Newtopia Magazine
Kimberly Nichols
Kitchen Witch: Reviving the Still Room Tradition
One evening while riding the bus through the dampened streets of Santa Monica I was leafing through an old copy of Herb Quarterly Magazine and came across an article on “still-room” books. In the old days, before the advent of professional doctors and hospitals, women were the sole gatekeepers of their family’s health. If a … Continue reading
NewArtLab: Alfredo Barsuglia’s Social Pool
Social Pool, 2014, Alfredo Barsuglia, 5 x 4 x 12 feet, Wood, Fiberglass, Resin-Paint, Solar-Filter-Pump, Mojave Desert, CA, Cooperation with MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles I met Austrian artist Alfredo Barsuglia half a decade ago while working as the Director of Marketing for the Palm Springs Art Museum. A mutual European artist … Continue reading
Love Letters: Flight Instructor
photo by Kimberly Nichols You were the first person I met in Venice Beach, when in 2011, fresh from Burning Man, I arrived in my silver car dappled with paint stains to unpack my entire life boiled down to three boxes within a tiny bungalow across the street from the sea. I should have known … Continue reading
Kitchen Witch: Ass Kickin Astragalus
Six years ago I found myself overweight, overworked and dealing with serious adrenal gland exhaustion, which left me tired and empty by mid afternoon daily. I made an executive decision to change my life and started studying Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurvedic philosophy. One of the most fascinating things I learned was that ancient Chinese … Continue reading
Kitchen Witch: The Devious Dandelion
Dandelion, rosemary and chive flower tea Every Monday I perform a morning ritual dedicated to renewal and rejuvenation for the week. I wake early and go out into my backyard garden to weed the dandelions for my boyfriend who will follow soon after to irrigate the burgeoning produce he so meticulously grows for our meals. … Continue reading
NewArtLab: Steven Wolkoff’s Homage to the California Poppy
westways magazine, (find the poppy), acrylic on canvas, Steven Wolkoff I first encountered artist Steven Wolkoff and his wonderful word paintings with his piece “the names of all my Facebook friends” in which he wrote all the names of his Facebook friends in three-dimensional blue squiggles. Due to the nature of the way he piles … Continue reading
Conversations with Strangers #1: Ryan Greendyk of Lightlab
Conversations with Strangers is a column with a simple premise. I reach out to those people I admire, who are doing things in this world that contribute their unique gifts in life affirming ways to our universal human community. There are no pre-conceptualized questions and answers as with a traditional interview. The dialogue evolves … Continue reading
Tools of Transformation #26: Musings Midway Through Life on Consciousness
Becoming conscious means changing the rules by which we live and the beliefs we maintain. Our memories and attitudes are literally rules that determine the quality of life as well as the strength of our bonds with others. Always, a shift in awareness includes a period of isolation and loneliness as one gets accustomed to … Continue reading
The Fool’s Journey: Conversation with Tarot Reader Nancy Stark
Tarot card readings have been a part of my life since my teens when I first picked up a deck and started to self-divine on my own behalf. I was in love with the story that inspired the tarot, one that users of the cards sometimes don’t take the opportunity to know firsthand before diving … Continue reading
NewArtLab: Karen Lofgren’s Trajectory Object at High Desert Test Sites
It’s a warm Southern California Saturday and my boyfriend and I are immersed in a canyon wedged into a mountain near our home for our annual weekend hike when I bring up Karen Lofgren’s Trajectory Object. As he walks ahead of me, navigating our way up a steep hill lined with beige brush and crinkling … Continue reading
Newtopia Magazine 