Marlene Dietrich’s Legacy Still Glitters

If the 20th century could claim an It girl, she probably would be Marlene Dietrich: movie star, nightclub chanteuse, fashion and jewelry icon, and a German celebrity who supposedly told Hitler to get lost. Born in 1901, she went from obscure Berlin chorus girl to international star in the 1920s and ’30s, shaking up the…

Read More

What to Know About Ibogaine, a Psychedelic

What is ibogaine? A naturally occurring psychoactive compound, ibogaine comes from the iboga tree, a rainforest shrub native to Central Africa. The drug comes from the bark of the root, which is crushed and consumed as a powder or given in an extracted form. Iboga has long been used for medicinal and ritual purposes in…

Read More

A Painter’s Role? Capturing the Sparkle of a Gemstone

There are myriad words to describe how light enters and reflects in diamonds and gemstones. They glisten and sparkle, twinkle and dazzle. Often they are luminescent, sometimes brilliant and certainly eye-catching. But conveying those sentiments artistically, as in a drawing or painting, requires an entirely different kind of articulation. And as times have changed, so…

Read More