Tag Archives: mandragora

New Artwork and Music

4 Aug

Spent the night and all morning preparing new pieces of paper with coffee, wormwood tincture and fresh leaves from my datura plants. Now the paper is drying, then has to be pressed and then can be drawn on with ink. I am planning on a small series of inked sigils and perhaps one or two realistic datura plant drawings. Besides this, I yet have to prepare the paper for my next mandrake series and I also have a few new tinctures in the making. Meanwhile, here are my most recent ink drawings from past weeks (all sold and shipped):

While working with the datura I was blessed with new music by a lady, who creates audio-visual compositions inspired by the same plants that I grow and revere in my art. The project goes by the name CHTHONIA. I was given six tracks, to which I did not listen consciously, but rather had them running in the background. Yet there were moments, where I’d listen up and think, “well, this strangely harmonizes with how I perceive the plant’s character”. A very interesting experiment and endeavor, of which I hope we will soon hear more.

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Mandrake Family

11 Apr

Family
These three were once conjoined as a single root. Sadly after the winter I noticed the tissue at the top had become soft and started rotting away. I decided to dig them out and safe what was left. They’ve been drying for 3 weeks now and thus far looking good, still almost as fleshy as on the photo.

Mandragora officinarum plantlets

Small mandrake plants from a German seller, arrived today. I quickly unpacked and watered them. They currently reside in our veranda, where they have evening sun, and seem to be doing well thus far. The leaves keep growing. I will wait with repotting until they withdraw their foliage.

Mandragora Flowering

26 Feb

Mandrake Flowering

Vernal mandrake shooting forth plenty of flowers, in fact surpassing all previous years. It’s an utterly delightful sight! But still too early for bees or other pollinators. I may have to jump in…

This is my last of the vernal variant, all the others are autumn mandrakes, which flower in autumn and resort to an underground existence after christmas, usually showing no sign of life until the next fall. Even though I saw one of them is sprouting anew… I wonder if that one manages at last to actually flower at a time when the temps and light conditions are suitable.

Me and the mandrakes… an endless story to be continued.

Another photo of the plant in its current state of glory… those fresh leaves that look like salad (but are really very poisonous thanks to a variety of alkaloids) may soon extend to half a meter length.

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Btw. I’m working on Regina Amandrakina prints…