylab.substack.com
HOSTED BY
Turning Lead Into Gold
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How many episodes does Art and Alchemy Lab have?
Art and Alchemy Lab currently has 62 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Art and Alchemy Lab about?
Art and Alchemy Lab explores transformation through creativity. Host Allison Adams talks with Modern Alchemists - artists, healers, and visionaries who have learned to turn lead into creative gold." artandalchemylab.substack.com
How often does Art and Alchemy Lab release new episodes?
Art and Alchemy Lab has 62 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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You can listen to Art and Alchemy Lab on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Art and Alchemy Lab?
Art and Alchemy Lab is created and hosted by Turning Lead Into Gold.
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