WordPress

I now post all of my new blogs over at WordPress. I was using both of these sites, but have found it easier to stick to just one.

Please visit my blog there: http://alandcalledjohnalee.wordpress.com/

1863 Perfume Oil

"You know, a heart can be broken, but it still keeps a-beating just the same."

~ Ninny Threadgoode ~

My latest perfume creation is one of my most complicated and intense to date. Not for the faint of heart.

 

1863 was a tremendously difficult year in the United States. Our country was in the middle of a terrible Civil War and would continue to be for two more years. It was also the year in which our President, Abraham Lincoln, proclaimed a date of national Thanksgiving in the month of November. Those two facts seem so counterintuitive side by side, and yet they are and will remain etched in our history.

Many of the photographs and ephemera that remain from that era tell brutal truths about the ways of life and death in those harsh days. There is absolutely no doubt that 1863 was ripe with hardship and strife, but somewhere in there also lies many simple truths, ordinary days and feasts with family and friends.

My mind often wanders into a land of daydreams that writes stories for people in pictures, borders on synesthetic mania and "sees" scent and/or color in memories. The faces in old photographs are more than just nameless lost souls. They lived, they loved, they laughed and cried, they probably meandered about this planet with more mundane thoughts than they did great ones. In those days, like today, many people in love were ripped apart by war, some were reunited, weddings, births, deaths and togetherness.

1863 perfume oil starts off with delicious cranberry sauce followed by smoked vanilla, deciduous woods, mystery and musk.

Oh My Darlin' & 1863 will be released for purchase on Etsy and my website this week!

Oh My Darlin' Perfume Oil

I've always had a soft spot for poor Clementine. Like me, she had giant feet and so her demise in the water due to a sliver in her unnaturally large foot has always haunted me. The silly old folk ballad is one that I frequently find repeating in my head for no reason and if you know the melody you know the viral nature of it.

 

I tend to really think about words and lyrics and because of that I have always had a mental picture of Clementine that is probably greatly different than intended by Percy Montrose (if indeed he was the writer of this parodic melody). The Clementine of my mind has always been beautiful with long wavy copper tresses. She was a woman in a mining camp of 1849 that would've been a little dusty, a little wild, but nevertheless a lady - and dare I say a sexy one at that.

 

Oh My Darlin' perfume oil has been a long time process and was finally created during a week when I could not budge the song from my mind.

 

Sweet clementines (what else?) and steamy griddle cakes with notes of fresh cut wood entwined with a base of velvety vanilla and sandalwood with just a touch of smoke. Sensual, rich and complex.

I'll post pictures of the finished product sometime this week or next. In the meantime, the label design is up there.

 

www.johnagibsonbowman.com

www.hootsgallery.etsy.com

 

 

 

Hazel Fern Perfume Oils

Hazel Fern Perfume Oil
9ml Roll On Bottles

We've been working for a long time on creating a line of perfume oils for the Hazel Fern Fragrances line and they are finally here. We currently have five available fragrances in 9ml glass roll on bottles. All of the perfume oils are blended in a base of sweet almond oil which soaks right into your skin.
Four of the fragrances are some of our most popular sellers in soap, wax melts and candles. Lime Berry, Courtesan, Bedchamber and Full Moon are all available for purchase here for $10.00 plus shipping.



She wrings her hands at the iron gate, the silk handkerchief she clutches still sodden with the scent of him. Salty tears plunge into the softened moss and dirt below while the softly falling rain awakens the pungent aroma of white jasmine and dew soaked hyacinths merging with funeral flowers.

There is a fifth fragrance that is making its debut as a perfume oil. We've been working on this blend for quite a while and are happy to announce the birth of Good Mourning.  

 

Good Mourning is evocative of an Edwardian spring morning at a cemetery. Rain and white flowers dance near lavender and moss, the lingering amber of aftershave. Despite the name and description, Good Mourning is not a heavy cloak of scent, rather it is a delicate balance of notes suitable for day or night.

 

We will be adding more perfume oils throughout the next few months and will have them at all of our upcoming festivals and shows as well as on our website and in the Etsy shoppe. Please check back for more additions to this new line. Please contact us with any suggestions as well!

www.johnagibsonbowman.com

www.hootsgallery.etsy.com

A Grave Affair

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

~ George Santayana ~

In the spring of 2005 I was taking an art history course at BGSU as part of my degree requirement. It was American art before the Civil War and I wasn't exceptionally enthusiastic about it because I was in a phase of obsession with Artemisia Gentileschi and the Italian Baroque. Early America was just going to be a thorn in my side. Or so I thought.

As it turns out I had a wonderful professor, Dr. Jeffrey Schrader, who made the class interesting and enjoyable and my pal E was there to learn with me. Art history, while fascinating to me in general, can be really dry and tedious in a lecture hall. This wasn't the case in Dr. Schrader's class that semester. An interesting non-studio art class with a good friend taking notes next to me was a rare thing in my college experience and it's fair to say that this particular class changed many things for me.

Grave of Timothy Lindall. Burying Point, Salem, MA. Photo copyright Johna Gibson Bowman

One of the slides in a lesson was the gravestone of Timothy Lindall who is interred at Old Burying Point, Salem, Massachusetts. The suspected carver of this particular stone is William Mumford. The carving is breathtakingly detailed, the lettering is pristine and the stone itself is in phenomenal condition for something 300+ years old that endures the weather of the east coast. There is also a fabulous representation of the transition from the Julian to Gregorian calendar. The Lindall gravestone, like so many others belonging to our ancestors, is both a piece of art and a lesson in history.

 



Lindall graves at Burying Point Cemetery, Salem, MA. Photo copyright Johna Gibson Bowman

There are many places in which you can read about Lindall's grave and the early American stonecutters. I wrote my term paper about them and maybe I'll publish that one of these days, but that was that slide that changed the way I thought about art and history and how they commingle. I've always been drawn to cemeteries and gravestones, but thought they would only be a part of my genealogical interests and not a part of my art and other writing.

 

One of my other passions is genealogy and my enthusiasm for art, sepulchral sculpture, cemeteries and the death practices of early Americans has become a way for me to bridge those interests. Unfortunately, it isn't always easy to make public an interest in these subjects. I've been called names by people who think my work is disturbing or even sacrilegious. I've also been attacked by a person who sent me scathing and grammatically horrifying emails for using a word figuratively - never mind that my usage of the word is correct. Things like that used to bother me, but I believe that everyone - good & bad - should be remembered. If enduring a little crap from the narrow-minded and ignorant has to come with trying to help do that, I'm cool with that.

 

I have a lot of photos to go through from trips I've taken to cemeteries. I'll post them on my website as I get to them.

 

Meanwhile, the Higher Intuitions Oracle Deck that Kristy Robinett and I have created is about a month from release and a there is a very good price on Amazon.com. I also have several new paintings that I'm working on along with all of the Hazel Fern Soap and Candles products. There will be many new fragrances released including Lord of the Manor, Blue Moon (not the beer!), Clarity - Higher Intuitions scent, a line of coffee house scents in sturdy ceramic cups and new handcrafted hot process soaps.

 

 

 





Website Updates, Mailing Lists and News

I've been working a lot on my website lately and decided to have my site designer, Ethereal Designs, spruce things up a little to make the site better looking and more user friendly. I've got a new header, new buttons and a cleaner layout.

There is also a place for you to sign up for my mailing list. I will be sending out specials, coupon codes, festival and show dates and signing dates and locations for the Higher Intuitions Oracle. All of my holiday specials will go to my mailing list first!

In the coming weeks and months I will be blogging more and more about my artwork, candles, melts and soaps.

Visit my website at www.johnagibsonbowman.com. Thank you!




Snow Day Coffee Mug Design

10 oz. Snow Day Mug

A Day In An Old Churchyard

If you've followed my work at all you know that I have a selection of cemetery photography & art that I've done. I've gotten a lot of flack for this and to be honest, I didn't really publicise these works until the last couple of years. I think cemeteries are beautiful, peaceful places to remember and reflect. An open minded trip to a cemetery can be a great history lesson.

I wrote my art history term paper about gravestones. It seems to some like a fairly dry and bleak subject but it's truly fascinating. Afterall, we still memorialize our loved ones by choosing a lovely resting place and marking it with engraved stone.

There will be more posts in the future about this topic with my art, photographs and observations.

For now I've posted three of my newest photographs which are available as prints and ceramic tiles.

Facebook Pages

If you're on Facebook, check out the Higher Intuitions page and Johna's art page and Kristy's page.

I post new art, specials and sales and there is a lot of fun information to keep you up to date on the release of the oracle and what Kristy and Johna are up to. Signing dates and places will be posted at these places as well.

Amazon!

Higher Intuitions Oracle is on Amazon for pre-order. There is an $8+ savings if you purchase this way.

Here are pictures of the oracle set:

Higher Intuitions Release Date

I just saw on the Schiffer Books website that the Higher Intuitions Oracle is scheduled to be released in March of 2013 and it has a page on their website.

Below are a few of the images from the oracle deck. There are 44 cards and a book and it looks like you can pre-order it from the Schiffer website it you add it to your shopping cart. I will check into that and let you know.

2012 in a nutshell.

It's been several months since my last post here and there is good reason for that.

I haven't had time.

OK, so that might seem like a crappy excuse, but it's true.

In December 2011 I had a baby which was the most amazing thing and has made 2012 the best year of my life.

Then I had to get ready for my second season at Michigan Renaissance Festival in Holly, Michigan (near Flint) and the inaugural season of BlackRock Medieval Fest in Augusta, Michigan (near Kalamazoo). I highly recommend visiting both of these festivals if you are able and not just because of my presence. There are so many wonderful artisans and vendors, shows and jousts. Food is plentiful at both locations as well. BlackRock will run for 4 weeks starting in July 2013 and MRF for 7 weeks starting at the end of August. More details on those later.

We also began selling our candle and melt line at Just For You Resale Shoppe in Johna's hometown of Grand Rapids, Ohio.

Making the product for these festivals and the business in general takes a LOT of work and time. Currently, there are two of us that do this. Jason, my husband, takes care of the custom sublimation side of things. I paint & draw, formulate new candle and soap fragrances and work on some of my publishing projects.

The Higher Intuitions Oracle Deck will be released in the spring of 2013 through Schiffer Publishing. Kristy Robinett wrote the book and I illustrated all of the 44 oracle cards. It was quite a project to undertake while pregnant and still working a full time day job, but I finished the illustrations on time and we are all very excited for the release.

We have a few Holiday Specials on our website, so go check them out. You can get 3 of our 8oz. Jelly Jar Candles for $18 (originally $21), 6 of our 3oz clamshell wax melts for $20 (originally $24) or 3 of the 8.5"x11" fine art prints for $30 (originally $42). Shipping and tax are extra, unfortunately, but these are a great savings!

 We are currently working on holiday orders, creating new merchandise and fragrances and getting ready for our baby to turn one (already?!).

New Soap, Wax Melts and Candles

We've been getting ready for the upcoming festival season and have added many new fragrances to our line of candles and wax melts. I will try to come up with a master list to post here, but they are currently being added to the website.

I still really need to get photos taken of the products. Hopefully I can do that in the next couple of weeks.

Some of the new soaps include a new Patchouli, Lavender and Frost Berry. These three are all vegan and palm free.

We also have a VERY LIMITED amount of Avocado Oatmeal Scrub Soap which is very lightly scented with a blend of essential oils. This soap is incredibly gritty and scrubby with ground and whole oatmeal to ensure that any oil, dirt or grease is removed from your hands. This would be a perfect choice for a garage, workshop, craft studio or any place in which you're bound to get your hands dirty. Avocado and olive oils help to keep your freshly scrubbed hands lightly moisturized. This is also vegan and palm free.

Pumpkin Butter was our #1 seller in our wax products last year and we've added into a nice, seasonal soap for this coming Michigan Renaissance Festival. We have some curing at the moment and it smells wonderful.

More will be coming soon!

Black Rock Medieval Summerfest

Starting in July you will be able to come see The Art of Johna Gibson Bowman at Black Rock Medieval Summerfest in Augusta, Michigan.

The festival runs the weekends of July 14 & 15, 21 & 22 (my birthday) and 28 & 29. We'll be there for all three weekends and hope to see you there.

I'm Back

This blog is about two months overdue and I'm writing it on a tablet with one finger and the thumb of my non-dominant hand.

After the Renaissance Festival ended in October I worked on the remaining illustrations for the oracle to meet my December 1 deadline. The estimated release of the deck is Fall of 2012.

Then I had a baby which is the best thing that has ever happened to me and is why this blog is being written with one hand...


Stay tuned!

Higher Intuitions

My friend, Kristy Robinett, and I have been working on a special project for a few years now and this past February we found out that it's going to be published.

The Higher Intuitions Oracle Deck will be released sometime in Spring of 2012. This is extremely exciting for me (and I think Kristy too). It will be the biggest published project that I've ever been a part of.

There is a LOT of work involved in illustrating an oracle deck though. I sort of went into this thinking that all the images would come easily, that I could crank them out one after another and that they would all be perfect the first time.

Not...so...much.

I'm thankful for a deadline that is still a few months away. I've re-done cards, had artist's block, gotten pregnant, bought a Renaissance Festival shoppe, sacrificed time with my family and friends and have rendered myself completely unavailable in several capacities. At this point the deck is well on it's way to 3/4 complete, which sounds like a lot, but that means I still have quite a few cards left to complete.

The Oracle will be a deck of 44 cards with a book.

I've decided to share some of the Oracle images here. Several are available as prints, ceramic tile art, scent lockets, mouse pads and other miscellaneous items at my shop at the Michigan Renaissance Festival and are all slowly-but-surely being added to my website: www.johnagibsonbowman.com and more can be seen at my Facebook page.

Believe - Unicorn

Build Your Wings - Butterfly

Moonlight - Crab

Let It Be - Hedgehog

Be Strong - Lion

Strut Your Stuff - Peacock

Soar - Pegasus

The Purple Shoppe in Michigan

The first couple of weekends at the Michigan Renaissance Festival have been really nice. I am absolutely, completely exhausted on Mondays, but I'm hoping that it will all be worth it.

This past weekend Jason couldn't come with me, so my friend Kristy Robinett graciously agreed to spend the 2 festival days with me and use her home as a crash zone so I wouldn't have to drive the 2 hours back to Ohio every night - or stay in a scary hotel all alone. Thanks, Kristy!

Janet, my friend since age 4, came up on Sunday and helped me close for the weekend. Thanks, Jan!

So, what do I sell in my shoppe? Paintings, prints, tile art, candles, wax melts/tarts, soaps, trinkets, etc. The booth is fairly large and was owned by Jessica Galbreth previously. She is a very tough act to follow! Our art is very different, but I'm hoping that people give me a chance. Jessica is still painting and creating, so everyone that loves her art should go look her up and see what she's doing these days. I am really grateful to Jessica for giving me the opportunity to start a little shoppe of my own.

Here are a few pictures that Kristy took of the booth while she was up there. I have more to add, but wanted to put these up for now.

If you're at the Michigan Renaissance Festival, stop by! I'm not far from the front gates between Black Dragon and Fiona's Fineries. Shrek lives on my block as well.





Art tiles, prints and scent lockets.




Outside looking toward the patio area of the larger half of the shoppe.




Wax melts on racks. Ready to put in  your melters. Prints, soaps and candles too!



Ceramic art tiles can be displayed in your home in many ways.

Michigan Renaissance Festival and my art...

It occurred to me that in all of my blogging - OK, so there have only been 8 posts thus far, but you get the point - I haven't shared my artwork.

The funny part is that part of the reason that I've not been blogging as much is because I'm getting ready to vend at the Michigan Renaissance Festival in Holly, Michigan beginning in August. It's a huge step for me and I hope that all goes well and people accept me as a new shoppe.

Back in May, Jessica Galbreth put her shoppe at the festival up for sale and somehow I ended up purchasing it. It is quite a story of how it all came about, and I never in a million years thought that I would do something like that, but one day I lost control of my usual fears and shyness and bought the shoppe.

The most interesting part of all of this is that I'm going to be 5-7 months pregnant while vending at the festival and as I get bigger, I am attempting to accumulate enough product to fill the shoppe before I completely run out of energy.

Anyway...the purpose of this blog was the share with you some of my art. I also make soaps, candles and wax melts and will photograph those when they are all ready to go. I also plan on offering other interesting items with my art on them.

Please visit my website at http://www.johnagibsonbowman.com/ or my etsy site http://www.hootsgallery.etsy.com/. I'm a member of the Fantasy Artists of Etsy - FAEteam!



Night Owls 1



Sing Your Song

Practice Patience

Queen of Cups

Partners

All images copyright. All rights reserved. Please do not use without permission from the artist. Thank you!

Changes and growth.

I haven't written a blog in about a month now because I've really been busy working and working some more. I am also 4 months pregnant and don't always have any energy at all.

But...I like writing these blogs, even if they really are random and slightly meaningless.
This one will be short and sweet, but today has been exhausting to say the least. We've needed rain for quite some time and today we got it. Along with damaging straight line winds and tons of lightning. A large, very old sassafrass tree that I really will miss was blown over by the storm. It narrowly (and by narrow I'm talking about 1/4" or less) missed hitting my dad's truck and other important things - like the garage that is almost done being remodeled into my studio.

Somehow, this tree fell perfectly into a pile of junk that we're going to put in a dumpster. As if someone or something or the tree itself guided it to fall where it did - because everyone that knows my family and I knows that luck isn't something we have in abundance. In fact, the tree had been slightly scorched from our barn fire of 2009. Apparently the fire did far more damage than we'd known because the base of the tree was rotten. Strangely, though, the tree was in beautiful full-leaved bloom when it blew over.

I will miss the old sassafras and how it stood next to the other old sassafras in the yard, but I'm glad the tree was here while it could be and went when it had to in the most graceful way possible.





Desert Essence Coconut Shampoo

First of all, I'm sort of obsessed with shampoo for some reason. When I was a teenager my father would get so mad at me for having multiple bottles of random hair care products in the shower. Now I try to pare things down, not that my husband would think that I do.

I heard about Desert Essence Coconut Shampoo from TheSilverLining80 on YouTube and since I was ready to make a Vitacost purchase, I decided to throw some of this shampoo into my cart.

Here is the description of this shampoo direct from Desert Essence's website: Provides intense moisture to dry or over-processed hair, smoothes frizzies and restores hair’s natural luster, leaves hair feeling soft and healthy.Coconut Oil Cleansers gently cleanse dry or damaged hair. Organic Jojoba oil moisturizes hair and scalp so hair looks and feels healthier. Organic Olive Oil leaves hair soft and silky without weighing it down.


This product smells absolutely amazing. It's very coconutty and summery without that strange plastic undertone that I detect in some coconut scented products. This is just pure, fresh coconut. I was also shocked at the amount of lather that this product creates. I used a bit too much the first time because I'm used to sulfate free products that require quite a bit of effort to get sudsy. This, however, has immediate and luxurious bubbles that smell devine. It doesn't weigh my hair down and it doesn't seem to have any detectable buildup yet, but it adds just enough moisture so that if I am running behind and don't want to take the time to use conditioner I don't need to.

There are no parabens, phthalates, silicones or sulfates in this product. In fact, the ingredients look pretty good to me for such a sudsy and effective sulfate free product.

Water (Aqua), Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract*, Arctium Lappa (Burdock) Root Extract*, Achillea Millefolium (Yarrow) Extract*, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Leaf Extract*, Foeniculum Vulgare (Fennel) Seed Extract*, Sambucus Nigra (Black Elderberry) Flower Extract*, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract*, Sodium Coco-Sulfate (Coconut Derived), Decyl Glucoside (Coconut and Corn Derived), Propanediol (Corn Derived), Coco-Glucoside (Coconut Derived), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter*, Coco Nucifera (Coconut) Oil*, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil*, Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil*, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil*, Dehydroacetic Acid, Glycerin, Hydrogenated Coco-Glycerides (Coconut Derived), Sodium Chloride, Potassium Sorbate (Fruit Derived), Lauryl Glucoside (Plant Derived), Benzyl Alcohol, Citric Acid, Stearyl Citrate (Vegetable Derived), Fragrance (Parfum) * Certified Organic

Have any of you used any of Desert Essence's products? There are other shampoos on their site if the coconut doesn't strike your fancy. I will definitely be trying the other formulas and conditioners and will most definitely repurchase this particular one. I think I'll even buy this as a gift for my coconut loving brother.

The Green Monster

In my last blog I had mentioned that I was planning on trying the Green Monster Movement and I did manage to make one of those Virgin Green Smoothies that are listed in the recipes section of the website.

I'll admit it. I wasn't overly thrilled with the idea of putting a banana, spinach, almond milk, ice and flax seeds into my blender so that I could then consume it in a liquified state. However, I also know that I'm not eating enough fruits and vegetables even if I do eat a cucumber per day (don't ask). I also know that some things like this are an acquired taste and if this little concoction can help to heal my skin from acne, prevent future breakouts and provide healthy nutrients, I might as well acquire that taste for it!

I whipped up a green smoothie and drank it. The first taste was a bit of a shock because it wasn't as potent tasting as I had expected. It was quite mild, bananaesque and thick. I didn't hate it, but I'm so used to sweeter smoothies that I also didn't love it right away. As I drank it, I found that the farther in I got, the more I didn't want to drink it. I do think that I made a much too large smoothie for my first time and that might account for some of the aversion I was feeling toward the end.

I didn't take a photo of my particular creation, but if you want to see what they look like simply Google "green monster smoothie" and then look at the images. They are green and slushy looking.

The strange thing is that I really did feel quite good after drinking it and for the rest of the evening. I ate more fruits and vegetables the day I made the green smoothie than I usually do in a week. I know that I'll make more of these soon and I'll probably try different recipes to shake things up a little. I think that pineapple is going to be the next addition to my smoothie. Ideally, I'll be making and drinking a green smoothie daily.

Have any of you tried a Green Smoothie or Green Monster? Let me know what you think.